Russian gardens

[Hkind]

As a contrast you may have  a look at Anna P,'s new Moscow garden (1-3) and her datcha near Tver. (4-5)

[Hkind]

And Elena D.'s garden in Moscow

[Olga Bondareva]

Great photos! 

Anna is a professional landscape designer and very well-off lady. Her garden is a good example of talent and rich experience.

Yes, I share your impression. Shown gardens are exception. Very interesting to view Magadan gardens.

But… But… 

I’d like to show beautiful gardens. No cabbage. 

The next is a garden of Galina Dubovaya, in 100 km from Moscow.

[mark smyth]

Olga what camera do you use? I'm impressed by the long distance quality

[Hkind]

Thank you, Olga, fo the beautiful pictures of a beautiful garden I haven't visited yet!

Rock gardening has been poorly represented so far in this thread. So I thought it might be time to show some pics of Evgenyi Tarasov's garden, 100 km  west of Moscow. You can see his own pictures at http://home.onego.ru/~otsoppe/coll5/coll501a.htm.

His garden was under re-construction when I visited this year. But maybe you can get an impression. He is especially fond of cushion plants and dwarf conifers, but also cyps and ferns.

The first image shows an over all view from the road. The second is Evgenyi with a collection of seedlings.

Image 3 gives you a view of the rock garden, No 4 a collection of cushion plants waiting for the re-build rock garden and No 5 some witch brushes.

[Olga Bondareva]

Mark,
It’s old Sony S85. Sometimes I try to change it to something new but there are no alternatives.

Hannelotte, you are right, let’s turn to alpine garden! I’ve been at Evgeniy’s garden many times and I like it very muсh. No doubt he is one of the well-known Russian alpine enthusiasts. He was the first who started to popularize rock gardens and plants here.

Some images from his garden of different years.

[Lesley Cox]

Thank you Olga and Hannelotte for these super pictures. They give a great impression of what Russian gardeners are doing and I think maybe Russian gardens are not so different from our own, in New Zealand. Certainly the plants we all grow are similar. I suppose that the plants which are beautiful speak for themselves and no matter where we are in the world, their beauty appeals to all growers. It's good to focus on those things which we have in commn rather than perhaps the things which divide us.

[Hkind]

Thank you, Olga!

Looking at the images gives me a lot of very nice memories! I have never seen the garden in full bloom, since I have to attend my own garden during the best flowering time. 

You are right, Lesley, gardening is not so different in different countries and cultures. But I think there are still a lot of very interesting russina plants for us to decover. It's a pitty that exchange of plants with Russia is quite difficult.

[Olga Bondareva]

Hannelotte and Lesley,

You are absolutely right saying gardening is uniting us!

Here is a garden of Konstantin Alexandrov. He is mostly bulb collector. Unfortunately images made in August when bulbs are in their dormancy. But his garden is very “Russian”.

Do you see any only Russian signs at these gardens (with the exception of architecture and samovar)? It’s a very important question for me. Please do not hesitate to say truth. Hannelotte, you saw not only beautiful but ordinary Russian gardens, what could you say? How do they differ from others?

[Hkind]

Oh, Olga, that's an impossible question! The differences are mostly given by the owner's preferences, climate, topography and other conditions in the surroundings, I think, and not so much by  national gardening cultures.   Maybe such cultural effects exist when looking at the average gardens in different countries, but hardly when looking at gardens of  plant enthusiasts.  Choice of plant material is important, but you can see the newest cultivars from Holland and USA in Russian gardens. 

Of course there are beautiful gardens  - i.e. gardens with beautiful design - and interesting gardens with unusual plant collections  and boring gardens with lack of design and most conventional choice of plants in Russia - and in Sweden - and in the UK.  - Well, maybe we don't grow as much cabbage as Russian people do. 

Hannelotte

[Lesley Cox]

No indeed Olga, the pictures above could have been taken anywhere I think, with the exception of the samovar, a lovely thing and it seems to be a working model, with steam coming out. For quick refreshment in the garden? In the UK perhaps there would be an elegant statue but in NZ it would likely be an old plough share or something similar. I've even seen old lavatory bowls used as garden ornaments. (Not in MY garden, I hasten to add!)

[Maggi Young]

Wait a minute.... are there NO slugs in Russia? These hostas in all the gardens are so perfect! It is a delight to see them looking so good.
I am getting a feeling of what I call REAL gardens from these posts.... by which I mean a garden made for pleasure (even if for growing food) with plants laid out to look handsome and to provide a pleasant space for people to enjoy... not like so many modern gardens that have too much so-called design and no soul!

[Olga Bondareva]

Maggy, we have a lot of slugs especially when summer is wet. Hosta lovers use metaldegid and beer traps.  Hannelotte and Lesley, there are many people here who suppose Russian gardens have their own unique spirit and look. I don’t think so and I am very interested in fresh and clear point if view. Of course there are not enough pictures to make opinion. That’s why I asked Hannelotte.

Thanks a lot!

[Hkind]

Olga, my impression is that people of all nationalities tend to think that their gardens are special. And of course they are, because climate, topography etc are special. Something which may make a certain difference between some gardens in Russia and gardens in crowded Western Europe is the size. You rarely find gardens as large as - for example - Elena's.  The size of the garden  effects  probably also choice of plants and garden design.

I am sorry but I have nothing more to contribute to this thread. Since there seems to be some curiosity regarding gardens in Eastern Europe, I'll start a new thread about some gardens in the southern part of Estonia.

[razvan chisu]

Dear Olga
Wonderful pictures and gardens indeed. Also living in a ex-comunist country I can say that our gardens do not have the western-contemporary style yet. Country gardens are mainly filled with vegetables interspersed with the old annuals and summer Dahlias and Cannas. City gardens can be reduced to conifers, roses and a big lawn. There are so few perennials and almost no alpines. So I was very impressed to see the garden pictures of your friend Elena, with so many modern perennials and ferns. Is there a trade in perennials in Russia? Are there nurseries, garden centers and so on? Or perennials are mainly imported from elsewhere. You mentioned gardens associations. How about these, are there many, on which aspects of gardening and horticulture they concentrate?
I hope to see more pictures of gardens in Russia.
Razvan