- [Madeline] I'm Madeline Hooper.

I've been gardening for decades and living with aches and pains, so I finally decided that maybe I should find a fitness trainer to see if I could fix my problems.

And after learning better ways to use my body in the garden, it dawned on me, what would be more exciting than to travel all over America, visiting a wide variety of gardens and helping their gardeners get "GardenFit"?

In season one, for all our guest gardeners, gardening was their life.

For season two, we're going to visit artists who are also passionate gardeners.

And for this lucky group, I'm so thrilled and excited to welcome this season's garden fitness professional, Adam Schersten.

Taking care of your body while taking care of your garden, that's our mission.

- [Narrator] "GardenFit" is made possible in part by Monrovia.

[bright music] [upbeat music] - Adam, we're visiting Marion Brenner, and she is a very sought-after landscape photographer.

And for years I've seen her photos in magazines that I love to read, like "Martha Stewart Living" and "Gardens Illustrated."

I mean, she's really the photographer for very famous garden books, and one in particular that I have bought and love is "Outstanding American Gardens."

Take a look at her work.

It's really special.

- Oh, wow.

- Isn't that amazing?

- Yeah, these are beautiful.

- So I have a big dream, and that would be if she would come here and photograph my rock ledge.

- [Adam] Oh, that would be so cool.

What was here when you moved in?

- Actually, there were about 200 trees and a lot of brush and invasives.

We didn't even know that it was covering rocks.

- So, you dug all that out?

- Not just me, but a few people that helped us.

- Wow.

- But we would come on the weekends and just keep digging.

It was so much fun, actually.

It took 15 years, but it was worth it.

It's really been a labor of love.

I would love it if she took a picture of it so I could enjoy it inside as well as outside.

- That would be awesome.

- She lives in Berkeley, California, and I think she's had a love affair with her house and garden for about 40 years.

Well, we'll find out when we get there.

- Wow.

- But she loves to garden, Adam.

She tells me one of her favorite things to do is weed.

- That's a rare breed.

Not many people love that.

- Quite enthusiastic, yes.

So I know in her garden she loves to mix all kinds of plants, rare plants, some that she even starts from seed.

And whether they're perennials, annuals, bi-annuals, bulbs, she loves to have things self-seed, and it's really a haven for pollinators.

Be fun to explore it.

- Yeah, and the California plants are so cool, so it'll be fun to see.

- You'll love that.

I think you'll love her trees.

And she told me that when she takes pictures, she really wants to tell a story.

It's not about one photograph.

She really likes to do a few so she really gets the essence of a place.

And what she seems to be mostly challenged about, she said, was taking something that's three-dimensional and making it two-dimensional.

- I think she's doing it, 'cause the depth in these photos is incredible.

I feel like I could walk into them.

- [Madeline] Yeah, it's really beautiful.

So I think when we get there, we're gonna learn a great deal about gardening and photography.

- [Adam] I can't wait.

[upbeat music] - [Madeline] It's such an interesting neighborhood, isn't it?

- [Adam] Very cool.

Look at these stairs.

- [laughs] They are quite formidable.

- Like a workout.

- It is.

These pathways are just so dramatic.

There you are.

Marion, so nice to see you.

- Madeline.

- Marion, this is Adam.

Adam, Marion Brenner, Adam Schersten.

- Adam.

- Pleasure to meet you.

- So we're here.

- Welcome.

- Thank you.

- We made it up the stairs.

- The stairs are treacherous.

All the paths are treacherous.

I plant too close, and so you're walking through things.

But also, the stairs are original.

They're, what, 110 years old.

- Oh my goodness.

So, what was here before?

- Well, it was built in 1914, the house.

And then in '23, there was a renovation, and they added the back of the house.

- What about the water feature, which is stunning?

- [Marion] That is probably from 1923 when they did the addition.

- You probably put in those lilies.

- I put in the lilies, yes.

- [Madeline] They're beautiful.

- They're beautiful and they're very happy because they get all the debris from the the tree, and it gives them a lot of food.

- Isn't that great?

So they're living in there.

- Oh, so they're not, like, built up on the bottom.

- So they're living in there.

They're not in pots anymore.

- Marion, we are so excited to see your garden, but we wanted to ask you, what came first, photography or gardening?

- The photography came way before.

- [Madeline] Really?

- Yes, yes.

As a teenager, I started photographing.

- Really?

So, what started you in photography?

- My father owned a camera shop.

- Oh, that'll do it [chuckles].

So, he was a photographer?

- He was a photographer, actually.

A serious photographer, really.

