Create an ideabook for your next remodeling project!
Browse more than 1,500,000 photos from top designers and save your favorites
Landscape Design
Top Ideabooks
- How to Turn a Side Yard Into a Glorious Garden Room
- How Low Can Hedges Go? Discover Unusual Garden Borders
- 5 Essential Considerations for a Landscape Design Project
- See 6 Homes That Rise to the Rural Landscape
- Take Your Garden on a Rural Route With Plant-Dominant Designs
- 8 Outdoor Playspace Ideas to Nurture Kids' Imaginations
Lessons from Monet's Garden
See how to bring the impressionist painter's vision to life in your own landscape with these flower choices and garden design ideas
Houzz Contributor. I have been involved all my working life with design, garden design, horticulture and garden retailing. At present I work as a buyer for a large garden centre in the south west of England where I live in the idyllic Devon countryside. My passion for small garden design and the lifestyle it brings has lead me to write about it on my blog, www.yardz.typepad.co.uk for the last four years.
Houzz Contributor. I have been involved all my working life with design,... More »
The impressionist painters of the late 19th century changed the way we looked at the world, and in the case of Monet changed the way we looked at our gardens.
In 1883, Monet and his family moved to the village of Giverny, northwest of Paris. He found a house that had been part of a cider farm with an orchard that was to become his passion, both to paint and garden, until his death in 1926.
After his death, his stepdaughter Blanche managed both the house and garden, but after World War II both were found to be sadly deteriorated. Thanks mainly to generous donors, mostly from the United States, the gardens have been restored and we can all enjoy the timeless quality of Monet's vision.
Perhaps the most famous images of the garden are in Monet's series of water lily paintings; the setting is a pond he created by diverting the Ru River. There are many other elements we can take from the gardens at Giverny, though, especially the choice of plants and how they can be combined to create that Monet magic in our own gardens.
In 1883, Monet and his family moved to the village of Giverny, northwest of Paris. He found a house that had been part of a cider farm with an orchard that was to become his passion, both to paint and garden, until his death in 1926.
After his death, his stepdaughter Blanche managed both the house and garden, but after World War II both were found to be sadly deteriorated. Thanks mainly to generous donors, mostly from the United States, the gardens have been restored and we can all enjoy the timeless quality of Monet's vision.
Perhaps the most famous images of the garden are in Monet's series of water lily paintings; the setting is a pond he created by diverting the Ru River. There are many other elements we can take from the gardens at Giverny, though, especially the choice of plants and how they can be combined to create that Monet magic in our own gardens.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
The most iconic image of Monet's garden, seen in many of his most famous Giverny paintings, is the Japanese bridge. The original, inspired by Japanese woodblock prints that decorated Monet's house, was built by local craftsmen.
A reproduction of the bridge is now the centerpiece of The New York Botanical Garden's tribute to Monet. This celebration of Monet's gardens, including representations of his plantings, as well as the chance to see two rarely seen paintings by the artist, is on display until October 21, 2012.
A reproduction of the bridge is now the centerpiece of The New York Botanical Garden's tribute to Monet. This celebration of Monet's gardens, including representations of his plantings, as well as the chance to see two rarely seen paintings by the artist, is on display until October 21, 2012.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| Leading from Monet's house is the the central alley, here re-created in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The New York Botanical Garden. The alley is the highlight of the garden in late summer and autumn. Planting schemes of the early 20th century consisted of overabundant borders encased in boxwood (Buxus spp.). Monet removed all the box edging from borders in the existing garden, allowing the free plants to stray onto the pathway. This veered from the structure and constraint of contemporary garden design at the time. A clever trick he used when forming beds, and one easily copied in our own gardens, was to bank up the soil to make the plants seem taller. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
While the original garden was planted with Japanese anemones, asters and nasturtiums, the re-creation is a celebration of pastels, with the spires of delphiniums, verbascums and lupins surrounded by blowsy peonies.
Monet's garden was without a doubt planted to his own taste. He didn't follow fashion and hated plants that he saw as "unnatural," such as variegated foliage.
Monet's garden was without a doubt planted to his own taste. He didn't follow fashion and hated plants that he saw as "unnatural," such as variegated foliage.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Peeping out amongst the exuberant herbaceous blooms and foliage are the clean-cut flowers of Dutch iris (Iris x hollandica), zones 5 to 9. Monet was passionate about mixing different types of plants, from the simplest wildflower to the most rare variety, as long as he acheived the effect he wanted.
Unlike the large rhizome-grown bearded iris, Dutch irises are evergreen and clump forming. They are easy to grow and great as cut flowers.
Unlike the large rhizome-grown bearded iris, Dutch irises are evergreen and clump forming. They are easy to grow and great as cut flowers.
