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Siftings
One of Americas greatest landscape designers and conservationists, Jensen used native plants to introduce the influential Prairie style of landscape architecture. In Siftings, Jensen shares his memories of "wandering in many lands" and his life in the heart of Middle America. His recollections―like his designs―express a love of natural landscapes and regional cultures. As he sifts through a lifetime of ideas about gardens, cities, towns and parks, Jensen makes an eloquent case for a natural style of American landscape.
146 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 2, 2010
This book is a collection of essays by Jens Jensen, who was a pioneer in the "Prairie Style" school of landscape architecture as well as a pioneer and advocate for the use of native plant species in design. The book is eloquently written and Jensen's descriptions of many of his compositions drove home the point that landscape architecture (and design in general) are determined in the end by the language, not the drawings, we use to describe and characterize the work. I particularly enjoyed his argument for a landscape architecture that impacts as many of the senses throughout all four seasons and that such a landscape architecture is arguably one of the highest forms of art.
That said, while I enjoyed reading the book, I disagreed with a lot of Jensen's philosophical approach and found it facile. At times, his rhetoric was a bit harsh in leaning towards using native plants and eschewing alien or 'intrusive' plants. This was particularly odd given that Jensen was a Danish expatriate to America; if he applied his own philosophy to himself, he would have never left Europe. Of course, humans aren't plants, and so perhaps this is a moot point. Nonetheless, I found his argument that true and good design will only come from rural people or people who use only native plants to be simplistic and naive - when he started talking about a "native knowledge of the soil," it was a little too rich for my sensibility and reminiscent of what some people call "blood memory." His disdain for urban living was also problematic and seemed a bit facile - it's a little too easy to say that cities are false and artificial, whereas the supposed countryside is the genuine article. It's not like agriculture, which is a form of landscape architecture, is a "natural" process; it's a system of land appropriation that humans have developed and honed over thousands of years. In the end, I don't think it makes any sense to try and argue, as Jensen does, that one area is more substantive or more likely to produce a genuine "humanity" than another, be it a city, suburb, rural area, cave, etc. In other words, substantive people can come from anywhere and cannot be so easily defined or demarcated as Jensen does in this book.
If you can take his philosophy with a grain of salt, then you'll be able to enjoy such fine sentences as this one, which ends the book: "Who can realize the supple power and the emotional forces that lie hidden in the misty bloom of the witch-hazel in the purple shadows of the dying day?"
That said, while I enjoyed reading the book, I disagreed with a lot of Jensen's philosophical approach and found it facile. At times, his rhetoric was a bit harsh in leaning towards using native plants and eschewing alien or 'intrusive' plants. This was particularly odd given that Jensen was a Danish expatriate to America; if he applied his own philosophy to himself, he would have never left Europe. Of course, humans aren't plants, and so perhaps this is a moot point. Nonetheless, I found his argument that true and good design will only come from rural people or people who use only native plants to be simplistic and naive - when he started talking about a "native knowledge of the soil," it was a little too rich for my sensibility and reminiscent of what some people call "blood memory." His disdain for urban living was also problematic and seemed a bit facile - it's a little too easy to say that cities are false and artificial, whereas the supposed countryside is the genuine article. It's not like agriculture, which is a form of landscape architecture, is a "natural" process; it's a system of land appropriation that humans have developed and honed over thousands of years. In the end, I don't think it makes any sense to try and argue, as Jensen does, that one area is more substantive or more likely to produce a genuine "humanity" than another, be it a city, suburb, rural area, cave, etc. In other words, substantive people can come from anywhere and cannot be so easily defined or demarcated as Jensen does in this book.
If you can take his philosophy with a grain of salt, then you'll be able to enjoy such fine sentences as this one, which ends the book: "Who can realize the supple power and the emotional forces that lie hidden in the misty bloom of the witch-hazel in the purple shadows of the dying day?"
August 29, 2025
What a lovely book! Published originally in 1939, Jens Jensen waxes philosophically about nature and landscaping. I was surprised in the first few pages how poetic the writing is; having expected somewhat scientific wording. His philosophy of landscaping reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright's philosophy of architecture: Using natural, native materials to enhance the natural landscape. (I wonder if they ever met.)
Unfortunately, many times he is maddeningly vague about the locations he references. Perhaps some of them were private property owners and he was protecting their privacy. However, it seems many of his clients were public entities. I would love to know where his landscaping still exists so that I can visit it (he did a lot of work in the area where I live.)
When he was 75, he established a "school of the soil" called The Clearing in Wisconsin. It still exists, if you are interested: they offer classes.
He was a critic of modern life; didn't have much use for cities as they were in the early 20th century; he was be truly dismayed at the state of our cities now. He opined that a row of parked cars along the street were ugly. I never considered that, but he was right. One of his predictions that hasn't panned out was "..it will not be at all surprising if the city of tomorrow excludes the automobile." Maybe someday. He wanted Chicago to build schools of large plats of land so that the students, staff, and faculty would have access to natural spaces.
In spite of being almost 100 years since it was published, I found this book to be illuminating. Many of his ideas have seen a resurgence in recent years; I can only hope that we continue to move in that direction.
