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Van Binkley recently designed these fall planters for the home of Ryan and Lauren Stadel in Lititz.
Van Binkley of Tudbink's Farm has been creating seasonal planters for JoAnne Freidly's Conestoga-area home for seven or eight years.
No two Tudbink's planters are exactly alike. Van Binkley suggests embracing imperfection and choosing plants of varying heights, colors and textures.
No two Tudbink's planters are exactly alike. Van Binkley suggests embracing imperfection and choosing plants of varying heights, colors and textures.
Van Binkley recently designed these fall planters for the home of Ryan and Lauren Stadel in Lititz.
Van Binkley recently designed these fall planters for the home of Ryan and Lauren Stadel in Lititz.
Van Binkley of Tudbink's Farm has been creating seasonal planters for JoAnne Freidly's Conestoga-area home for seven or eight years.
No two Tudbink's planters are exactly alike. Van Binkley suggests embracing imperfection and choosing plants of varying heights, colors and textures.
No two Tudbink's planters are exactly alike. Van Binkley suggests embracing imperfection and choosing plants of varying heights, colors and textures.
Van Binkley recently designed these fall planters for the home of Ryan and Lauren Stadel in Lititz.
When Van Binkley of Tudbink’s Farm creates a fall planter for his clients, no two planters will look quite the same.
Binkley thinks of himself as an artist with living works of art, as he composes a palette of deep and soft greens, silvery and golden tones, burgundy and magenta, autumn bronzes and fallen leaf sienna.
“I never do anything quite the same, even from year to year,” says Binkley, the master of creating planters for both residential and commercial use. “There are always new varieties of plants to discover.”
Binkley’s foray into creative container gardening began over two decades ago when he and his wife, Beth, opened a garden center at the Conestoga farm that’s been in his family since 1915.
You’ll find Binkley’s artistry at The Marriott on Penn Square and Lancaster County Convention Center. Planters of various sizes and shapes surround the iconic building, filled with plants of all colors and characteristics. Some are bold and colorful, others are soft and flowy, still others are grasses and vines that few people can identify.
Binkley says he is constantly exploring plants that will give his planters that unique look and create a subtle standout creation. The goal is to keep it loose and free. His planters are not formal, he says, and you won’t see any cliche fall items like bright orange pumpkins and gourds.
Residential customers count on Tudbink’s to keep their homes beautiful in every season. Most have Tudbink’s do their seasonal planters each winter, spring, summer and fall, with plants carefully selected to look their best for the full three months, until the seasons turn.
JoAnne Freidly has been having Tudbink’s do the planters at her Conestoga-area home for seven to eight years.
“I always love what Van does,” says Freidly, noting that her home is a large white house with a wraparound porch, lots of windows and no shutters, creating a clean white canvas with lots of opportunity to do various plants.
There are 12 planters outside Freidly’s home, including two large white ones on each side of the front door and 10 others in various sizes of teal ceramic. There are also hanging ferns along the porch.
“What I really love is that Van puts in an irrigation system for all the planters that is set up so I don’t have to water them,” Freidly says. “It would be very hard to keep them all watered, especially as dry as it has been.”
Freidly initially hired Tudbink’s to do landscaping at her home. When she learned that they did planters, she asked them to create some to complement the house and landscaping.
“I loved what they did, and now I don’t really tell them what I want. They already understand what I like,” she says, adding that the only exception is when they coordinate winter plantings with her Christmas decorations.
For fall she is always excited to see what Tudbink’s comes up with, noting that each year it’s different and even each planter is a little different than the other.
“I do my best work when my clients give me free rein,” Binkley says. “If they let me surprise them, they are always happily surprised.”
He will ask them about colors they like. Most of the time, people may not know the name of particular plants, but they will know that they like burgundy or pink or white.
The Tudbink’s style is rustic, with a variety of colors and textures. The shapes are irregular, with a look that seems like nature might have planted the mixture of seasonal plants. They don’t look planned out, because in truth, Binkley’s work is intuitive.
Like an artist who feels the need for a certain shade of green or a long wisp of variegated silvery tones or an unexpected pop of deep garnet or crimson, Binkley paints each planter with his heart and his hands — with the help of his staff that includes family members.
