Humor and whimsy in a garden—that’s something most people don’t think about. Everything doesn’t have to be so serious,” says Janice Parker, speaking about a delightful series of garden rooms she designed on a three-and-a-half-acre property in Greenwich.
Parker is the principal of Greenwich-based Janice Parker Landscape Architects, an award-winning firm known for incorporating classical design principles in their work. “Whimsy” is not necessarily something characteristic of her work. “Sure, gardens can be classic and beautiful and well-planned,” she continues, “but they also need to be fun—especially if they’re an environment where you’re spending time.”
This thought came to the fore as Parker commenced working on a landscape with the homeowner, an architect and recent transplant to the Connecticut Gold Coast from the American Southwest. The client “was looking for a sense of sanctuary, comfort and a creative vision—something creative he could actively shape in that setting.” During the Covid lockdown, when homes became all-encompassing environments, these goals took on added significance.
The approach suited the client, who, as a Westerner, was already at ease with floating between the indoors and out. As an architect, he helped Parker envision how all the parts of the project would fit together. As a collector, he brought strong ideas about objects that would animate the landscape.
“The client is intuitive and yet analytical,” says Parker, “and with those two going together, it’s always an interesting dynamic. In that friction is where the magic happens.” She describes this project as magical realism, balancing what works on the land and is pragmatic, with what is imaginative and creative—an approach that creates moments of surprise throughout the garden.
White impatiens lines the narrow bed beside the driveway. Fences and gates are from Walpole Outdoors.
“The owner saw the outdoor spaces as a series of garden spaces, each with its own function and character,” says Janice Parker. “It’s not unusual to hear about a design that takes elements from nature and ‘brings the outside in.’ However, for this project, the question was ‘how do we bring the inside out?’”
The architect/client saw the driveway—lined with Tardiva hydrangea—as a long hallway leading to the arrival parking court and the house.
An oversized Corten-steel pinecone sculpture by Floyd Elzinga appears to float above the lawn.
Colorful flowers are exuberant and abundant: A mix of perennials and annuals includes daylilies, petunias, echinacea and hosta; and it’s gardener Rosa Mendoza who keeps things floriferous.
Janice Parker worked with the client to develop the hilly terrain into a series of gentle terraces; the masonry and landscape contractor was Q Alba.
A terrace table from Serena & Lily was selected for its sculptural presence.
The iron gazebo was sourced by the homeowner from a New Mexico antiques dealer.
A weeping cedar and evergreen topiary add sculptural interest to the plantings around the pool. Daylilies and white impatiens surround a river birch. Vintage black-iron furniture was sourced by the owner.
“I loved understanding and collaborating with the client’s vision,” she continues. “His art collection has very mystical Latin American works. Objects are not merely decorative, they have a little bit of something that makes you think twice.” And, she notes, he loves color.
Every part of the landscape had to be beautiful and full of flowers. Parker’s job was to tame the hilly terrain, organize a sequence of spaces, and bring the client’s dreams to fruition. “I say to my staff all the time: ‘We can’t have magic everywhere but have to have a few key moments.’ That wouldn’t work here; the client wanted magic everywhere.”
There were challenges. Along the drive were only six inches for planting. Ivy and white impatiens solved that problem, and the plants are dog-proof. Even the areas around the garage—the often overlooked back of house—needed to be beautiful. Parker used brick paving, hydrangeas and clipped hornbeam hedges for structure, and plenty of planters.
Although he sought Parker’s advice, the client ultimately chose most everything himself. “Soliciting my opinion gave him the freedom to do something completely different,” she says. He chose many of the plants and found sculptural elements, such as the iron gazebo, that became focal points in the garden.
“There’s an exuberance and generosity of planting that’s just fun and relaxing. That is, for some people. It makes others want to get out their pruning shears!” says Parker. “Often, I’ll see that the plants have finally started to sing and work together, and someone will say there are too many.
Everyone responds differently. So, there is a little bit of chaos and exuberance—that’s part of life and part of gardening. You can shape and refine but you can’t control everything, and you certainly can’t control nature. You need to let a little bit of chaos happen.”