Unfortunately, many times he is maddeningly vague about the locations he references. Perhaps some of them were private property owners and he was protecting their privacy. However, it seems many of his clients were public entities. I would love to know where his landscaping still exists so that I can visit it (he did a lot of work in the area where I live.)
When he was 75, he established a "school of the soil" called The Clearing in Wisconsin. It still exists, if you are interested: they offer classes.
He was a critic of modern life; didn't have much use for cities as they were in the early 20th century; he was be truly dismayed at the state of our cities now. He opined that a row of parked cars along the street were ugly. I never considered that, but he was right. One of his predictions that hasn't panned out was "..it will not be at all surprising if the city of tomorrow excludes the automobile." Maybe someday. He wanted Chicago to build schools of large plats of land so that the students, staff, and faculty would have access to natural spaces.
In spite of being almost 100 years since it was published, I found this book to be illuminating. Many of his ideas have seen a resurgence in recent years; I can only hope that we continue to move in that direction.
August 12, 2024
Currently in Door County, Wisconsin, with Jensen's own "Clearing" some small number of miles away. This peninsula is a truly beautiful and unique place. I can see the desire to live out one's days here, and I can see why the arguments between the conservationists and tourist-types were so fervent (in the end, there seems to be pretty good balance, even if there are a few too many tourists). Jensen came here after a long and successful career as a landscape designer, writer, and general nature connoisseur. This book is somewhat a manifesto of his design philosophy, but it is more so a paean to the natural world and our relationship to it. This is especially clear in Siftings, which is the first part of this collection, wherein Jensen traces his childhood, art's relationship to place, the native Midwestern landscape (he writes beautifully of this), and some rules governing landscape composition, town planning, and garden design. This part of the book is certainly worth a read, both for its aesthetics and its keen-eyed appreciation of the world.
The second part, The Clearing, quickly falls off the horse. It is a series of . . . reflections? musings? reveries? (which normally I like) on aspects of the natural world and human life, but it is altogether too Spiritual in a Hallmark sort of way. There are many anthropomorphized elements of nature, with the "wind singing the sincerity of Life" or the soil expressing "all is balanced [in] 'love'". Ultimately, this part is too over the top, and it becomes almost a parody of itself. Jensen also continually commits a flavor of the Naturalistic Fallacy, wherein everything that Nature does is innately good, and everything manmade becomes artificial (unless done in accord with nature); this, to a point, is probably true — there is nothing more off-putting than a modernist monstrosity in an untouched natural setting —, but "building in accord with nature" is not always attainable nor desirable. Having a dirt floor is more "natural" than tile, but it is also deeply unhygienic and a true bother when the weather isn't cooperating. So, while I do have deep sympathy for organicism and traditionalism in design —and especially in architecture —, this takes it a bit too far.
Overall, however, one can glean a great many beautiful things from Siftings, and it is well worth the read.
The second part, The Clearing, quickly falls off the horse. It is a series of . . . reflections? musings? reveries? (which normally I like) on aspects of the natural world and human life, but it is altogether too Spiritual in a Hallmark sort of way. There are many anthropomorphized elements of nature, with the "wind singing the sincerity of Life" or the soil expressing "all is balanced [in] 'love'". Ultimately, this part is too over the top, and it becomes almost a parody of itself. Jensen also continually commits a flavor of the Naturalistic Fallacy, wherein everything that Nature does is innately good, and everything manmade becomes artificial (unless done in accord with nature); this, to a point, is probably true — there is nothing more off-putting than a modernist monstrosity in an untouched natural setting —, but "building in accord with nature" is not always attainable nor desirable. Having a dirt floor is more "natural" than tile, but it is also deeply unhygienic and a true bother when the weather isn't cooperating. So, while I do have deep sympathy for organicism and traditionalism in design —and especially in architecture —, this takes it a bit too far.
Overall, however, one can glean a great many beautiful things from Siftings, and it is well worth the read.
August 6, 2018
Interesting book for our Master Gardener Book Club this month. Architectural horticulturest discusses his thoughts on native plants and the love of gardening.
He wrote in really long sentences and sometimes lost me entirely. Other items struck me as a Pantheist in really spiritual ways. In one paragraph he announced that there would never be peace on Earth until man and nature got along. Right on Jens.
He wrote in really long sentences and sometimes lost me entirely. Other items struck me as a Pantheist in really spiritual ways. In one paragraph he announced that there would never be peace on Earth until man and nature got along. Right on Jens.
September 25, 2024
contemplative and good for times of languor.
August 14, 2013
Whether we know it or not, Jens Jensen is with us today. Pocket parks in the city, use of native, especially prairie, plants, siting homes to respect the environment, and more. He warned of invasive species. He counseled against the use of imported non-native plants. Siftings was written late in his long life. It uses poetic language in a way that is not now fashionable. There are unfortunate aspects to his thinking, though. Cities create crime. Small towns create virtue. The suburbs are either good or bad. I think he couldn't decide. He speaks the language of whatever philosophy or belief system it is that finds God in nature. All in all, I am pleased that I read Siftings.
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November 30, 2015Lyrical!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews