Quick Takes With: Todd Carr

Todd Carr has been obsessed with plants for more than half his life, whether it’s designing landscapes for clients, leading garden coverage for Martha Stewart Living magazine (RIP), tending his own garden in upstate NY, or creating otherworldly botanical experiences for visitors to Hort & Pott, the by-appointment-only, self-described “speak-easy shop” that he co-owns with his partner, Carter Harrington. The store opened seven years ago, and today, fellow plant obsessives drive hours to immerse themselves in the magical, flora-focused worlds they create for each season. (Read more about it here.) The couple’s current project? Overhauling the landscaping surrounding their 1890s house in Freehold, NY. In addition, “I have been creating a new line of ceramics, and Carter has been pushing the envelope developing a new collection of outdoor cast concrete containers and sculptural accessories for the garden,” says Todd. 

Below, Todd reveals the popular flower that he just can’t stomach, his favorite gardening hack that saves hours of yard work, and why he’s conflicted about the rise of meadow gardens.

Photography courtesy of Hort & Pott, unless otherwise noted.

Your first garden memory:

I must have been 6 or 7, picking fresh snap peas, still warmed by the sun, enjoying the beauty in the shadow of my mothers incredible vegetable garden. That memory forever planted the endearment of being immersed in nature.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

A Way to Garden, by Margaret Roach, a classic I love to go back to in the deep winter and re-read. Hot Plants for Cool Climates, by Dennis Schrader, a go-to for my collection of tropical plant material. The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by Tracy DiSabato-Aust, a staple in my early education. [See Quick Takes With: Margaret Roach.]

Instagram account that inspires you:

@christian_douglas_design: A good friend and amazing designer, Christian has reopened my eyes to what a vegetable garden can be. [See Quick Takes With: Christian Douglas.]

@cultivatedbychristin: She has such an evocative way of discussing the true nature of flowers and is inspiring through her arrangements and writing.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Big, bold, and textural.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Any plant that can get taller than me in one season will captivate my attention every time. Over the years I’ve used such annual giants like castor bean ‘Zanzibar’, and 15-foot-tall broom corn, but fast growing vines like hyacinth bean and birdhouse gourds also make my heart sing. The structural perennial Cephalaria gigantea is a top favorite.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

Roses—just never found myself enthusiastic about them, and not a fan of their scent or the maintenance required to care for them.

Favorite go-to plant:

I have a few signature plants here that I like to incorporate in each garden, but by far the most used here at Arkwood is the native shrub Physocarpus or ninebark. I’ve got quite a few varieties here and growers keep bringing out beautiful new ones that are fun to collect and trial here in the gardens. Physocarpus ‘Amber Jubilee’ is a stand out here at Arkwood from spring to fall and throughout the winter with its shedding bark.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

A few weeds in the garden and blurred border edges are okay—trying to control nature to the max always feels too constrictive to me. Being a little loose and casual with my gardens puts me at ease and I’ve come to accept the blurry lines between the natural and cultivated.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

Meadow gardens everywhere. I think there is a right place for them of course and I’m not saying this trend needs to go; I know how beautiful and beneficial they are. I’d just like to see more layered gardens using native trees, and shrubs like sumac, willows, and dogwoods. I’m really enjoying the urban decay garden movement that I have been seeing, with the use of colonizing plant material and weeds being celebrated for the beauty they can possess.

Favorite gardening hack:

Using my electric hedge shears to buzz down and clean up perennial grasses and the previous years’ perennial remnants in the spring. After many years of gardening, its nice to give your pruning hand a break.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

I am big into drying flowers, collecting seed pods and other botanical ephemera that I use in my studio practice; wreaths, arrangements and more become moments of the natural world exhibited in our interiors.

Every garden needs a…

Water feature! Wether a pond, a rill, or a little birdbath, water brings movement, reflection and wildlife to your garden. My favorite moments in the garden are spent next to one of our many fountains.

Tool you can’t live without:

My Felco pruning shears are always near by, and my pole pruner goes into high gear come November when I use it to cut those choice evergreen branches for winter wreaths.

Go-to gardening outfit:

A comfy cut-off tee, with surf shorts, and slip-on Vans.

Favorite hardscaping material:

Pea gravel—the way it moves, sounds under foot, and looks especially after a rain.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Greene Bee Greenhouse; Catskill Native Nursery; and Select Seeds.

On your wishlist:

To design a garden in an actual tropical climate where the plants can continue to grow throughout the years without the threat of the freeze. And to visit some of Brazilian designer Roberto Burle Marx‘s garden designs.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

Innisfree Garden, in Millbrook, NY. There’s no other garden I’ve been to that speaks to me quite like the emotional and aesthetic riddled Innisfree.

The REAL reason you garden:

Nothing else gives me the satisfaction than creating living sculpture and a breathing atmosphere. The sound of the ponds and water features, the way a breeze tosses around the giant perennials and the birds above on the wing. Gardening is really a celebration of life, a perennial challenge, and an everlasting reward.