Friday, May 30, 2008

Using Evergreens in Landscaping

For Mother's Day, we went on a little field trip to Oak Park for the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio & Home Tour. We loved it and I recommend it to anyone who admires his work or Prairie Style architecture and design.

That's me and my Mom in front of the studio.

Afterwards, we went for a walk around the historic district in Oak Park where the museum resides.



The landscaping on this home stuck out for me for it's use of a variety of evergreens in the border.

Here in Chicago, we have a short growing season and in winter alot of yards look pretty drab. Having evergreens provides year round greenery and also shelter for birds and other wildlife. Yes, we have wildlife in the city too.

I really like the way they used different colors and textures and even sizes of evergreens in this border. Mark my words, we will have more evergreens in our yard in time.

And for kicks, here are a few shots for the house voyeurs out there. These homes were all located in the historic district near the museum.


This house is the first project Wright took on after leaving Adler & Sullivan as an independant. He was fired for doing side jobs.


I think you can see the influence of Sullivan in these details. Beautiful home!

5 comments:

Fargo said...

I've always found Wright's transitional work most interesting. He used a really interesting combination of ornamental elements when he was doing the side jobs while still working for Sullivan and first starting out on his own.

I love walking around that part of Oak Park and riding my bike around Oak Park, River Forest and Riverside, enjoying some gorgeous architecture and landscaping.

Sandy said...

When I saw the photo of you and your Mom, at first I thought she might be your sister. She looks so young! The photos of the house are beautiful. I, too, like evergreens for the same reasons. Even though my cedar trees (that's what I call them, I'm sure there is another name for them) are on either side of the front door, they are taller than the house and the birds (and squirrels, too) love to be in them.

Jennifer said...

Mmm... thanks for the house candy!

John said...

Thanks for the Oak Park pictures! My grandparents lived there for years, and I have vague memories of my grandfather showing me some of these homes.

Joanne said...

I love that evergreen border! I'd like to do something similar at our place. We just planted a dawn redwood on the west side of the property (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), one of the few conifers that actually drops its needles in winter!

I definitely need a few evergreens to spice up the winterscape, or at least add pine boughs to the window boxes. Um, once I get window boxes.