Tuesday, April 21, 2009

TARA'S TRINITY: AZALEAS, CAMELLIAS, HYDRANGEAS

When I knew nothing about gardening, moving into this house 22 years ago, I knew to copy a garden with matching conditions. Morning sun then shade. My Grandmother had azaleas, camellias & hydrangeas, something was blooming each day of the year. Maintenance? NILL. Beauty? EXTREME.

Can you see my A/C above? It's to the left. Why does this garden work? SIMPLICITY. The 1st rule of gardening is to COPY what works.

Alas, copying & simplicity are hard. Design tools I must relearn daily. It's human nature to want flowering plants, oodles & oodles of them.
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Designing, I make mistakes on the side of SIMPLICITY. It's easier to add plants, not take them away. Easier to maintain and afford, too. Most importantly, landscapes are prettier when simple.
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Simplicity is a gift. Elegance is refusal.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

3 comments:

Sheila said...

A lesson I need to learn, or at least remember!

Jean Campbell said...

George W. Tabor, one of my favs!

I would never have thought to display plates outside, but now I feel better about placing Beatrice Potter figurines in overturned clay pots in what passes as the 'fairy garden'

Room Service ~ Decorating 101 said...

Amen to that, great advice.