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Linda Blanchard poses in her Rose Arbor designed by Ryan Gainey. Todd Bennett/Staff

International garden designer visiting the Garden city

Web posted May 8, 1998

By Kevin Bonsor
Staff Writer

The back door of Lynda Blanchard's home in West Augusta is the entrance to her garden and to the imaginative mind of international garden designer Ryan Gainey.

``His special talent is he is just a truly creative individual,'' says Mrs. Blanchard, who was surprised when Mr. Gainey accepted her invitation to design her garden six years ago.

Mr. Gainey returns to the Garden City Tuesday as a featured lecturer of the Augusta Symphony Guild's Designer Showhouse '98. He will be speaking about The Garden and It's Settings at 1:30 and 4 p.m. at the Augusta Richmond County Museum, 560 Reynolds St.

Everything is a work of art, said Mr. Gainey, even the clothes we wear. He said he believes in the freedom to express your beliefs artistically. Whether designing a garden, a wedding or your dining room table, Mr. Gainey wants to instill in those who attend his lecture the importance of using nature in their designs.

``It's all an expression of our ability as human beings to extract from nature and her beauty and give it to ourselves,'' he said in a telephone interview from his office in Decatur, Ga.

A native of Hartsville, S.C., Mr. Gainey has designed estate and cottage gardens around the world, some of which he will show during his lecture. Among his works of art is a portion of Mrs. Blanchard's landscape behind her Lake Forest Drive home.``I called him one day and told him we were moving,'' says Mrs. Blanchard, who serves on the Designer Showhouse '98 Committee. ``I just asked if he would consider helping me with my landscape design.''

Work on the garden began in the summer of 1992 just prior to the release of Mr. Gainey's first book, The Well-Placed Weed. He created an oval garden, a focal point in the landscape coming out of the terrace.

A stone walkway leads to the garden and under the limbs of two weeping cherry trees, which create a natural entrance for the garden.

Opposite the gardens entrance is a wrought iron bench under a cedar arbor designed by Mr. Gainey. Climbing the sides and over the top of the arbor is a New Dawn rose, the petals of which are just beginning to litter the ground.

Outlining the oval are native plants such as hydrangeas, spiraea, viburnum, crepe myrtles and ivy.

He also designed an arbor between the terrace and the garden and a trellis on a terrace wall. The idea for the trellis' design came from a small cottage that was moved to make room for the garden. The cottage, which was once servants quarters, was moved to the back of the property and is now a potting shed.

The project was completed in less than a year, says Mrs. Blanchard, who learned a lot about gardens and garden design in the time she spent with Mr. Gainey.

``It was really a positive experience working with somebody so creative,'' says Mrs. Blanchard.

In business 25 years as owner of Ryan Gainey and Co., Mr. Gainey is currently working on the design and building of Conway Mas, a 3-acre estate on Conway Valley Road in Atlanta. He also is directing the design and building of a visitors center for The South Carolina Botanical Garden at Clemson University.

Designer Showhouse '98

Who: Ryan Gainey

What: The Garden and Its Settings

Where: Augusta-Richmond County Museum, 560 Reynolds St.

When: 1:30 and 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Admission: $25 per person

For reservations and information: Call 826-4705, reservations are limited.