This was planned as a walk in the park. It's turning out to be a prowl. Long off the beaten path, we crunch through a blanket of leaves following David Driapsa on the trail of wild things.
One of them, a gopher tortoise materializes, with the added woodland aura of a snake trail in its sandy environs. Lichen balls, moss that has curled into furry green orbs, are elusive this particular day, but the southernmost turkey oaks in Florida rustle in a bid for attention. Spiky discs of cactus rise from the sugar sand that characterizes this ancient dune.
Not far away, traffic barrels down U.S. 41 and high-rise condominiums tower over the Gulf of Mexico from Pelican Bay. But this peaceful forest preserve is part of the Oakmont neighborhood, planned by Westinghouse Communities when Driapsa (pronounced DRAPE-see) was its landscape architect.
It is a mature work of native landscaping, a forerunner to one that has won him a state award from the Florida Native Plant Society. The winning work, Naida's Native Plant Garden, is still maturing into a showplace for the Southwest Florida Horticultural Learning Center at 14700 Immokalee Road.
Among the latter's 55 types of plantings is an impressive array of flora that can be labeled a Product of Florida. There is vining passionflower, patches of scarlet salvia and yellowtop, bushy stands of pink muhlygrass and butterfly weed. There is also a wealth of texture and shape in glossy-leafed wild coffee, silver-green palmettos and coontie.
Above all, there is space and an array of enticements: walking paths, a shaded pergola, benches, ponds and stony outcroppings. It, as does the Oakmont Park, follows Driapsa's philosophy: "Landscape architecture is about creating a place for outdoor life."
"Landscape architecture," he explains later, "is an art of creating spaces with artistry to them,” a tangible choreography that excites Driapsa, who has his own consulting business.
What Driapsa wanted in Oakmont was a community created in harmony with its native surroundings. He preserved the existing native foliage to turn each home into a secluded estate.
He limited the irrigation sprinkler system installations to a 5-foot fringe around the home. The rest of the landscaping, Southwest Florida natives, slurp summer rain and tough out spring drought, and do not need the supplemental water of an irrigation system.
Driapsa created in Naida's Native Plant Garden a laboratory at the horticultural learning center to teach people who live in Collier County how to enjoy and appreciate native-plant landscaping.
"I love the look of tropical exotic plants, such as the crotons," Driapsa says. However, he also appreciates the soft pink of a Blazing Star that shoots its tiny flowers upward, and the constant red glow and spark-like flowers of native firebush. Walter's verbena and dune sunflower, the nearly indestructible Florida version of black-eyed Susan are native and prolific bloomers.
"A lot of the best plants don't shout out, here I am. They stand politely, and you find yourself drawn to them," he says.
Elan Miavitz of the Collier County Extension Service chaired the committee that worked with Driapsa on Naida's Native Plant Garden.
"It was an education for me," she recalls. "I just had never seen native plants used in that way.
"Most people don't know the native plants. There's the idea that these are untamed and ratty. We had to work against attitudes," she continues.
"David has shown native plants in this new light. He's shown that they can be used in a formal landscape and they can be used in a natural landscape. And they can be used for all seasons of the year. "If you look at this garden from the air you'll see it's in the shape of a butterfly," she adds. "It's really great."
David J Driapsa Landscape Architect
(239) 591-2321
Please visit www.davidjdriapsa.com for more information
Registered Professional Landscape Architect, Florida LA0001185
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