A garden is a do-si-do between Nature and nurture. The gardener works to fall in step with the weather and plants to create a beautiful multi-sensory dance that plays out over the seasons. Add a few more humans, each with his or her own whims and will, and the choreography becomes that much trickier. To harmonize these divergent forces is the job of the landscape architect. Allison Rani Moore calls it “controlling chaos.”
Moore’s grandparents were landscape Architects who met during their college years at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Moore’s grandfather was hired by John D. Rockefeller to be in charge of the gardens at Colonial Williamsburg. But at home, the gardens he and his wife created were wild and unstructured and their road trips with Allison marked by direct, full sensory experience of the plant life they encountered. (“Here, taste this.”) Moore grew up enchanted and influenced by both formal and loose styles of plant management.
While obtaining her five year degree from Virgina Tech, Moore spent a semester at The Arboretum at Flagstaff. After graduation, she rounded and anchored her education through professional stints at with Julia Berman‘s Landscape design firm, Eden and Wardwell, with Santa Fe Permaculture and through running her own company: In the Garden. Collectively, these experiences taught her the nuts and bolts of designing and installing landscapes in the high desert.
Currently, Moore is Project Manager for the Open Space and Trails Program at the Santa Fe County, a job she assumed in September of 2008. Working for the public ramps up the demands to reconcile human and environmental concerns. Moore likes the chance to work closely with community while acknowledging the challenges of balancing the realities of budget, timing and scope with the complex of human culture.
“For every project, we have to pay attention to cultural aspects: present and historical. We do an architectural survey, look at the history of the property, ancient ruins, petroglyphs as well as [the site’s] living history: does it have an active acequia, for example?”
“We have to get projects okayed by thirteen tribes and both the immediate and regional community. We have to respect all the time periods. Maintain a cowboy shack. Revitalize a windmill. We work to balance new uses and needs, such as a bike or equestrian trail, with what’s there. We also look at use: are people using an existing trail or making their own trails? If their making their own, why?”
Moore’s own garden is waking from its seasonal sleep at the home she shares with artist Laird Hovland at 2589 Camino Chueco, currently on the market in downtown Santa Fe. Check it out at Great Buys in Santa Fe, NM For more information on Moore’s work as a landscape architect, visit her website, Spirit of the Garden.
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Santa Fe is rife with plant lovers and voluptuous gardens that belie the traditional notion of rock strewn xeriscapes. If you’re looking for plants, materials or guidance installing your own leafy oasis, check out the list of Santa Fe Designers and Contractors at NM Landscape Designers and Contractors. Agua Fria Nursery, Newman’s, Plants of the Southwest, Payne’s Nurseries and Santa Fe Greenhouses are good local sources of plants and expertise.
Bring your thorny gardening questions to the Santa Fe Master Gardeners. Or stock up on plants and know-how at the organization’s Annual Garden Fair on April 24th at the County Fairgrounds. Ambitious DIYers should do the informative and empowering Master Garden Program themselves through the NMSU Santa Fe County Extension Office.
Santa Fe is blessed with a number of excellent non-profits serving a variety of plant interests:
The Santa Fe Botanical Garden provides education and outreach to the greater Santa Fe community through its two nature preserves and various programs. The Native Plant Society of New Mexico holds monthly meetings; head to their website for contact info and details. The Santa Fe Iris Society meets the last Saturday of the month, from February through September. Contact Marilyn Bennett at 505.474.0261 for more information.Tesuque residents can share information and seeds through the Tesuque Garden Club; Call 982.3839 for info. Contact Jane Thomson at 986.0753 to learn more about the Sangre de Cristo unit of The Herb Society of America, which meets every other month.
Cultivating nature is more and more being recognized as a beautiful landscaping discipline, as well as a best-practice for sustainability. Thanks for the post. We are happy to tweet it too.
“An interactive gardening experience for gardeners of all levels,” YourGardenShow.com, looks like a pretty fabulous resource for gardeners: a video billboard for ideas and inspiration. Co-founder Lisa Finerty says it’s still in the alpha stage but set to launch May 12th. Finerty, a Master Gardener and community activist, also established Secret Gardens Italy–a tour company that focuses on historic gardens of Rome. Husband Tom is an Emmy award winning producer and director. Look for good stuff from this duo and their talented staff.