Designer Nick McCullough shares American Roots at Garden Spark
Austin garden lovers and designers turned out for Garden Spark on a chilly Thursday evening to hear Columbus-based designer Nick McCullough. Nick has a huge fan following across the U.S. and shared inspiring images and the stories of the gardens from his new book American Roots. I reviewed American Roots last year, so check that out if you want to know more. Plenty of Austinites do, as it turns out! And Barton Springs Nursery‘s outdoor classroom was once again the beautiful location for this Garden Spark event.
Allison, Nick’s wife, business partner, and co-author, was at Garden Spark too and joined in for the Q&A after the talk. It was so great to meet them both and hear more about the book and their design work.
Austin landscape architect Tait Moring‘s personal garden is featured in Nick and Allison’s book, so yes, you’ll see Texas in the book, as well as many other regions across the country.
Follow Nick on his popular Instagram for regular design inspiration. Big thanks to Nick and Allison for traveling to Austin for Garden Spark, and to everyone who came out for the talk!
The last Spark talk of Season 6 is coming up on February 23rd, with acclaimed Austin designer Mark Word speaking. Subscribe to Garden Spark for early access when tickets go on sale, as these events often sell out quickly. Simply click this link and ask to be added to my email list.
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Digging Deeper
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!
Experience the Surreal Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden, an enchanting neon-art display throughout the gardens, with food and drink, music and dancing, surreal performers, and interactive art sculptures. Surreal costumes encouraged! 25% of event proceeds benefit the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy. Runs April 6 (VIP Night), April 7-8, and April 13-15, from 6:30 pm to 11 pm.
All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I would have loved to be there! I started reading American Roots last night and I am really enjoying it. For some reason I didn’t think I would, and had kind of ignored it until a friend referenced it in an email exchange and then another friend also mentioned having read it. The second friend’s main takeaway was planting in funnels, then she went on to mention she’d already learned that tip from me. I guess that helped change my view of the book, I’d previously thought was only going to be about big fancy gardens. The final chapter of my book, profiling other fearless gardeners, was my favorite to write, and I am imagining how much fun this book would have been to do.
Nick started his talk by recalling how he watched the Monty Don show about American gardens during the pandemic. And it really didn’t resonate with him. (Me neither, particularly all those estate gardens Monty Don focused on.) So Nick and Allison decided they’d do their own version by seeing what American designers are up to in their own gardens. This is why I love the book: you get to see what creative, knowledgeable people are doing in their own spaces (which are very much not estates) across the U.S. Plus the book provides a few helpful gardening takeaways from each garden, like your friend mentioned.