A Backyard Visit with Michael Bruce

Michael Bruce with one of his favorites, a Chinese Parasol Tree in his Westmont, N.J. back yard.

 If Michael Bruce could have his way, the white picket fences of the world wouldn’t be white or straight, but curved into the shape of an S so neighbors could create gardens in the pockets and enjoy much more interesting spaces.

 Bruce, owner of Westmont-N.J.-based Michael Bruce Florist, knows that may not become a reality anytime soon. Still, he’ll have plenty of other opportunities to unleash his designs.

 Bruce will be returning for his seventh year as a major exhibitor for the 2010 Flower Show “Passport to the World.”  Creating a 1,000-square-foot space, he’ll take his inspiration from a familiar saying and ideas include a transparent house inhabited by live butterflies and surrounded by boulders and stone.

 “To me, this is art, interpreting a feeling, a phrase. You can make a statement and still entertain people,” he said. “You’re just going to want to stand and stare.”

Bruce said his view on design changed after participating in the inaugural Singapore Garden Festival in 2006. He took home a third-place award among the 21 international landscape and garden designers for his exhibit, a hybrid of fire and ice. (“I thought it would be fun to do snow in Singapore.”) To watch an interview with Bruce on Channel NewsAsia, click here.

 “Here, we build from the ground up,” he said recently standing in his shop. “There, they create from the sky down.”

 Last year’s “City Walls” earned him the Alfred M. Campbell Memorial Trophy for the exhibit that demonstrates the most successful use of a variety of plants in unique fashion as well as an award for “Transformational Floral Experience.”

A quiet corner

Bruce has transformed his own backyard into a tropical oasis, using containers filled with succulents and cannas, climbing vines that create outdoor walls for rooms, and an organic vegetable garden with a composter and several rain barrels. Among his favorites is a Chinese Parasol Tree he obtained at a plant swap four years ago.

Standing near the tomatoes, Bruce said his passion for design was sparked in childhood. Growing up in Radnor, his family lived next door to what  became a defunct estate.

“It was my personal playground for almost 18 years,” he said.

 As he grew older, he started to take notice of the stone paths, the architectural elements including an open air wooden hut, and the layout of the stream.

“It hit me, this didn’t just happen. Someone made it happen.”

And he knew he wanted to be a part of that.

Red metal stakes bring artistry to Bruce’s tomatoes. “Vertical gardening is very hip right now," he said.