news from the garden

Ideas for Growing your Garden

Spring 2016

GARDENING TRENDS FOR 2016: THINGS TO CONSIDER FOR YOUR GARDEN

Garden Design Magazine has identified some exciting trends
for 2016. Many on the list are ones were seeing locally. Be the
first on your block to incorporate some of these great ideas
into your garden.

More color White-wash is a thing of the past! Increase

the vibrancy of your garden by adding color to structures like
fences, furnishings, arbors, and garden sheds. Its a trend from
across the pond.

Fire pits are popular in garden seating areas

Appreciating subtlety in gardens But, gardens dont

have to be over the top. Choosing a palette of subtle colors and
accents can create appeal. Illuminate the delicate details of a
stone wall, include interesting patterns in a paved area, or employ
unusual edgings between planting beds and lawns or other
surfaces. Highlight delicate branching patterns in the landscape;
even illuminate them with soft landscape lighting.
The garden unplugged Native plants can add a new
feel to your garden. A well-designed garden with native plants,
trees and shrubs can hold its own next to a landscape
of traditional ornamental plants. A native species-populated
planting can range in style from contemporary, to modern
farmhouse, to classic traditional.
Rethinking outdoor experiences Designers are telling
their clients that everything you have inside your home, you can
have outside as well. People are extending their time out-of-doors
with seating areas, cooking and dining areas, playscapes, and
more all furnished with wonderful, comfortable garden furniture
continued on p.2

Above left: Add color to

structures in your garden
Left: Detailed stonework
can enhance a garden

w w w. F o c k e l e G a r d e n C o m pa n y. c o m

In this issue:
Conifers in the Southern Garden p.2
Garden Structure p.3
Colorful Planters as Accents p.4

continued from p.1

and light fixtures.

Fireplaces surrounded
by seating provide
entertainment in
the round.

Manageable
maintenance
Natural style gardens can
be tricky to maintain.
To create a garden with
manageable upkeep,
designers follow some
key principles: they
develop a landscape
design that matches
how their client wants
to use and experience
their garden; the
designer builds a
manageable plant palette,
characterized by a smaller Native plants in the landscape
variety of plants, but each
plant is well-chosen for easy-care blooms and multi-season appeal.

Sustainable features integrated with design Sustainable

gardens are designed for functionality, but the result can often exemplify
function over form. Designers are employing soil and site analysis to
effectively blend gardens into their surrounding environments. Rain
gardens, bioswales, rainwater harvesting systems, and stream-like
channels for stormwater runoff can serve their purposes, even provide
supplementary irrigation water, and still convincingly and attractively
mimic nature.

More plant-centric design and purpose There is a

move to focus more on the plants in the garden rather than on the
hardscapes. Little wonder with the rising interest gardening, and
the increased availability of both native plants and great performing
cultivars of traditional favorites. Young people are especially attracted to
homesteaders gardens rather than purely ornamental ones including
plants that attract pollinators and growing edibles for a farm-to-table
experience.

Lighting schemes LED lights have changed the way people think
about outdoor lighting. LEDs now come in a wider range of temperature
tones and are available in all kinds of fixtures. Smart phones can be used
to control lighting from on/off to brightness and dimming. Using LEDs
provides long-term energy savings. Party lighting is trendy, such as using
holiday color themes or the colors of a favorite sports team to light up
the garden for a party.

Functional can still be beautiful

ADDRESS THE
STRUCTURE OF
A GARDEN
Hierarchy, composition, organization, and make-up are a
few of the words associated with the word structure in
the thesaurus.
Now, apply those terms to the garden and one can
understand why structure in the garden is so important.
What structure gives a garden or landscape during the
winter months, it also gives you behind-the-scenes during
the growing season. With foliage gone and the garden
bare down to its skeleton, this time of year is a good time
to make needed changes or repairs to your garden.

Structure gives your design composition and form which then leads to
understanding the spirit and temperament of the garden.

Without structure, the garden would sometimes seem chaotic and

Structure organizes your garden spaces and gives
direction to your movement and use of the garden, much disjointed, but with it, harmony and balance are instilled at the most basic
layer of the design.
like the halls and rooms of your home.

Conifers in the Southern Garden

Did you know that a dwarf evergreen is usually a shorter cultivar of
the original species? Dwarf, however, is a relative term.

Thuja koraiensis Glauca Prostrata unique silvery blue foliage color that
will grow will in sun and semi-shaded areas. Mature height: 2-3 feet.

For instance, dwarf varieties of the popular Japanese Falsecypress

can reach a whopping 20 feet in height. It takes heavy, and often
deforming, pruning to keep these dwarfs in their place. By
selecting a cultivar for a specific size, not just a dwarf, you can
save yourself from a disappointing result.

