Gay Goessling Gardens That Delight More Than the Eye by L. Gay Goessling, MLA If gardens were intended merely for our eyes, the work of a Landscape Architect might end at the drafting table or computer screen. With no other sense but vision to satisfy, the artistic placement of pink oak leaf hydrangeas bordering a bluestone terrace might create pretty pictures, but leave the full range of sensory expression unfulfilled. For L. Gay Goessling, MLA, creating exterior environments that draw on sound, smell and touch, as well as sight, is a holistic process that carefully blends all the elements of nature. Since launching her business in 1990, the most distinguishing characteristic of her professional projects is their sense of harmony and balance. But harmony and balance are never achieved by accident. In Gay's case, love of the natural world came almost as a living inheritance from her parents, both of whom treasured nature, and provided ample opportunities to explore its wonders. Long before Feng Shui's current popularity-before earth, air, fire and water became central tenets of deftly engineered harmony-Gay's notions about interdependence and the natural abundance of the earth were instilled by her Hawaiian-born mother. The influence of her mother's more Eastern philosophy dovetailed with Gay's own exuberance for the outdoors, acted out in countless visits to her grandparents' 100-acre farm outside St. Louis. By exploring rocky ledges and building fantastical moss villages, all the while closely observing bugs and animals, her awareness of the balance that exists between humankind and the natural world blossomed. Whether designing residential gardens, small neighborhood parks or larger urban public art spaces, Gay's goal is to create environments that elevate the spirit and heal the soul. Shaped by those days in the country, she is motivated to bring nature back to the city, where the environment is frequently the most threatened. Combining these sensibilities with traditional approaches to Landscape Architecture, the Harvard-educated MLA, in collaboration with her staff, has produced designs for garden spaces that stimulate all the senses: water splashing in a fountain, the pungent aroma of herbs sprouting between low stone walls, the velvet texture of lamb's ear or dusty miller, the waxy brilliance of magnolia trees bedecked in creamy blooms. "I spend a lot of time listening to clients, to understand what they need," Gay explained. "I love the idea of balance, but sometimes the budget may mean not using all the elements of nature in a project. (Introducing) water can be particularly expensive." Working with Cecelia McAvoy, Master Gardener, and Architectural Associate Michelle Pike, who respectively prepare the firm's plant and hardscape drawings, Gay finds every design provides a chance to mix and mingle color, lights and darks, with textures. In a recent residential project on one of St. Louis' more historic and elegant private streets, Gay chose materials like soft white gravel for the garden's pathways over darker earthen paths, satisfying the client's wish for a cooler feeling. "Whenever I can, I stay away from concrete,?EUR??,,????'?? she said. "Stone, brick and gravel just breathe more than concrete." To further enhance its coolness, Gay selected plant materials in soft grays, purples and muted gray-greens, juxtaposing seasonal splashes like red climbing roses, hot-pink and white peonies and deep purple Japanese iris. Structural elements like the fountain centering a new sunken garden bring a gentle chorus of water sounds that echoes the trickle from an existing wall fountain. A self-described environmental artist, Gay's talent can be seen in temporary venues like a fog and bamboo sculpture created for a recent flower show. Titled "Panda's Paradise," the swirl of fog over moss- and lichen-encrusted rocks simultaneously images fragility and endangerment. Other times, her artistry runs more whimsical: In the rear yard of a cottage where a fieldstone wall holds the woods at bay, a spiral pattern of paving stones suggests guests "follow the yellow-brick road." In another, Gay's undergraduate dual major of botany and art history comes serenely to life, producing a three-dimensional English painting, where a renovated swimming pool becomes a reflecting pond surrounded by perennials fronting the Tudor-style home. While residential projects involve meeting individual clients' goals, designing new or redesigning existing larger public spaces affords Gay and her staff the challenge of meeting the needs of hundreds or thousands of people they will never know personally. Here, too, Gay finds that relying on multiple natural elements such as stone, brick and water speaks a universal language, provokes contemplation, encourages healing, and in the case of locally beloved places like St. Louis Cathedral and Shaw Park in Clayton, evokes treasured memories. For those whose private landscapes have benefited from Gay's expertise, their worlds will always carry the suggestion of Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden," as they leave a busy world outside their garden walls. Many more, perhaps, will find themselves uplifted, reinvigorated, refreshed and peaceful after spending a few moments in Lucas Park in St. Louis or Ladue Chapel's Memorial Garden, touched by the natural harmony and balance in which Gay Goessling so fervently believes. Inhale the English countryside - almost-in this extensive urban garden, where the home's Tudor architecture conspires with the reflecting pool, projecting the three-dimensional image of an English painting. Below, this cottage's new entry boasts a limestone walk and steps that captures its historic New England flavor. A "secret garden" awaits beyond the gate. Adding a brick wall to surround the perennial garden only adds to its enchantment. Symmetry pervades, as a new circular fountain edged in limestone holds center court in the sunken garden Gay designed to eliminate the rear garden's flat dimensions. Planted with herbs and floored in soft white gravel, this new addition adds sound, fragrance and coolness.