Meet Jan Johnsen: Replenishing the Spirit with Landscape Designs
Posted in Adult Education, Gardening Tips, People on July 6 2012, by Joyce Newman
Last Days to Sign Up for Landscape Design Summer Intensive! Classes Start July 9.
While living in Kyoto, Japan as a college student, Jan Johnsen first experienced the “restorative powers” of gardens. “On the weekends I went to visit the serene landscapes of that city and they opened my eyes to the sublime loveliness that could be created in a small plot of ground within an urban environment,” she said.
Johnsen, who will be teaching in the Landscape Design Summer Intensive this July, started out as an intern at a high-pressure architecture firm in Japan, but her frequent visits to Kyoto’s treasured gardens changed her life, leading her to work in a landscape architecture office in Osaka. She next studied landscape architecture at the University of Hawaii and years later earned a graduate degree in planning. Today, her serene landscape designs clearly show the influence of Asian culture and thought.
“My philosophy of landscape design begins with the idea that the green world replenishes us. If we can bring that nourishing into our backyards and city spaces by making them beautiful and inviting to use, then we have succeeded in making our lives a little richer.”
Johnsen manages a successful landscape design and building firm based in Mt. Kisco, New York, called Johnsen Landscapes & Pools, which she co-founded with her husband, Rafael Algarin. Two of their most famous clients: Bill and Hillary Clinton.
In 2000, the Clintons bought a Dutch colonial home on Old House Lane in Chappaqua, New York. Mrs. Clinton was just about to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate from New York. The house now has a backyard pool surrounded by a white picket fence and gently sloping lawns bordered by a ribbon of flower beds. “It was a thrill to work on a project for them,” says Johnsen, “but other projects that have been amazing are the challenging ones–all rock outcrops, no level ground, or dense shade and deer browsing. The more challenging the site, the more excited I am to transform it.”
Johnsen shares design ideas from her 40-year career on her blog, “Serenity in the Garden,” which provides loads of practical advice along with inspiring garden quotations and “all things metaphysical.” For example, you can discover “how to incorporate the four qualities of the tea ceremony into your garden,” or find a great list of favorite gardening links, or even get tips on deer-resistant summer annuals.
A recent tip: Angelonias, such as ‘Angelface Blue’ and ‘Angelface Dark Violet’, are great choices for summer. They love the heat, can flower well into the fall, are deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and make great cut flowers that last several days indoors. Plus, they don’t need deadheading. Just keep up regular fertilizing and watering, and enjoy!
Sign up for Summer Intensives! Registration for the 2012 Summer Intensives in Gardening, Floral Design, Botanical Art, and Landscape Design is still open, offering students the opportunity to fulfill–in just a few weeks–many of the hours required for a certificate. Courses begin July 9.
To register, or for more information, visit our Adult Education site or call 800-322-NYBG (x6924).
Photographs courtesy of Jan Johnsen.
