fohh talks: landscape architect dennis carmichael on “living murals”, plant geometry, and his own “garden of last resort”

Dennis Carmichael and Jim Murrin exchange gardening tips after the talk

Hollin Hillers are as interested in modern landscaping as we are in modern architecture, to judge by the enthusiastic crowd that showed up at the Unitarian Church on Sunday for Dennis Carmichael’s talk on “Hollin Hills and the Modern Landscape.” And even if you weren’t a gardening enthusiast — in fact, as long as you weren’t opposed to the outdoors in general — it was an extremely enjoyable and idea-filled afternoon.

There’s no greater expert on Hollin Hills landscaping than Carmichael; he’s a renowned professional landscape architect, a resident of the community for decades, and the author of the handbook “A House in the Woods: A Landscape Aesthetic for Hollin Hills.”

But aside from that expertise, Carmichael is also an engaging speaker who’s excited by the ideas behind landscaping, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Forget merely creating pleasing vistas — Carmichael is interested in meaning, and his own work “incorporates site history into a narrative landscape that reveals the unique qualities of place,” as he once put it. And his April 6 talk — presented by Friends of Hollin Hills as part of their excellent spring lecture series — seemed to echo that approach.

Opening with a review of the innovative plans that Barney Voigt and Dan Kiley introduced to Hollin Hills in the 1950s, Carmichael distilled those ideas into a set of clear principles for modern garden design — and then showed how he’s using those principles in three real-world projects that he’s currently working on.

The three “case studies” were perhaps the most intriguing part of the hour-long talk, offering a glimpse into how a landscape architect analyzes a site, solves problems and creates a landscape For the rather plain front garden of the Spearman-Lucidon home on Marthas Road, for example, Carmichael (who admits a fondness for geometric shapes, in kinship with his forbear Dan Kiley), recently designed a perfect circle of plantings enclosing a lawn, creating a “figural space” for children to play in while also giving the house itself a striking new look (and, not unimportantly, clarifying the entry to the house for the benefit of Amazon deliverymen).

And for the Wilson garden on Popkins Lane, Carmichael considered the problem of an unattractive garden shed which the owners had tried to screen with shrubs — which only made the eyesore more eysore-y. So Carmichael turned the problem on its head. Rather than hiding the shed, he embraced it — painting the thing a vibrant cobalt blue and using it as a backdrop for plantings that will change color and shape throughout the year, creating what he calls “a living mural.”

It was an intriguing idea — but it was Carmichael’s own unique garden on Elba Road that really stole the show. The property is carefully and thoughtfully designed, and embodies many of the modernist principles he had outlined earlier in the talk, including “borrowed views” and figural spaces. But it’s also a place where Carmichael lets his imagination run free, plays with unorthodox materials, and finds meaning in the most unexpected places.

“I call it ‘The Garden of Last Resort’ — everything is just one step away from the landfill,” he said with a grin, as he showed photos of some of the unlikely garden art that he’s salvaged, quite literally, from junk piles. There are old trampoline parts, a rusting roll of construction mesh, a set of abandoned mirrors and other castoffs from the everyday world, all given new life as elements of garden design. His garden is home to an arc of slightly-used pink flamingos, bits of decaying wood, and even a sort of bench that — upholstered in old scraps of artificial turf — seems to rise up uncannily from the lawn.

Is it for everyone? Probably not. But … thought-provoking? Absolutely. Carmichael’s garden is challenging and not a little mischievous, as if this consummate professional can’t resist pushing at the edge of beauty until it starts to squeak. But more than that, it’s a garden of the imagination, where unconventional ideas are allowed to blossom, and where there’s a story behind everything you see. It’s not your grandmother’s garden, that’s for sure — but as Carmichael cheerfully explained, “this is what happens when a landscape architect has himself as a client.”

The thoroughly enjoyable talk closed with some advice on learning about native plants, which you can find online at the Fairfax County Department of Public Works. If you’d like to learn more about the ideas behind Hollin Hills landscaping, there’s a good overview of the early years here, and an introduction to Carmichael’s thinking can be found in his essay “A Landscape of Democracy,” as well as his book “A House in the Woods.”

This talk marked the end of the spring lectures presented by Friends of Hollin Hills, but check their website for more interesting events coming up later this year!