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
Perhaps the star of Monet's garden, especially during May and June, is the bearded iris (Iris 'Germanica'), zones 3 to 8.
He grew them in many colors and forms, but the most well known are the blues, violets, purples and whites. By growing early and late cultivars, Monet created a longer period of flowering, helped by the alkaline soil of Giverny.
He grew them in many colors and forms, but the most well known are the blues, violets, purples and whites. By growing early and late cultivars, Monet created a longer period of flowering, helped by the alkaline soil of Giverny.
| Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
|
| There are bearded irises to suit all sizes and styles of gardens, and as with Monet's garden, selection of differing cultivars can either extend the flowering season or give you a blaze of color just when you want it. The season starts with the miniature dwarf bearded iris, which is the first to flower in April; it ends in late June or early July with tall bearded iris. Growing tip: Most irises need well-drained soil in full sun. To keep these irises at their best they should be divided and replanted in July or August every two to three years. Any poor or diseased plants can be discarded, while the best are replanted. |
| One of the basic tenets of Monet's gardening was to create harmony in the plantings. We can see here how that idea has been used in a modern scheme, with the purple salvias blending beautifully with the globe-headed alliums. |
| But looking closer we see a further link to Monet, with the touch of white blooms to set off mauves and purples. It's a simple way to enliven monotone plantings and one that we find at Giverny, not only in borders of pastel plantings but also in some of the hot colors of late summer and autumn. |
Like it? Save it to your Ideabook »
It's not only the lush planting of herbaeceous perennials that can give us the atmosphere of a Monet border. We can see here how the use of Mediterranean plants in a dryer climate still fulfills the same functions: The Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans), zones 9 to 10, takes the place of towering delphiniums, while the Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas), zones 6 to 9, stands in for the lower plantings of lupins and nicotiana.
| Even in very modern, soft landscape design, we can bring a touch of Monet's planting palette. Here, drifts of May Night Salvia (Salvia x sylvestris 'May Night'), zones 3 to 9, and Walker's Low Catmint (Nepeta x faassenii 'Walker's Low'), zones 3 to 8, are used to create a loose union of linking colors that roam quite freely — just as Claude Monet liked. To see the real thing: Monet's Giverny garden is open daily from the begining of April through the end of October. Guided tours of the garden are available in English, French and German. There are local accommodations, or you can take a day trip by bus from Paris. The New York tribute: See the exhibition at The New York Botanical Garden through October 21, 2012. More: Focus Your Garden Palette Lay of the Landscape: Natural Garden Style |
Ideabook published on June 8, 2012.
What are you working on?
News From Our Partners
Latest Ideabooks
People found the photos in this ideabook after searching for:
View over a million photos:
It's not just about plants, but about a combination of different element, such as water and sculptures and while many people have ponds or water features, few have pieces of art in their garden. Someone, just the other day wrote a wonderful article on David Goode who specializes in bronze sculptures - he has a tendency to go for the mythical, such as Goblins, but they are truly stunning. Feel free to read the article and view all the pictures - it's certainly one way to turn your garden into a work of art - http://hometipster.com/stunning-bronze-art-by-david-goode/
For below:
http://www.printedart.com/content/homage-monet-5-impressionism-japanese-garden
http://www.printedart.com/content/homage-monet-7-shadow-light
To view more work by Lee Rentz, visit: http://www.printedart.com/collection/results/author%3A44
By all means visit his gardens in Giverny if you have any chance. Crunching down the gravel paths (not paved, as in the NY reproduction - the sound is part of the experience) and coming upon scenes that you recognize from his paintings is wonderful. The grey, filtered light of Giverny helps you understand how Monet 'saw' and why he painted some pictures the way they are.
I was there in early July, when the garden was at the height of its colors and blooms - just gorgeous. It's reassuring to read an article that gives hints for getting a bit of Monet into one's own garden, because though I visited in 1988, I have never been able to get it out of my mind, whenever I shut my eyes and imagine a garden.
An article about his house would be wonderful, too. The pink exterior walls with green shutters, green steps (with dozing cats) leading down to the garden are charming enough. But then inside also reflects Monet's color palette and aesthetic. A living room in pale pink, the walls covered with reproductions of his own paintings which hung there during his lifetime; pale blue sitting room and kitchen with almost an entire wall of tile around the stove in different blues; cheery yellow dining room with a surprising tiled floor (I would have expected carpet; it feels more like a country kitchen than a formal dining room) and blue accents; elegant bedroom in creamy whites with an oriental carpet and rich inlaid wood desk - unforgettable and so inspiring.
I'm definitely bookmarking this whole article for garden inspiriation, as it's the first thing I've ever read that gives concrete ideas for how to get a Giverny look in one's own garden.