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Horticulturist Bill Dear considers himself an artist. Notthe kind that paints a still life or illustrates children’sbooks, but one who creates beautiful gardens andlandscapes. In fact, one of Dear’s favorite quotes, by ananonymous author, states, “Gardening is the slowest of

the performing arts.” He couldn’t agree with that more because itshows that a garden isn’t an inanimate feature. “It will evolve andcan be manipulated and that a truly great design will unveil itself asit grows and matures,” Bill says.

Bill is the founder of Dear Garden Associates, Inc., in Pipers-ville, PA, and is involved in all facets of the business. He brings thevalue of over twenty years of experience as a professional in thefields of horticulture and landscape design and construction.

With a Bachelor of Science degree in ornamental horticulture,and a minor in Ecology from Delaware Valley College of Scienceand Agriculture, Bill was planning to be an architect. But, hedecided to pursue his love of the outdoors and plants. “I alwaysthought I would design buildings, but my interest in nature and theenvironment led me down a different career path,” he explains.

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The Art ofLandscapingBill Dear seeshimself as an artistwho likes to designoutdoor spaces in newways that look greatinitially and improveas they grow

by Leslie Feldman

Bucks County Town & Country Living • Spring 2008

Opposite, in this example of Bill Dear’s workthe climbing white rose growing over the arboris called White Dawn. The flagstone steps arecovered with petals. Above, the rear garden in aBedminster house. The patio and hardscapingwere designed by Dear Garden Associates. Theplantings and their maintenance were done byDear. Left, Bill Dear working on a design.

Bucks County Town & Country Living • Spring 2008

Bill attributes much of the success ofhis company to his dedicated staff thatcreates and maintains amazing outdoorliving spaces, and is just as passionateabout the clients they work with as theyare about the gardens they create.“We are a group of individuals withmany years of landscape experience andtalents in various areas of horticulture,but we all are of the same mindsetregarding the quality of our work andcustomer service,” he comments. “Wefocus on what we enjoy and where outtalents lie—not firewood, lawn cuttingand snowplowing. We are always tryingto challenge the staff by creating originaldesigns and details for construction, suchas new stone projects and designs, newplants and moving bigger trees.”

All Dear Garden projects followspecific guidelines to ensure customersare getting exactly what they had hopedfor from the beginning. “Everyone inour group understands that customerservice is paramount,” says Bill. “Clientinput is essential—such as how they liveand their budget.”

The process begins with a free, on-site meeting to review the conditionsof their property and the goals for thegardens. In some cases, the creation of aplan is the next step if the scope of thework will benefit from the designprocess, which assists both the customerand Dear Garden when determiningdetails and coordinating elements suchas driveways, pools, landscaping,plantings and lighting.

Upon approval of the design pro-posal, Dear Garden will visit theproperty to get detailed information,such as the topography and the locationof existing structures and plants. Then,concepts showing potential shapes,dimensions and locations for land-scaping and plantings, as well as anyother items to be included, are pre-sented. When the plan and preliminarypricing are approved, they create a finalplan with proposals for installation.

“Our gardens are works of crafts-manship due to focus on details, mater-ials and uniqueness.” Bill notes. “Ourdesigns are innovative, but must befundamentally practical and sound or theywon’t succeed and last. I also believe thepassion of our employees is unmatched.We hand draw our designs rather thanusing CAD. It is a slower process but wefeel our layouts and plant placements are

more deliberate because it takes time tothink about the plant, its location and todraw it, rather than just click a button ona mouse and drag a symbol around.Good design isn’t about how fast youcan draw; it’s all about the quality of thefinal product and the details.”

Dear Garden uses only local plantsbecause they are more acclimated to thisclimate. Plants from the South and WestCoast sometimes struggle in this climateand suffer damage in the winters. Theyfocus on soil and plant locations andtheir relationships. Bill states that nomatter how high quality a plant is atinstallation, if the soil isn’t right, it willnot flourish.

Bill adds that Dear Garden works tocreate a feel and environment in theirgardens, not just to add color in a bed.“You need to use restraint in gardens.Just because you can put in something,doesn’t mean it belongs.”

With a focus on environmentallyconscious practices, they recycle waterfor their nursery. In addition to catch-ing and reusing water, they have dripirrigation installed to efficiently use thewater caught. The system is calibrated todeliver the proper amounts of waterrequired by the various plants in thenursery. Dear Garden also uses naturalstone or clay bricks because they workwell with the feel of the gardens theycreate. They avoid using concrete paversor pre-cast products.

“We are planting and trying varioustypes of plant material to see how theydo in our region, and are also testinghow they do in different soil types and indifferent amounts of light or water priorto using them in our gardens,” Bill says.“We also have areas of the garden wherewe grow different plants togetherlooking for different com binations ofcolor and texture.”

He adds, “We are also able to createdifferent types of stone patios or walls tosee how they work and for practice. Wethen gain ideas for designs and construc-tion with the knowledge that we can dosomething we haven’t seen before.”

Bill notes that designs are oftenimplemented over a number of yearsand that gardens change. “Our designsare unique due to the level of detail inour layouts, in addition to the materialswe use,” he explains. “We like to designspaces in new ways, rather than justfollow a formula that has been done

before. We design to look great initially,and improve as they grow.”

Dear Garden designs many periodgardens, such as English gardens,wildflower meadows, and woodlands.When designing a period garden orrestoration, their designs reference thepast, but are original with the materialsand final layout.

For Bill, one of the great aspects ofgardening is the anticipation—a flower,fragrance, fall color, change of seasons.He also enjoys the problem solvingaspect. “My work is never boring. Thereis always a new challenge like drainage,screening a neighbor, deer, wetness ordryness, or designing a beautiful area,”he notes. “What I like most is makingpeople happy and hearing positivefeedback regarding our work.”

Bill believes a growing trend in hisbusiness is creating outdoor environ -ments rather than just plantings for coloror along the foundation of a house.“Useful areas in the garden that can beused as an outdoor room or retreat—patios with fireplaces, outdoor kitchens,summerhouses and patios farther fromthe house—seem to be of interest to ourcustomers,” he adds. “Vegetable gardens,cutting gardens and plantings for fruit—orchards and berry bushes are becomingin creasingly popular.”

Bill is a member of many organ iza-tions, including the Pen nsyl vaniaHorticultural Society, the AmericanHorticultural Society and the Associa-tion of Professional Land scape Design-ers. He has guest lectured at the HenryFoundation for Botanical Research,Temple University and various localgardening organizations, on the topics ofLandscape Design, Plant Care, andlandscape project management. He isalso the Sec retary for the Penn-Delchapter of the Association of Profes-sional Landscape Designers.

Dear Garden is a sponsor of theSpring Garden Galaat Bowman’s HillWildlife Preserve and was an exhibitorand corporate benefactor of the 2007Bucks Beautiful Garden Fair Exhibit.They also have a garden in the NewHope Historical Society 15th AnnualGarden Tour. Dear Garden Associatescan be reached by calling 215-766-8110or by visiting (www.deargarden.com). ❖

Leslie Feldman is a freelance writer andpublic relations specialist.