Landscape Design: What Era Will You Choose?

Whitlow House ca. 1830.  Keeping the views,

 and the house rustic are intentional.  Wanting places of repose,

outside of time.

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Garden & Be Well,          XO Tara

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Pics taken at a project last week.  Landscape Design is about designing elements of TIME & PLACE.  Received a delightful comment about my home/garden this month, "You've really created your own little world, haven't you?"

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Collections During Renovation

A few days ago, at The Old Post Office, in Stone Mountain, Ga Village, I found this painting.  

It has a few issues, easily overcome by the $15 tag.

On the back, interesting scrawl,  "Dec. 26, 1930, Friday Nite, JGB"
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A story I would like to know.
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Now, it's leaning on a table with lamps, bowls, flotsam-jetsom, awaiting it's debut.  A bit of construction in my house this Christmas.  Men, machines, materials, saw dust.  Cats safely tucked into their new room upstairs, unamused.
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Excited about the new year, construction complete, things placed properly, and a decrease in quantity.  Editing. 
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Framing garden views from every interior window.  Looking into every window, from the garden, making sure it's worthy of being a backdrop for my garden.  Double axis.  Vanishing Threshold.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara

Cotton In The Conservatory

In the garden, below, 2 days ago, looking into my Conservatory thru the century old French door.

 It's an arcane delight, looking into windows.  Seeing cotton (or anything pretty) already 'painted', not real, in the past.

This is my first high cotton.  Literally, this year, in-high-cotton.  Inside Conservatory, above, looking into my tiny back garden.
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The old pottery jug, above, with broken handle, was a very good day at the thrift store, $2.94.
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From the house seeing this jug of cotton has been a joy.  A garden view, it's why I garden.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara

Focal Point: Double Axis

North of the cabin, below, is the old farm building in yesterday's post.

 Cabin, above/below, is due south.  A focal point at north & south, Double Axis.

Cabin is almost a century old.  Mulch, above, won't be needed when plantings mature.
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Laying in bed last night realizing this spot is a Quatra Axis.  Can't wait till the East/West portions are ready for their pics.
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Exciting events.  3 of the axis points were already there.  The 4th pulled the landscape together.
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More than a little pleased !!  (Think of Miss Piggy Dancing, flipping her hair a few times.)
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Have zero idea what other people think about in bed at night.
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Garden & Be Well, XO T
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pics taken last week.

Atlanta Botanical Garden

Mershon Hall, below, site of class I'm teaching at Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Magic-be-in-this-garden.
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You must understand it's a full sun landscape, hi humidity, hi temps, unbearable to body/mind.
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 Yet the eyes take in: pretty, perky, cool, happy, comfortable, rushing water, a Chihuly & etc.
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Somehow, the designer, made old-fashioned annuals look new & exciting.  Then I have to smile at the landscape design rules followed.  Spikey flowers next to round, a color theme, contrasting foliage colors/sizes,  multiple axis, focal point, enfilades, hi density & low density.
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I MUST find out who designed the plantings !!
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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took the pic last Tuesday nite at ABG
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UPDATE: garden planning by members of the horticulture department  ABG.....wasn't given their names but they are a dream team!

Color On The Front Porch

Plates change, colors change, Mary's front porch always delights.

 Mary grew up in this tiny cottage.

 Love this type of caress, below.

 Porch & front door face a side, not the front of the cottage.

 Not quite an acre, it lives bigger, having mature canopy hardwoods & understory trees.

 Love her blacktop.

A view from the front porch into the garden, above.
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After decades away, in much larger homes, life conspired for Mary to live in her tiny cottage again.  I know it's a blessing in my life.  She's around the corner from my garden.
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Garden & Be Well,         XO Tara

Checkerboard In Tara Turf

Pair of conifers at the entry, a pencil shaped evergreen on axis, and a checkerboard path in Tara Turf leveraging the drama.

 Pink Crape Myrtle adding seasonal drama.

Mary is the queen, designing this garden room, it's adjacent to her parking court, and acquiring most of the contents FREE.  She did the work herself.
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 Since starting to post about Mary's garden, a few days ago, her age has gone up daily.  I said she was 60's.  Nope, she sent a note, she's 71.  Well, a day after that she sent an email saying she was embarrassed at her math skills, she's happily 73.
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Are you getting my point?
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Garden & Be Well,                  XO Tara

When A Window Becomes A Door

The engraved invitation to Tea arrived last winter.  Didn't know her but you know I wasn't going to miss fresh tea & homemade cookies & sandwiches.  What's not to love about a crowd of ladies?

