Principles of design: On the table and in the garden

It always amazes me how people we never meet, whose names we can never remember — assuming we even knew them in the first place — can influence our lives. Ted Nierenberg, who died last Friday at age 86, was such a person. A master of both photography and garden-making, Nierenberg was also the founder of Dansk International Designs. As such, he was a seminal figure in bringing Scandinavian design to the U.S. in the years following WWII. 

Dishes from Dansk have been on my table since my first post-college apartment. This 3-piece set came stacked and tied together with twine. It was a great marketing ploy since you could only buy the pieces as a set. But it was an even better piece of cultural education since it introduced me to the inventive realm of Japanese packaging. The pieces were actually produced in Japan.

My initial service for four is now down to not quite two place settings. I've found replacement pieces on-line but have not yet been able to bring myself to pay what they now cost. Still, the cool gray and navy color combination has never gone out of style. Nor have I ever grown tired of it. I love it today as much as the first time I saw it in the store.

My everyday white dinnerware is TC100 (Thomas compact china from Germany via Design Research) but that's another story. It was being used in a chic little restaurant in a boutique hotel in Toronto in the late 1960s. Though the cups and bowls were attractive and stackable, I wasn't as happy with them as with the plates. So I turned to Dansk again.

Mark and I bought a dozen Dansk plain white Bistro cups at the fabulous George Watts & Son store while we were on our honeymoon. They're small so we can have three cups of morning coffee instead of the one we'd need to confine ourselves to with most of today's large mugs. Twenty years later we're still using these cups every day (though they're beginning to show it).

Somewhere along the way, a friend gave us Nierenberg's book, "The Beckoning Path: Lessons of a Lifelong Garden / The Photographs and Garden of Ted Nierenberg." The book is a visual essay about his lakeside natural style garden, with its collection of Japanese maples, located in the Hudson Valley region of New York. Suffice it to say the book, the photos and the garden are all stunning. 

Nierenberg's friends included famed designers and photographers who taught and advised him in the area of photography. Among them were John Szarkowski, head of MOMA's photo department for almost 30 years. Szarkowski's advice: Take 10,000 photographs a year for five years and then cull them down to 150 images. And that, said Nierenberg, is how the book came into being.

Nierenberg's garden comprises many acres and is designed on a grand scale. But the lessons he offered in his book are valuable no matter the size or location or style of your garden. We still find them as useful to return to as when we first read them:

LESSON 1: Respect your assets and surroundings
LESSON 2: Create beckoning paths

LESSON 3: Provide refuges and overlooks

LESSON 4: Mingle clearings and plantings

LESSON 5: Layer plantings

LESSON 6: Plant in groups

LESSON 7: Create mystery and surprise

LESSON 8: Control variety

LESSON 9: Provide for seasonal interest

LESSON 10: Focus on change

Comments

[Lisa at Greeenbow]

What treasures you have shared with us. It is comforting to have the perfect service to greet you each morning and a good read to satisfy your craving for beauty and knowlege.

[Barbara H.]

Thank you, Linda, for this information. It took me back into my past, too. I will have to look for his book - it sounds wonderful

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Lisa and Barbara — I'm sitting here drinking my morning coffee in my Dansk cup and enjoying your comments. If you want to stop by in person, I have plenty of cups!

[Les]

That looks like a good book to peruse over a cup of coffee. BTW, I prefer mine strong and black, usually French roast, other than that, I am easy to please.

[Barbara H.]

Way too far away to stop by in person, but there in spirit! Ordered the book right away from a seller on Amazon and it's already in the mail. Yahoo!

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Les — we like it strong but with a hit of milk. Barbara — let us know what you think of the book when it comes.

[Account Deleted]

With a little change those principles could cover a lot of things. Maybe a philosophy on life…

Book is ordered. Thanks.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Wow! Two of you ordered the book. Hope you enjoy it and don't think I've steered you wrong.

[Barbara H.]

I emailed Linda but decided to comment too. My book came within a week - great service! - and I actually sat down to look at it. I'm very visual but instead of looking at the beautiful pictures, I actually started reading the text by Mark Kane.

It immediately captured my interest and I read the entire essay. It was so helpful to me. I have perhaps an acre of woods sloping down to a winter time creek. I've been disheartened by how quickly the invasives (privet, wisteria, honeysuckle, poison ivy) return each summer. My 2 year anniversary with this property was August 17.

This wonderful book has given me hope, an understanding that it will take time, and an appreciation for the slow process. I will be looking at what I want to do in the woods in a different way than before. I so appreciate Linda's post and am very happy I ordered the book!

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

Barbara — I'm so pleased that this book looks like it will prove useful to you in your garden odyssey. It's always a little scary when readers take me at my word, and spend their hard-earned money on a book I've recommended. I'm particularly glad that you are finding the text as valuable as the photos. It sounds from your email like your property and the one in the book have a lot in common, and that you can find some helpful advice and ideas.