JAMES GOLDEN BIO
James Golden’s garden design has been featured in national and international magazines, in The New York Times, and in several books on garden design. He has collected many of his inspiring thoughts in the recently published book The View from Federal Twist. It is a wonderful, well-written glimpse into the inception, creation, and management of a naturalistic garden. James has been the recipient of national awards and is widely known in the gardening world through his garden blog View from Federal Twist. Federal Twist regularly appears on tours of the Garden Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Hardy Plant Society, and on numerous private tours. Recently retired, he has started a garden design practice. You can learn more about James on his website and blog, by following him on Instagram @imfederaltwist, and by reading James’s book The View from Federal Twist.
SHOW NOTES
A post on Federal Twist discussing the name of Lindera angustifolia (narrow-leaf spice bush)
James’s early exposure to plants like Cercis, Baccharis, and Magnolia in Mississippi
His educational background in English and fine arts
The influence of Piet Oudolf, Noel Kingsbury, and Henk Gerritsen’s books on James
James’s profession working for engineering and architectural firms
How Federal Twist came to be in 2005 and how it got it’s name
Learning from Noel Kingsbury’s books about planting design; competitors, stress tolerators, and ruderals; and sociability
The concepts of prospect-refuge and the clearing in the woods and their impact on his initial garden design
The use of the borrowed landscape and inspiration from Rousham Gardens
What it means to be a landscape garden and his choice of the German word stimmung
His thoughts on a garden being utilitarian
How James hates the labor of gardening and techniques to reduce the labor
His bravery of using competitors in his landscape
How Federal Twist changes during the seasons
The core concepts James would teach about naturalistic planting design
How people can learn to read their sites to design better gardens and inspiration from James Hitchmough
Practices that James has to center himself as a horticulturist
The importance of his blog and developing relationships with people
Ideas that came from the world of architects and writing proposals that James uses in his garden
The myths associated with native and non-native plants
What James wishes gardeners did more
How we can connect horticulture with more people by sharing gardens with youth and having internships
Learn more about James Golden and Federal Twist on his website and blog, by following him on Instagram @imfederaltwist, and by reading his book The View from Federal Twist