Buffalo-Style Gardens. Sally Cunningham
Buffalo-Style Gardens
Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs
Copyright © 2019 by Sally Cunningham and Jim Charlier
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.
ISBN-13: 978-1-943366-36-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957981
CIP information available upon request
First Edition, 2019
St. Lynn’s Press . POB 18680 . Pittsburgh, PA 15236
412.466.0790 . www.stlynnspress.com
Book design – Holly Rosborough
Editor – Catherine Dees
| Printed in CanadaOn certified FSC recycled paper using soy-based inks |
This title and all of St. Lynn’s Press books may be purchased for educational, business or sales promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department . St. Lynn’s Press . POB 18680 . Pittsburgh, PA 15236
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the generous, creative Buffalo Niagara gardeners in this book…
and to the hundreds of generous, creative Garden Walk
Buffalo gardeners since its founding in 1995.
From Sally
To my husband, Jack (who listens, loves and feeds me),
to my daughter, Alice (with the whole future in her hands),
to my friends and sisters (you know who you are).
And to Mom, who left so recently. With love.
From Jim
To my groundskeeper, Leslie. She keeps me grounded.
And to daughter Margaux, whom I love more than the shed.
And to Granddad, who had me pull the weeds.
Table of Contents
Introduction: A new kind of garden: livable, relatable, original, free spirited
PART ONE Buffalo-Style Gardens: Where Creativity Meets Design
Chapter One: Buffalo’s Gardens – a Living Laboratory
Chapter Two: Great Little Gardens and How They Grew (and some bigger ones that grew too)
Chapter Three: Good Garden Design (in the beginning…)
PART TWO You and Your Site: Where You’re Starting From
Chapter Four: What Do You Want Your Garden To Be? (hopes, dreams and lifestyle)
Chapter Five: What Your Garden Wants To Be (working with reality)
PART THREE Design Features That Make All the Difference
Chapter Six: Frame It! (walls, hedges, fences and the neighborhood)
Chapter Seven: The Big Bones (immovable objects)
Chapter Eight: Find Your Path (lines, contours and walkways)
PART FOUR Making It Personal: How Buffalo-style Gardeners Take It to the Max
Chapter Nine: Furniture and Movable Hardscape (trellises, arches, gazebos and more)
Chapter Ten: Collections, Personal Art and Themes
Chapter Eleven: At Last We Choose Plants!
PART FIVE Gardening for the Greater Good (from your neighborhood to the world)
Chapter Twelve: Gardening is Transformative, Contagious and Powerful!
Hort Tips for Digging Deeper: Best Practices and Helpful Lists
To Learn More: Resources and References
Garden Tours in Buffalo Niagara
INTRODUCTION
A New Kind of Garden: livable, relatable, original, free spirited
The first inspirations for this book were some very special residential gardens in Buffalo, New York, home of the largest private-garden tour in North America: Garden Walk Buffalo.
How did it grow to be such a large and talked-about event? It didn’t happen overnight. It took twenty-some years to get that good, that original. During those years a new kind of garden was evolving, with a particular set of characteristics. They were all lush and traditional enough to be called fine gardens but also quirky enough to spark a new term: a Buffalo-style garden.
No matter the size or style, each one had its own kind of welcoming energy and a unique personality that spoke volumes about its creators. No cookie cutter landscapes here. Every garden was built and tended by the gardeners themselves. These are approachable, livable environments that bring a smile and warm the heart.
We (Sally and Jim) are keenly aware that unforgettable gardens occur in other places too. Both of us are gardeners ourselves, and observers of the garden tourism phenomenon. And we’re travelers who have noticed special features of gardens in many places across North America and Europe. We have often talked about the common denominators: What