Landscape designer is very particular about his likes, dislikes and plant requirements Print

Landscape gardener Ramon Brand is self-confessed impulse buyer.  


He leaves the search for plants for the gardens he designs for his clients partially to chance. Good information about the plants, even for this landscape gardener from Boskoop, the heart of the Dutch perennial and hardy nursery stock growing region, is almost as important as their quality and growth habits.  

In his own show garden one immediately notices that this man is very particular. Ground covers such as Alchemilla, Geranium and Pachsandra are all healthy, durable genera.  Walls of ivy look fresh and green and just like the beech hedges are tightly pruned and closely grown.  The perfection of a very shapely Magnolia and a triple stem Ginkgo stand out.  But most impressive are the various specimen shrubs, every one of which can be evaluated as A-quality.  “Quality is the starting point.  If the price is too high, I will not skimp on quality, I will just buy a size smaller,” says Brand.

I have to know what I’m buying

Brand’s garden designs are never completely detailed. As some of his plant choices are made in the suppliers’ yards, he enjoys being surprised.  “When I see a lovely plant, immediately I need to know more about it,” he goes on to explain.

Brand describes his plant knowledge as “broad.” However during his buying trips he regularly comes across unknown plants.  Sometimes they are identified with a strip tag with only the plant’s name on it, sometimes nothing at all.  “At those moments, just like the average consumer, I need to know more.”

“Yes, I can get that information from the staff at the nursery, but it’s a complete pain to continually have to ask: What is the full grown shape and height of this plant?  Will it grow along the coast? etc.”  Instead, Brand prefers to see each plant tagged with large labels complete with photo and good information such as:  light requirements, soil requirements, height, spread, zone hardiness, flowering time, etc.  

Backbone of the garden

Brand has definite criteria for the selection of shrubs. For specimen plants he chooses plants with characteristic habits and preferably several seasons of ornamental value.  As examples he mentions Stachyurus, Corylopsis, Hamamelis, Aesculus parviflora, Magnolia, Viburnum, Cornus controversa, Amelanchier and Acer.  “Together with hedges and trees, these specimens form the backbone of the garden. Therefore I am very picky about my choices.”  Although he confesses, “I rarely use large quantities of specimens.  A garden does not have to become an arboretum!”

Brand does not care whether a plant is available in container or with a field dug root ball but presentation on the sales floor is important to him.  “Not too close together. That way I can evaluate a plant from all sides and know that it is healthy from top to bottom.”

“No plants with weeds”

Besides large specimen plants, Brand also buys regular everyday plants in normal container sizes, such as Buddleia, Caryopteris, Hydrangea and Hedera helix.  A good rootballl and weed free are some of the starting points.  “Plants with weeds mean that because the grower was careless, I or the client will have to do maintenance immediately after finishing the garden.  That’s no good, is it?”

“Conifers are out of fashion”

Although he likes some of them, Brand rarely uses specimen conifers. “Conifers have lost their appeal for me and my clients.”  Sometimes he will use a pillar forming Taxus or a tree form such as Cedrus libani ‘Fastigiata’, about which he comments, “Even though they’re usually a bit on the pricey side, they are very useful for larger gardens.”

Brand notices that climbers are currently being offered considerably shorter than in the past, something he is perfectly happy with.  “40 inches (60cm) in height is plenty for most climbers as they grow fast enough to show themselves in one season.”  The drawback of larger climbers is the spindliness of the branches, which often break when being led up a pergola or trained onto a trellis.

Plants are this man’s business. Yes, he’s fussy, but then so are most consumers. He makes a number of good points of value to any grower, nursery or garden center be they in the wholesale or retail trade.

source: Emiel van den Berg for De Boomkwekerij ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )
 

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