Ohio Garden Designer Brings 'American Roots' Talk to Bridgehampton

Modern home gardens found across the United States and the creative and innovative gardeners who made them are the subject of “American Roots,” Ohio-based garden designer Nick McCullough’s talk that he will deliver on Sunday in Bridgehampton for the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons’ monthly lecture series.

The presentation and McCullough’s book of the same name highlight 20 diverse gardens and the lessons and inspiration that can be taken from them.

McCullough and his wife and business partner, Allison McCullough, co-own McCullough’s Landscape and Nursery, a design, build and maintenance firm for fine gardens. They work on high-end residential projects in the Midwest and as far afield as San Francisco to the west and Connecticut to the east. They created the book in collaboration with gardening magazine writer and editor Teresa Woodard.

During an interview last week, McCullough explained that the presentation takes some case studies from the book and then dives into the themes they found are happening across the country among people who get gardening on a deeper level.

Among the 20 gardeners or gardening couples found in the book is Jeff Epping of Wisconsin, who spoke to the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons last fall on the topic of gravel gardening — one of the themes noted in McCullough’s presentation.

Another recurring theme in the book and the presentation is rewilding — an approach to gardening and conservation that involves ecosystem restoration and providing wildlife habitat.

McCullough said rewilding is, “depending who you talk to,” either a great thing or a bad thing.

While the book includes a diverse geography and diverse gardening approaches, what the selected gardens all have in common is that they are the personal gardens of their creators — and not examples of work done for hire.

“A couple might have got some help here and there, but the whole idea was that these were truly gardens that were created through the intent and through the eye of the gardener themselves,” McCullough said. “So a lot of them happened over longer periods of time, happened over many, many, many years, in some cases.”

He said “American Roots” offers a look into a creative mind that doesn’t have to answer to clientele.

“In this case, you have no one to answer to other than yourself,” he said.

Each chapter also includes a “Learn From” section with advice from the chapter’s subjects related to their expertise, like “Curated Native Trees,” “How to Use Hedges” and “Drama in the Garden,” and a favorite plants list with photographs.

Another goal of the book was to include gardeners who hadn’t been published much before. Half of the subjects were friends McCullough had made through his speaking engagements all over the country and from having a garden at the Philadelphia Flower Show. He said he has had many interactions where he was able to visit gardeners at their homes for a cocktail in the garden after a speech, or he spent the weekend with friends.

“I knew these gardens. So I was like, ‘Hey, would you guys want to be in this book? Here’s the idea of what we’re going for,’” he recalled. “And then half of them were people that I knew through Instagram — I knew of, but didn’t necessarily know them.”

He reached out through Instagram or dug up their email addresses.

McCullough said that though people give social media a bad rap, it opens doors. “It’s amazing to connect you with people who are really like-minded with you as far as your profession, your hobby,” he said.

He photographed the book in 2021 — during the COVID-19 pandemic — between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Woodard interviewed the gardeners and summarized their journeys making their gardens.

The McCulloughs’ own Ohio home garden is also among the 20 featured in the book. The chapter demonstrates the design style that McCullough developed. He calls that style “Midwest Modern” and describes it as “plant centric designs that are really plant forward, using natural stones that are really tailored to our climate.”

He noted that he studied garden design at Myerscough College in England. English influences are found in his gardens.

“I certainly love to create rooms,” he said. “I love to create mystery within the garden, and that is very much part of our Midwest Modern style.”

While at Myerscough College studying gardening, he also studied fine arts. “They go hand in hand,” he said, and the garden became his medium.

He’s also long practiced photography, though he said he had never done anything on the level of this book before. Still, he photographed all but three of the gardens himself. It allowed him to share what it is that he sees in the gardens.

He said it’s one thing to photograph a garden and another thing to photograph a garden to tell a story as well.

“I don’t know how I could have turned this over to a photographer to get my perspective,” he said. “I would have had to been there with them and say, ‘Oh, I want you to shoot this. I want to shoot this well.’ Instead of that, I just did it myself, and I captured the moments in the garden that I wanted to capture. … My biggest contribution to the book was telling that story through my design eye.”

His photography for “American Roots” earned him a Gold Award and a Silver Award from GardenComm. Woodard was likewise awarded for the writing.

McCullough has also been recognized by the Garden Club of America for his public speaking.

The presentation will bring the McCulloughs to Long Island for the first time, and they plan to take in LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton and Madoo Gardens in Sagaponack. They are also leaving time to explore. “That’s when we find many of the best things,” McCullough said.

Nick McCullough will speak on “American Roots” on Sunday, September 7, at 2 p.m. at the Bridgehampton Community House, 2357 Montauk Highway at School Street, in Bridgehampton. Admission is $10 for the public and free for Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons members. For more information, visit hahgarden.org.