Chamaecyparis pisifera Kings Gold Great, dependable golden

color on cascading branches. Will tolerate sun and semi-shaded
areas. Mature height: 3-5 feet.

Here are two low maintenance alternatives that will not outgrow
their space and also provide color and structure to your winter
garden:

Glauca Prostrata on the left and Kings Gold on the right.

WINTER PREP CAN HELP YOUR TURF IN SPRING

If you are looking for a beautiful green
lawn in the spring, the winter is a good
time to prepare your turf.
There are several things you need to
do during the cold months to get the
most out of your turf.

COLORFUL PLANTERS
CAN BE A GREAT ACCENT

Raise the height of cut on warm

season turf to help give the root
system cover from the cold.

One of the best ways to dress up an outdoor

or indoor space is with potted plants. Whether
in your outdoor patio, screened porch or
sunroom, adding potted plants can brighten
up the space.

Put down a fertilizer with pre-emergent that has a higher percent of potassium
to help drive the roots deeper. This will help with spring green-up and give you
a healthier root system in the fall.
Leave the clippings on the soil to give the roots extra cover from freezing temps.
This will also return some of the nutrients into the soil from the compost.
As spring green-up begins, scalp down warm season grasses to open the
canopy andl help the sun get to the soil for faster greening.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN PORTFOLIO

During spring, use a higher nitrogen content fertilizer to help push the growth
of new leaf blades.

The Fockele Garden Company

PruittHealth Norcross, Ga.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: KARINA CULBERTSON

Karina is the pleasant voice you hear when you call The Fockele Garden
Company. She joined the company just eight months ago, and has already
emerged as an office dynamo for her enthusiasm and hard work.

A wide range of stimulating plants provides a beautiful distraction from the challenges of therapy.
Photo: The Fockele Garden Company

PruittHealth, a regional leader in post-acute rehabilitation, employs its

holistic model of care in collaborating with The Fockele Garden Company
to take therapy outdoors. Designers and directors from both companies
pool their ideas and expertise to create open-air courtyards that expand
the range of therapy outcomes. Garden elements are employed to help patients adapt to sensory deficits, to increase or maintain physical, cognitive
and emotional function, to stimulate memory, and to promote independence. Interesting plants, comfortable gathering places, shade, water
features, benches, play grounds, lawns, planted containers and freedom of
movement make the gardens effective settings for therapy. PruittHealth
provides rehabilitation programs that include training for amputees,
strategies for pain management, development of strength, endurance and
functional range of motion, ambulation training, muscle re-education,
skills for overcoming communication and speech disorders, and healing
of post-surgical conditions. The Fockele Garden Company installs award
winning therapeutic gardens at inpatient rehabilitation facilities, hospitals,
and continuing care communities around the Southeast. The gardens are
environments of hope, healing, and improved quality of life.

Paths are surfaced with a variety of materials to challenge patients. Photo: The Fockele Garden Company

A splashing fountain provides soothing sounds and attracts interesting wildlife. Photo: The Fockele
Garden Company

DESIGN TEAM
Mark Fockele, president; Julie Evans, vice president (The Fockele Garden
Company); Neil L. Pruitt, Jr., chairman & CEO; Nick Williams, director of
development; Nicole Frazier, vice president community improvements
(PruittHealth)
CONTACT
Gently arched bridges provide opportunities to negotiate slopes. Photo: The Fockele Garden Company
Special Advertising Section

Julie Evans jevans@fockelegardencompany.com (770) 532-7117

Healthcare Design 10.15

59

THERAPEUTIC GARDEN FEATURED

IN HEALTHCARE DESIGN
Healthcare Design magazine showcased some
of our work with PruittHealth, a leader in postacute rehabilitation, in a recent issue. We created
a therapeutic garden that allows PruittHealth to
conduct some rehabilitation sessions outside at
its Norcross facility.

Answering calls is only one part of her job. She provides administrative support
by gathering information from prospective clients, fielding requests from existing
customers, tracking employees hours, preparing and distributing project
reports, performing a wide variety of clerical responsibilities, and sharing her
terrific communications skills. Karina is fully bi-lingual.
So what does Karina like most about her job?
The diverse people I get to work with,
she says.
Karina lives in Athens with her husband,
Tommy, and their dog, Mr. Smith. She was
born, raised and educated in California where
her parents and brothers reside. Her family
originally hails from El Salvador.
Karinas favorite hobby is anything Doctor
Who, the British science fiction show.

Owners : Mark Fockele and Julie Evans

Year Founded : 1990 | Employees : 42
Business Breakdown : 60% design/build, 40% maintenance
Customer Breakdown : Mix of residential and commercial

P.O. Box 671 | Gainesville, GA 30503 | p: 770.532.7117 | f: 770.532.7245 | www.FockeleGardenCompany.com