Forest gives a sensation of ‘home’

The autumn sunshine filters through the maple, oak and pine trees, flickering on the lush, green plants crowding the forest floor. As my girls and I roam over rocky ledges, spongy moss and along grassy woodland paths, our attention naturally gravitates to the array of plants that graces the ground beneath towering trees. A lighting designer on Broadway couldn’t more perfectly choreograph the play of light on the forest floor. A stunning show of sunlight sparkles here and there, illuminating patches of every shade of verdant color.

Flashes of light demand attention, but devotion to one particular spot is impossible: There’s too much beauty to be seen.

Julia and Emma casually ask about the name of the woodland plants they see, and I pass along the names I’ve learned: reindeer moss, dogwood, princess pine. The names delight them; the funny and romantic labels amuse them, set the two little girls off giggling toward the next patch of greenery. They point, raise their inquisitive eyebrows, shrug the names off, smile, laugh and forge ahead to the acres of woodland beyond.

The plants growing among the trees, over the woodland trails and along the edges of rocky outcroppings are a diverse group that signal various stages of ecological succession. Tidy clumps of moss and Canada dogwood in the shadiest areas give way to goldenrod and stark clumps of blue-eyed grass in the more direct sun.

If the forest illustrates the wild and unruly parts of nature, and our homes exemplify the most control we have over nature, then the landscape around our home or community provides a transition between the hard architectural elements of our house and the wilderness of the greater landscape. Landscapes contain many of the same elements of the home. Landscapes have “rooms,” defined by living and nonliving “walls” such as hedges, fences and sides of buildings. It even has “windows” and “doors” in the form of arbors, partings between hedges and gates.

And a landscape has floors. Yet, a gardener would be challenged to conceive a “floor” in the home landscape that showcases the beauty, texture, diversity and vitality Mother Nature reveals in the forest floor. But we can try!

Some of the flooring materials are living, others are not. The most common living material, of course, are the lush blades of grass that form nature’s carpet. Grass offers many benefits: It is durable, relatively inexpensive to install and maintain, and accommodates a range of uses.

An enormous range of vital groundcovers also forms carpets. Creeping plants such as pachysandra, ajuga, vinca, ivy, creeping juniper, wintercreeper and many other groundcovers offer a range of color, both in foliage and flower, that may appeal to the home gardener. Their range of texture, generated by fine or coarse foliage, creates visual appeal as well.

Other outdoor “flooring materials” include wood, concrete, brick, flagstone and gravel. Each has benefits and drawbacks, but careful consideration of an area’s use, your personal budget and willingness to perform maintenance will dictate which should be selected.

Autumn is an excellent time to consider the more lasting elements of a landscape. It is the perfect time to consider improving movement through the landscape – the ways we pass from one “room” to another. Whether living or nonliving, the floors and hallways of our landscape are vital and provide an opportunity for us to experiment with functionality and beauty. The line defining our homes from the wilderness beyond challenges us to approach nature’s own mastery of selection.