Last modified: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 2:42 AM EDT Ornamental horticulture expert Claire Sawyers spoke recently at Tranquil Lake Nurseries in Rehoboth on "Plants for the Authentic Garden." (Staff photo by Mike George) True to life BY SUSAN LaHOUD SUN CHRONICL STAFF REHOBOTH -- It's wonderful to tour the world's grand gardens and landscaped estates, but what do we learn from the garden at Versailles? "It's hard to say 'Honey, let's do something like that,'" said Claire Sawyers, referring to the garden of monumental scale designed as a palatial center of government for Louis XIV. Rather than an imitation, the ideal garden is one that is true to a homeowner's heart and interests. It might draw from more elaborate enterprises, but must make sense in terms of scale, culture, personality and place. "Look at great garden cultures and extract from that and incorporate our culture, our landscape and what makes sense in that," said Sawyers, director of the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Sawyers, who holds masters degrees' in ornamental horticulture and has gardened in Japan, France and Belgium in addition to the United States, recently spoke about "The Authentic Garden" during a lecture series at Tranquil Lake Nurseries. She has penned a book by that name which involves five principles for "cultivating a sense of place." In America, the first 100 years were spent clearing the land; the next 100 years, "we started to make our mark," but Americans still remain "very much in the shadow" of European gardening, Sawyers said. Sawyers believes capturing a sense of place - discovering and preserving what is special about your site and working with it instead of struggling against it - is key. In other words, people need to gain an appreciation for what they have and work with what they've been given. Sawyers said people are constantly coming into the arboretum and asking about how to remedy a wet area or what they should do with a tree they're not fond of. "They probably don't like my response," she admitted. Sawyers typically tells folks that those perceived trouble areas actually present unique opportunities. "It can give you something special and not make it look like everyone else's front yard." "Invite Mother Nature to work with you," she said. "I think our culture still fights that. We want the perfectly straight trunk, the lollipop round trees." In Japan, trees are planted in a way that reflects and works with the surrounding landscape. A tree may be planted leaning, for example, to accommodate a waterway that has always been there. Sawyers said gardeners should also get away from the "quilt style," where there's neat lines and an assigned space for everything. She suggested plants that spread and drift versus patches of "that's my this, and that's my that..." "Get into chaos, really," Sawyers advised. Folks also "need to respect the whole life cycle of nature and plants," including dead trees, she said. "We're trained to have a knee jerk reaction to have to take down a white pine that's dead." At the Jenkins Arboretum, a tree splintered by a lightning strike has been left by one of the garden entrances. It's like a bit of sculpture and a conversation piece that draws people into the garden, she said. "More evocative gardens, more evocative landscapes - isn't that what we're striving for?" she asked. A second canon of creative gardening, Sawyers believes, is creating beauty incorporating function. Instead of the mailbox, driveway, pool, kid's playground or other features being isolated or excluded in the landscape, think of them as part of the garden. And use what you've got in terms of materials used in your garden, versus the more expensive alternatives, like granite. "Gardens are more harmonious if they are closer to the earth with indigenous or humble materials like sticks and stones," Sawyers said. People can recycle materials, like a section of brick and mortar wall or leftover slate from roofs. "It might take some work to get them, but they're affordable and they can serve as walks, a centerpiece or they can balance your landscape. "It will blend your house and life with the garden." A third way to broaden your approach to gardening is to "marry the inside to the outside," Sawyers said. "If we can bridge where we spend a good part of our time to where we want to spend a good part of our time" it creates a larger and more self-satisfying landscape compared to one that merely serves someone driving by. The concept can include anything from creating an entry garden where you see plants in the winter while you're getting out of the car to walk to your front door, to leaving curtains off the windows so that you can see your outdoor plantings - perhaps creating a different view from each room. Let their be audience participation in your yard, Sawyers said. "There are ways to do that physically and mentally." Americans tend to have lawns and plant around the perimeters. "There's nothing to bring you into the garden because everything is revealed" without having to wander or stroll, Sawyers said. "Think about as many of the senses as you can" when you plant, she suggested. The aroma of a plant, the sight in colors or foliage or shape, textures and sounds, such as those created by chimes or water features, can draw people into the environment. "We don't have to have a French wellhead or Japanese cistern, we can use American artifacts, incorporating natural or cultural history to develop a garden that speaks for us and to us," Sawyers said.