Each season, Binkley explores new ideas that might work in upcoming planters. He likes rugged plants, even tiny misshapen mums that are not perfect. He is especially fond of grasses, like a long sweeping grass known as feather falls. Then there are plants like ornamental kale that seem like they might belong in a salad. The purple and eggplant shades add rich color. Tiny sunflowers add a unique twist on golden tones.
“The misshapen mums are great because they can be squeezed into tiny spaces,” Binkley says. “They don’t look too formal and planned out. It is actually more challenging to do planters that look unplanned.”
He likes when clients give him a long leash.
“It’s always a wonderful surprise to see what Tudbink’s will do each season,” says Ryan Stadel of Lititz.
Stadel and his wife, Lauren, have lived in their home for five years and started having Tudbink’s do the planters four years ago. The house is a beige-gray with gray stone and charcoal gray shutters and door. It gives Tudbink’s plenty of opportunity to create planters that will complement the neutral palette.
There are six planters on the front porch of the Stadel home: two large ones on either side of the front door, two smaller planters one step down, and two medium ones at the edge of the walkway from the porch. The plants near the door look similar, but looking closely, they are all a little different.
“That’s what we like. They are all done a little differently, and each year, they are never quite the same,” Stadel says. “Van does an amazing job. He is brilliant.”
Two huge planters in the Stadels’ backyard accent the patio and pool.
“They are like sculptures created with plants and we always get so many compliments when friends are over,” Stadel says.
Stadel also likes the irrigation system that Tudbink’s installs, which makes it easy to care for the plants. And because they are planters, they rarely get weeds.
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Let’s just get right to the part of this model home most likely to elicit a twinge of envy.
At the Annual Penn-Jersey District Rose Show, dozens of roses vied for the top prize.
Homeowners who need a little help with their seasonal displays can attend a fall planter workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Tudbink’s Farm, 610 Stone Hill Road, Conestoga.
For details and registration, visit tudbinks.com.
Do-it-yourselfers can also follow these tips from Tudbink’s owner Van Binkley:
• Start with the right container: Window boxes, concrete planters, terracotta and metal planters are a few options. A large vintage container can also work, as long as it’s a material that will hold up to the weather. Concrete planters are durable, with stylish and ornate molds. Terracotta is a form of clay-based ceramic that has been used to store flowers and plants for centuries. The material is perfect for circulating water and air through the soil. Be sure to use high-fire terracotta planters, which are stronger and can handle any weather conditions. Metal planters tend to age over time, but that can give them an antique look.
• Choose plants that can withstand the weather: You want your fall planter will last the entire season. It’s best to ask a garden expert if you are not sure. Late-blooming ornamental grasses add texture and structure. Mums come in a wide range of hues. Purchase them in bud rather than full bloom so they last longer. Plants don’t have to be perfect, Binkley says. In fact, he likes the rustic quality of misshapen mums.
• More options: Other fall plants that are great in planters include pansy, calendula, primrose, dusty miller, snapdragons, blue lobelia and dianthus. Don’t just think flowers. Ornamental kale and cabbage offer colorful foliage in green, magenta, purple and pink. Then there are ornamental peppers in colors like yellow, orange and red, although peppers are likely to die off after the first frost.
• Consider the color scheme: You have many options for fall color, like traditional oranges and reds, greens and rose tones, neutral tans and browns with a touch of color, or bolder jewel tones like magenta, emerald and purple.
• Consider texture: Choose plants with different types of leaves and varying textures.
• Consider depth and layering: Binkley likes a more rustic and less uniform look, as if nature might have planted it. To achieve depth and layering, choose some plants that stand tall, some that are shorter and close growing like kale and cabbage, some with long flowing leaves like grasses, and some with variegated color.
• Plan before you plant: Arrange plants on the ground to see how they will look together.
• Embrace imperfection: Mix it up a bit with unexpected colors and textures. Developing a good eye for designing a planter takes practice, but don’t try to make it perfect. “I like imperfection, and using unusual plants that create a more rugged look,” Binkley says.
Do you know what this mystery tool from the collection of Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, was used for?
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