- You had to follow in his footsteps, of course.

- That's just what I love.

It's still what I love.

There's something about taking a photograph.

- Isn't that wonderful?

So, then what started the gardening?

- Well, we moved into this house and I had this land, and there were some things that were here.

Those Loropetalums, the tree-like things.

So the magnolia was here.

Everything else I think I have basically put in.

- How exciting.

- When did you move in here?

- Oh, a long time ago.

40, more than 40 years ago.

- Wow.

- Wow.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So, the garden has really grown up with you here?

- Yes, gradually I've moved it around.

I've expanded from just around here and then a little further.

- So, you just rearranged everything?

- Yes.

- And added probably a lot.

- And I still do.

- Yeah, isn't that nice?

- That's what gardens are.

Things die, things thrive, things smother other things, and then things grow.

The garden is always changing.

It's changing day by day.

- Isn't that exciting?

I love that about gardens.

So, can we have a closer look at what you put into the first bed that you found?

- Yes, let's do it.

- Let's go over there.

So, what are some of the favorite plants that you put in this particular bed?

- Well, I love crinums.

Unfortunately, this one is not blooming yet.

It's about to bloom any second.

And a friend gave me my first crinum, which was this one, and he said it was a variegated crinum.

And then he came to visit and said, "Oh, it's not variegated enough."

So he gave me another crinum.

- [Madeline] That's variegated.

- So that's variegated.

And then I've been propagating it.

These particular crinums get really big seeds, and so I've been growing them.

- Isn't that great?

- Yes, it's so exciting.

- Good for you.

I'm very impressed that you're doing that.

That kind of sparks me on to think: maybe I should try that too.

I love the combination of leaf that you have here.

I mean, it, also, the combination of shades of green are so beautiful.

And these begonia leaves are just outstanding.

- Yes, there's two different kinds of begonias that you can see right here.

That big leaf one there, and then the one with the very narrow leaves is an unusual one.

- [Adam] Both of them are called begonias?

- [Marion] Those are both, they're both begonias.

- Isn't that cool?

- Yeah.

I don't know how you keep them all straight.

- I like that, that's like a funky hairdo.

- [Marion] Yes.

- [Madeline] It just hangs.

But the roses in the middle of all of this greenery, they're just so beautiful.

- I do love roses.

And I don't love roses as rose plants, but I like them coming through other plants.

- That's what I feel, it's sort of like an unusual burst of rose all of a sudden as opposed to a rose garden.

- Right, right.

- It's just charming.

Can we see more roses?

- If there are more roses?

- Yes, there's more.

More roses, more begonias.

- More begonias.

- Different kind of begonia here.

- [Madeline] These are fabulous.

- These are all succulents, and they're very, very happy here without hardly any water.

- [Madeline] And they're in bloom.

- [Marion] Yes, this one's past, but all of them, yes.

- They're gorgeous.

- [Adam] There's so many little faces looking at you.

- Marion, the variety of plants you have here is just amazing.

- This hydrangea is original to the garden.

- Really, this plant is 40 years old?

- I mean, it looks it, it's huge.

- It looks like it's been growing since then.

- Yeah.

- Agapantha.

- Oh, the color.

- Scabiosa with a bee on it.

Be careful.

- That's a beautiful rose.

All the plants here are so unique.

Marion, I feel like we're in the middle of the most beautiful floral chaos.

- Floral chaos, yes.

- It's just, so much is happening.

So the combination of perennials, annuals, biannuals, tropical plants, I mean, you just seem to mix a lot of different things together.

- I don't really plant.

I mean, I plant, but I edit a lot.

- [Madeline] Do you?

- Because a lot of this garden is self-seeded.

- That is so wonderful.

- Even this sedum.

- [Madeline] This sedum is self-seeded?

- [Marion] Yes, yeah.

- Oh my goodness.

It's just so beautiful.

And these are asters?

- Asters, yeah.

- [Madeline] Aren't they charming?

- And it's been growing and growing and growing this patch of asters, so it has to be cut back periodically.

- And I love, you can't even see the ground.

It's so full of joy with plants and just the structures of the variety.

- Is that a pea?

Is that like an edible pea?

- No, this is... Oh, can you see the last of the bloom of the sweet pea?

- [Madeline] Oh, yes.

- Yes, and those seed around the garden.

That particular one is really good at seeding.

And so I'm letting it-- - Seed.

- Seed.

So you'll see things that are just kept in the garden so that they can seed.

- And these lilies?

- These lilies started with a few, and now there are a lot.

- [Adam] Yeah, they're going crazy.

- [Madeline] They're such a beautiful color.

And this is a particular favorite plant.

The [indistinct] is really just starting to bloom, isn't it?

And there's that punctuating rose right behind you, Adam.

- [Adam] Yup, yeah.

- So beautiful the way it just comes in the middle of all of these wonderful colors of green again.

- Yes, and textures.

- And textures.

- How much weeding do you have to do between all of this to keep it, cause it's-- - At this point, there's not much weeding, 'cause there's just no room.

- Yeah, there's nothing... - But there is a lot of a pulling of things when they pass, and just cutting back and editing and... - Deadheading, a bit.

- Oh, deadheading, definitely.

The scabiosas and, yeah.

- [Madeline] This is all so beautiful.

- [Adam] Can't believe the variety of colors.

- [Madeline] Isn't it amazing?

- [Adam] Yeah.

- This garden really makes you happy to be here.

You must be thrilled with it.

- I'm very happy with it now.

I love, actually, I love these yellow ones right now.

They seem like, I don't know, ballerinas with their tutus.

- [chuckles] That is really good, they should be dancing.

Such an interesting plant.

All your plants are interesting.

You must attract them.

- [chuckles] Well, I'm attracted to, I'm attracted to odd colors and different plants.

- Fabulous.

May we move on to some other wonderful riots of color?

- Yeah.

- Yes.

[upbeat music] - Okay, you've got to tell me about this tree, 'cause I love trees and I love staghorn ferns, and this looks like a collision of the two.

- This is a cussonia.

And I got it a long time ago as a four-inch plant.

And I planted over there, and it wasn't doing well.

And then I planted it somewhere else.

And this is the fourth place.

And obviously it's very happy.

- This is what I love about the way Marion gardens, that she just will pick things up and relocate them at will.

- Why not?

- And look what you get.

- Yeah.

- It looks like it's been here forever.

- It does.

- How long has it been in this place?

- Oh, at least 15 years, I think.

Yeah, and, actually, at one point all the leaves fell off and I thought it was dead.

Luckily, I was able to look up, look it up and find out that it branches after the leaves-- - [Adam] After trauma like that or something.

- Yeah, and now it's a multi-branch tree.

- Wow.

- That's fabulous.

- 'Cause it was just the one trunk.

- It's a Dr. Seuss to me, it looks like... And look at the trunk.

- The trunk is wonderful.

It looks so much like a cork oak or something.

- It's very kind of broken.

- Yeah, broken.

- And funny-shaped.

- Well, also the twisting.

I don't know why it does that.

- Well, I was thinking, actually, I've got a couple of things I could show you that will prevent us all from twisting and ending up looking like this.

- We don't wanna look like that.

Let's go get tuned up.

- Yeah.

[upbeat music] [gentle music] - Okay, so none of us want to end up looking like the crinkled cussonia up there.

- Right!

- Very true.

- So I'm sure there's something going on with your body that you'd like to talk about.

- I have lower back problems, well, all through my back, from gardening and photography, and my chest is really tight from hunching over.

- Yeah, and that makes sense.

I mean, you think about, like, how the body is shaped and how we live as we spend years and years with gravity kind of pounding down on us, we all age and advance through our lives in this direction.

Part of staying youthful and not craggly, like the tree up there, is maintaining posture.

And I like to to kind of describe muscles as though they're kind of like molten rock in a way.

And I know this sounds ridiculous, but when a rock is cold, it's very hard.

But when a rock warms up, it becomes malleable.

And the muscles are kind of the same way.

As you warm up, you may even unlock some extra mobility.

If you cool down in a bad position, like sitting on the couch and hunched over, those muscles actually start to solidify in that position, and it becomes harder and harder to come back out of it.

And so that's really what I'm gonna show you, is a little kind of warm-up routine that you can do before a session in the garden, or even in photography, and then a cool-down as well, to kind of help those muscles stay in those positions that we want.

- I think what's so exciting about this is that I know, as gardeners, we just wanna go out and deadhead or weed or plant something.

And I think it's important that we think that you start gardening with a warm-up, that you really get your body and your garden in shape simultaneously.

So I think this is so exciting, I really... - Yeah, and you can-- - It's important.

- Yeah, and you can take these muscle activations and these stretches into the garden so that, as you're moving around and doing what you do, you've got this little bit of heightened body awareness.

So the first thing I want to show you is something to kind of flatten out the mid-back.

So we're just gonna take hands.

I'll show you guys first.

And I'm just gonna lean forward.

I might not max out the stretch through my arms, but what I'm really gonna do is try and flatten out my mid-back.

And the natural tendency may be to arch through your low back extra, but I want you to really try and practice flattening through the mid-back and see how that really starts to flatten out.

And so if you guys want to try.

Actually, Madeline, you may want to take off your jacket.

We're gonna get into some real movement here.

- Okay, I'll just put it over here.

- Perfect.

And you guys can both try.

Just kinda put your hands on there, soften the knees.

You can really push your hips backwards.

And then we're just really looking to maybe not arch the low back so much.

- Oh, yeah.

- Try and lift that chest and flatten out.

Bring these guys, yeah, closer together.

See, we're really...

There you go, flattening out.

- It's hard to find the mid-back.

- Yeah, yeah, so it actually kind of helps if somebody is touching to really... - Yeah, I feel it.

- Yeah, where you wanna be.

And you can lengthen the back of that neck, great.

And we're really just trying to bring those vertebra closer together, 'cause that's really gonna give those back muscles, which feel tight, but they're really in a long position.

It's normal for the muscles to feel tight even though they're long.

And the answer is not to stretch them longer.

It's really to give them a little bit of activation.

That's great.

You guys can come up now.

- I like that feeling.

- Yeah, it's really nice.

- You like that?

- Yeah.

- 'Cause we all know what it feels like to be succumbing to gravity.

And so now to address the chest, this is actually kind of perfect, because if we go palm up, we've already got the arm externally rotated.

And you're just gonna turn into that, keeping the shoulder low.

And you'll get a nice gentle stretch through the chest.

So you can take a few breaths here.

I like to count five or six breaths.

That becomes the kind of the time.

You don't have to count to 10.

Just breathe nice and deep.

And then let's switch to the other side.

We don't want to leave... - Can't be one-sided.

- Exactly.

Rather than activating like we were in the mid-back, we were kind of shortening the mid-back muscles, and now we're lengthening those chest muscles that are always tight because we're always reaching out in front of us.

The last thing I wanna show you is just kind of creating that chest stretch with your own muscles, your own back muscles.

So I'll give you a little bit of room here.

Yeah, and we're just going to find that gentle stretch.

Keep those shoulder blades low.

And then the last piece is really just kind of tucking the chin back so that you can feel a little bit of a stretch through the back of the neck.

And we wanna just maintain this gentle stretch, this body position without flaring the ribs too much.

And we're just gonna take five or six deep breaths here, tucking the chin, exhaling everything.

As you exhale, you may feel that stretch increase, 'cause that rib cage is dropping, which is where the chest muscle attaches.

And as it drops, that stretch is gonna increase.

You got your back muscles on, which are postural muscles, and they're not gonna tire out in the same way that a bicep or a leg muscle might if you were doing squats.

And we just hold this position so that when we now come back down, holding that posture that we try and fake so hard.

Is kind of-- - Feel taller!

- And easy, right?

- And easy!

- It's easy to feel tall.

- Lighter, yeah.

- Yeah, and now when you bring this body into the garden, you can really try and maintain that as you're moving around.

Or as you're working with your camera, you can, you're gonna have a heightened sense of where your body and posture is so that you're not just defaulting to focusing on that camera and losing sight of where your body's at.

- I bet it's hard to really focus in on the camera without really almost hunching.

- Oh, you have to.

- You have to.

- Well, I use a tripod, so I'm kind of over the tripod.

- Right, well, you just have to warm up first.

- Right!

Before a shoot.

- Yeah, and also the cool-down, right?

So when you're finished with the gardening session or with the photo session, doing all these and coming back into this position really lets those muscles cool in that position that we want, which just makes this easier and easier to come back to.

How did that feel?

How did the, holding that... - It feels really great if I can keep it.

- Right, yeah.

As soon as we let our body or our brains kind of meander from this, we're all gonna default back.

But this is a great tool and a way to revisit and make it feel natural.

- It's so much fun to learn new things, so we really appreciate these warm-ups and cool-downs.

And Adam and I were talking that we would love to learn from you how to photograph gardens.

Can we do that?

- Well, I have a camera set up right here.

Let's go and see.

- Great.

I'm gonna grab my jacket.

Off we go!

- Sorry, yeah, you can you can put that back on now.

- Can I now [chuckles]?

[lively music] Marion, you must have some principles that you can impart to us about things you should do to take photographs.

So I guess maybe the first thing is: what about your camera?

- Well, I have that camera, which I love, but whatever camera you have, you should really learn how to use it.

You'll become familiar with it, and it'll become easier to take pictures with.

- And what about light?

