Friday, July 25, 2014

Garden Design Rule for Eyesores & Terrible Garden Gifts


This client was not home at the start of my work.
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I lasted an hour before I HAD to Move-The-Duck.
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Wish they had hired me before the new concrete walkway, and electrical outlet.
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Not much to do, if the dressed duck must stay.  Did you know there is a Garden Design Rule for this situation?  If you have an eyesore, place a focal point nearby.
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Doubt my professor imagined this dressed duck as a focal point.
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However, when children, grandchildren, or the toughest, a bit too prickly daughter-in-law are involved, the fill-in-the-blank must be 'displayed'.


Now, the dressed duck is drawing the eye away from the electrical box and providing welcome at the steps.
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A mentor said, "It's what we do with what we have."
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This garden has a child.  The duck will happily stay as long as the dressed duck magic is needed for her.
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The prickly daughter-in-law?  Easy, use her gift prominently in the garden for a few months then it has an 'accident'.  Tree limb, wind, ice, when it is safely taken to the thrift store.  In one garden the offensive item, a resin dollar store birdbath, could not be easily 'lost', that daughter-in-law had prickles of toxic steel.  The birdbath was horrendous.  Epiphany !  I designed a creeping fig at the base to engulf the offensive birdbath turning it into something lovely.
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Knocking at a friend's door for a lunch date I locked eyes on her new wind chime, melted glass beer bottles hanging from fishing line on a bit of tree root, then her.  She merely said, "My step-daughter."  I replied, "It fell and broke into shards."  Now you know the story of that thrift store item.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pics taken at a jobsite this spring.  In the South terrible garden gifts are received with a smiling exclamation, "You shouldn't have, bless your heart."

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Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
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Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.

10 comments:

La Contessa said...

AND YOU DONE GOOD GIRLFRIEND!

Lori Buff said...

I really needed a good laugh today, thanks.

kate said...

Tara, you are better than me....I could not have lasted 16 minutes. I read your blog all the time trying to get up the nerve to unleash this property on you. Eighty years of neglect! Kate

kate said...

Tara, you are better than me....I could not have lasted 16 minutes. I read your blog all the time trying to get up the nerve to unleash this property on you. Eighty years of neglect! Kate

kate said...

Tara, you are better than me....I could not have lasted 16 minutes. I read your blog all the time trying to get up the nerve to unleash this property on you. Eighty years of neglect! Kate

Patricia said...

Tara,
You made me laugh! I LOVE your blog, agree with everything you post, have bought your books, incorporate all your ideas....
but let me tell you about ducks on the porch:
Ducks really work at keeping frogs away. I live in an area where frogs used to meet us at the driveway and at the door. I am TERRIFIED of frogs!
Well, I don't have plastic ducks, I have beautiful carved wood ducks. No more frogs!

Connie in Hartwood said...

Northerners have no idea how useful "Bless your heart!" can be in everyday life. Takes care of SO man sitations.

Genius move relocating the duck.

bungalow said...

You are hilarious...and brilliant. Love reading all about your ideas and adventures.

Anonymous said...

Well stated...always best to be polite! And to work with what you have...

Anonymous said...

Hilarious!

But can't you stain concrete and make it better????