WINTER 2025

PLACEMAKERS NEWS & EVENTS

From garden parties to nursery tours, we love connecting with our Placemakers near and far! Stay up to date on the next great garden gathering, virtual or live. Here you can find the latest Placemakers Academy News, and join our event invite list too!

December 2024 Events

Early-bird enrollment Opens for the 2025 Garden Design Immersion

Saturday, December 7th | Save $100 when you enroll by January 4th

Early-bird enrollment opens for the 2025 Placemakers Academy Small Group Garden Design Immersion. This course will change the way you see landscapes, you will see new potentials and possibilities emerging, where you might have been stuck and uninspired before. You will gain the confidence to make great choices for your home garden, to make a landscape that fits you like a glove.

JANUARY 2025 Events

Winter in the Garden’, the Foundation of Great Design | Free Virtual Talk

12:00pm – 1:00pm | Thursday, January 2nd | Free Virtual Garden Talk & Q&A

How do you create visual interest in your garden in winter? How do you anchor your design with evergreens and honor these quiet times in nature? Come join us for a free talk to up-level your garden and enjoy year-round interest and beauty in your outdoor spaces!

Curious about the 2025 Immersion? Register for the Q&A!

11:00am -12:00pm | Saturday, January 4th | Immersion 2025 Q&A

Join us as we give you a tour of the upcoming immersion course, and answer all of your questions about the course. All attendees will receive a signed copy of Mary Palmer’s, “Lifelong Landscape Design” to inspire your garden design journey!

February 2025 Events

Virtual Open House | Placemakers 2025 Garden Design Immersion

7:00pm – 8:00pm | Tuesday, February 25th | Open to Enrolled Students & Curious Prospective Students

To welcome all of our 2025 Immersion students and get them acquainted with the course, we’ll host a virtual open house on zoom. If you’re still figuring our if the immersion is right for you, we welcome you to join us too! We will give you a tour of the course and all of the info you need to set yourself up for success on your garden design adventure.

March-May 2025 Events

Coming Soon…

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FALL 2022 NEWS

PLACEMAKERS NEWS

Find out what we’ve been up to


Dargan Landscape Architects receives International APLD GOLD Landscape Design Award

The Association of Professional Landscape Designers awarded Mary Palmer Dargan, RLA, principal of Dargan Landscape Architects of Cashiers, NC.  the prestigious International GOLD landscape design award at their recent conference in Chicago.

The Cashiers team of John Warren, Natural Landscapes and Wayne Miller of Miller Landscapes worked tirelessly for 3 years to develop the grounds. Edmund Taylor, horticulturist supreme, managed the plant material collections of rare evergreen and deciduous trees, flowering shrubs, vines, perennials, dahlias and woodland plantings for well over a decade.

Association of Professional Landscape Designers Gold International Design Winner

Mary Palmer Dargan, RLA of Dargan Landscape Architects receives an International GOLD Landscape Design Award from Eric Gilbey of Vectorworks, President of The Association of Professional Landscape Designers at the July conference in Chicago, IL.

The Judges on Ushuata,

Ushuata, created for Judy & George DIxon in Cashiers,NC, was applauded by the judges as being,

A wonderful project. A great design that blends the site, its context , the environment and grounds. Great variety in design elements and features. Excellent job weaving materials – stone and plants – into the site.

Softer hardscape is appreciated for a lighter footprint on the land. Circular stairs – a stunning elevation transition in harmony with the site. Excellent mix of intimate and larger spaces making an overall welcoming and beautiful landscape. Well done.”

Ushuata Wins Gold at APLD 2022

Ushuata is situated on 12 acres of mountaintop with 280 degree vistas over western NC. The property was generously shared to benefit The Joy Garden tour thrice in the past 15 years. As the plant collections matured, it became a botanical garden featuring the range of plants that thrive in our area at 4500′ elevation. Sustainable practices such as water harvesting and composting exhibited good stewardship of the land.

Placemakers Academy 2022 Immersion Group Celebrates Graduation at Fernwood

The Graduates of the 2022 Spring Immersion Program gathered in Cashiers NC for a special live garden study and garden party.

The live garden tour featured several of the Dargan’s landscape designs, including their most recent home and garden at Fernwood.

Placemakers Academy 2022 Garden Design Immersion Graduation

The second class of Placemakers Academy Immersion Program Graduates gathered to celebrate in Cashiers, NC. The students completed a three month garden design immersion program this Spring where they learned to craft their own master landscape plans.

Each of these students honed their own designer’s eyes, and it was an honor to host them on this design journey and to celebrate them with a graduation garden party.

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