Hello Lisa.

Welcome back to yet another edition of THE PENCIL CASE! Each issue focuses on a theme to encourage a fresh look at garden design and graphics. This week let's learn about the HERRINGBONE PAVING PATTERN. ♥︎

Garden above located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This is a 90 degree herringbone pattern.

UNIT PAVERS + PATTERNS 

When choosing garden floor materials it’s important to think about what is appropriate for the function of the space (will you be placing a dining set on it or playing croquet?), as well as, how the materials aesthetically complement the architecture and surrounding elements.

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If you choose unit pavers it opens up a world of colors and patterns. Unit paver is a collective term that includes clay bricks and precast concrete pavers. What's fabulous about unit pavers is that there are many different patterns you can create, plus you can combine more than one pattern for a fresh look.

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A typical unit paver size is 4” x 8” (10cm x 20cm), though there are a variety of options now...including many sizes of rectangles, squares and even circles.  

Design above at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, Illinois. This is a 45 degree herringbone pattern.

HERRINGBONE PATTERN

One pattern that I love is HERRINGBONE. It’s called "herringbone" because it looks like the bones of a herring fish. So cool. 

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The herringbone paving pattern dates back to ancient Rome. The Romans used it for roads because the zigzag design helped distribute weight and made the roads super durable. This pattern was in their brickwork, floors, and even in some medieval architecture. 

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Today, it remains a popular choice in both traditional and contemporary designs...depending on the color and paver style you choose. You can even rotate the herringbone pattern on either a 45 or 90 degree angle to fit the character of your site.

Design above by Greenhaven Landscape Design in Lake Bluff, Illinois. This is a 45 degree herringbone pattern.

HERRINGBONE INSPIRATION

We created this HERRINGBONE PINTEREST BOARD to show you a variety of ways to use this pattern in the garden.

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Here is a LITTLE GRAPHIC I created for Instagram with tips on how to draw this pattern. 

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If you'd like to learn about other UNIT PAVER PATTERNS check out this past issue of The Pencil Case.

Garden located in Buffalo, New York. This is a 90 degree herringbone pattern.

DRAWING PAVING PATTERNS

We love drawing paving patterns in our class: Garden Graphics Tool Kit. This 8-week course focuses on drawing different garden elements from paving to plants to pergolas and so much more. It's taught once a year and is coming up once again this January 2025. You're invited to join our WAITING LIST to learn more as it gets closer. 

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DRAFTING SUPPLY CLUB

We are also excited to offer our second round of the DRAFTING SUPPLY CLUB this November. This course covers the supplies we use to hand-draw our landscape plans. Three live classes will take place at noon US central time on November 19, 21 and 22. 

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Perhaps you'd like to dive into design now? Join us for 100 days of design tips with our 10x10 Series.

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If you know someone that would benefit from this newsletter, please feel free to share. They can subscribe right here. I also keep a VAULT of past issues in this secret location.

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All my best to you this beautiful season,

Lisa

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

Thanks to Mandy Orgler for preparing the images in this newsletter.