Everybody talks about the right time to photograph a garden.

What's your opinion?

- Well, dawn, sunset and a light overcast is good.

And the reason is that you do not want harsh light on plants.

It breaks up all the the form.

So you wouldn't see a tree, you would see the spots of light, and it would be dark and light, and you would not see the shape of the tree.

- Yeah, it seems counterintuitive, really, 'cause you'd think, like, the more light, the better, 'cause... - [Madeline] You see it better, right?

- Soft light is best.

And shooting into the sun also works.

- [Madeline] Really?

- Yes, because you're backlighting whatever it is you're photographing, and you still see the form without it being broken up by all the harsh light on it.

- And do you wanna, like, block it out with the subject?

Or you can really have the sun, like, unobstructed in the background?

- It works better for me if I can put the sun behind the tree or something, but it's always hard to make rules about photographs.

- Yeah, I guess there's so many factors.

- Yeah, yeah, experiment and see what works.

Take lots of pictures.

- And what about how you actually set up the picture?

How do you approach actually setting up a photograph?

- I always try to think of how to frame a subject.

I try to make a photograph that actually makes you feel like you're in the garden.

- Is there a rule of thumb for you that, you know, if you're taking a picture of a bed that you take so much bed and then so much, you know, sky above it, or, and balance things out in a particular way?

- No, it's totally intuitive, and everybody will approach it differently, I think.

I know there's the rule of thirds.

- [Madeline] Oh, is there?

- Yes, but-- - I've heard of that one.

That's, like, my one trick.

- Where you break everything into thirds.

I think that's simplistic, really.

I think you just try to make a photograph that makes you feel comfortable.

And gardens are very complicated.

So, you know, what's really important, to look through the camera and see the framing so you become aware of the edges.

A photograph isn't just about whatever is in the center of the subject.

It's taking a three-dimensional subject, making it two-dimensional and a very complex three-dimensional subject.

And also hopefully making something beautiful.

- And so when you actually see it, you know you've got it and you move on to the next?

- Yes, I guess.

- You're happy with what you actually photographed?

- Some I'm really happy with and some I'm satisfied with.

- [Adam] But you do have a implication-- - Some I'm thrilled!

I do, I do, yeah.

No, it's hard.

Photographing gardens is very, very complicated.

- [Madeline] I bet.

- And I really like this idea of looking at the borders and looking at the edge, 'cause I'm always focused on what's in the middle, what I'm trying to take a picture of.

- A camera doesn't take a photograph straight back, it takes a photograph at an angle.

So you have to look through the camera to really see that, to see what's in your frame behind whatever is your primary interest.

- So we would love to have a chance to maybe look through your camera, but can I ask you one practical question first, which is, I like to, as a gardener, take pictures of my garden, see what's, you know, blooming in a certain season or what areas of the garden I would, might like to change next year or improve.

So, what's the best way to do that?

- Use what you have always in your pocket, your phone.

It's a great way to keep a garden journal because it's time dated and you can look back and see, what did this garden look like a month ago?

- [Madeline] Yeah, I love that.

- A year ago.

- [Adam] Yeah, last year at this time.

- Yeah, yeah, so it's it's a history, and it's a really easy one to make.

- [Madeline] I think that's wonderful.

So, can we look through a camera the way you do?

- [Marion] Absolutely.

- [Adam] Right.

[soft music] - Tripods.

- [Adam] Yes.

- Oh, yes, I always use a tripod.

- [Adam] Keeps it steady.

Also really keeps you fixed in one place.

- Yes, because then if I wanna change something, I have a base to change it from, and not trying to find that again.

- Oh, wow.

- Look at your posture.

What are you doing with your back?

- Oh, excuse me.

How's that?

- Oh, that looks a lot better [laughs] - You're totally right.

As soon as you start thinking about something else, it all just goes out the window.

Yeah, you know, that's really beautiful.

- We should take a picture of Adam taking a picture.

- Yes.

- We had such a wonderful day with you.

Your garden is such a joy, Marion.

I've learned so much.

I can't wait to try to make some combinations and perhaps find some of the fabulous plants that you have.

But, most of all, it was just a pleasure to be in your company.

And we appreciate these tips because we both wanna really take better pictures.

- Well, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

- Okay, so we'll send you something.

- Please, yeah.

- Lovely.

- So great to meet you.

- And you too.

- [Narrator] Get "GardenFit" with us.

[bright upbeat music] [bright upbeat music continues] [upbeat tune] GardenFit is made possible in part by Monrovia.

[bright music] [cheerful tune]