 I sat in her kitchen, above, and said the baywindow should become a French door and the deck should be extended to include it.  Of course I proceeded to point out why her existing backdoor did not work functionally or aesthetically.

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You would have thought White Lightening was in my tea.  Horrified in hindsight, at my conversation, at the time it was normal Tara Talk.
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Did I mention the bit about property value?  Flow?  Feng shui?  Removing her valences?  It would really open up the view.  You are wasting your lake view.
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Upon leaving I said her frontdoor needed replacing; why & what should replace it and the color needed changing.
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Cannot believe I'm telling you all of this.  Indeed it's a true story.
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The new frontdoor has arrived, it's on its side in her garage.  Awaiting installation.  And we're changing the direction the door opens into the foyer along with the color.
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She loves to cook & always sends me home with homemade delights.
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Garden & Be Well,                XO Tara
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Same garden as yesterday's post.  Can't wait to show you the perennial garden she created.  But, of course, the new deck must have steps leading from its side into her fabulous perennial garden room.

Faux Bois Bench: Well Sited

A lovely incident along the gravel path, below.
(Notice stone edged gravel, decrepit terra cotta, leaf litter mulch? Melts my heart.)
Same bench, same path, from opposite direction.

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Thus, a good garden. It could be 2 different paths, 2 different benches or 2 different gardens.

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How to create Double Axis. A class by itself.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken last week in Susanne Hudson's garden.

How To Hide A Fence

Asked to hide a fence at the back of their garden in a tiny, dingy corner,

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the MUSE said, "Put in an 'L' shaped Conservatory, gravel terrace, chandelier from the oak tree, a dining table underneath & build it from rescued parts."
It wasn't an option, below, to see the ugly fence from all these windows.
Recently completed, below, on a garden tour for Hay House, in Macon, GA. (These are smart people, create a BIG deadline!)
Artist in residence for the garden tour R. Scott Coleman, here, watercolors.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Since I designed this garden missives have been sent showing the progress. Many building parts are ca. 1870. Did you see the fence? Love my MUSE. Puppet Barbuda cringes thinking how Mr. Testosterone-On-Wheels-Mow-Blow-Go would have designed this dark little corner.

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Pics from The Daily Landscape.

How To Place Beautiful Things

My beautiful pot on plinth, below, placed on axis with the middle window pane of my bay window at the drawing room. Thus sited, it's part of my drawing room. Not separate.How to place, below, a beautiful summer house?
On axis with a main pair of windows from the home, of course !

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Oops. No pic of the view seen while in the summerhouse above. Ha, must get back to the Cotswolds for it.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Top pic in my sweet garden, in the Bay Terrace, aka front yard. I took the bottom pic in the Cotswolds at Sir Hardy Amies garden.

The Walls Of Your Rooms

Landscapes ARE architecture. Begin creating architecture in the landscape with ceilings, yesterday's post, then walls. (My Tea Olive Terrace, below, along the side of my home.)Landscape walls can be the side of your home, above, or all plantings, below. (Wall, below, is mine & hides the neighborhood from my tender sensibilities. What me not living in the Cotswolds?)
Espaliered woody shrubs & vines dramatize the walls of a home, fence, dependency & etc., below. (My Bay Terrace, below.)
Using wit, below, Susanne Hudson swags a window. Pow, Shazam, baby.
With more wit, intellect, & drama she created a garden room, raised on a dais (aka deck, but dais is ever so much nicer, yes?),
with old church windows.
Landscape Design: create walls.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Slow down, peruse again, Landscape Design IS this easy. Look at the 2nd pic again. Notice how much sky I own because of my walls? You would CRINGE knowing how many houses along the ubiquitous subdivision cul-de-sac lane (aka street) my garden obliterates in that 2nd pic. Who knew? Gardens are offense & defense. A moat of grace around home & life.

Landscape Design Perfection: Sir Hardy Amies

I took this pic in the Cotswolds in Sir Hardy Amies garden.A complete landscape design course, in one picture.

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Looks easy, can you do it?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Money is not a criteria. Rescued plants, rescued hardscape & etc..... Yes, you can do this.

Vanishing Threshold: Lunch & Learn

Vanishing Threshold is an original concept, an epiphany while studying historic landscapes in Italy. Landscapes begin inside your home. Place focal points on axis with key views. It's that simple.

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An inner voice impels me to take Vanishing Threshold out of the garden realm. Are you an Interior Decorator? Landscape Designer? Come hear me speak about creating beautiful landscapes in Vanishing Threshold with your home.

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AmericasMart, Lunch & Learn: Looking for inspiration and education between Markets? Join Tara Dillard for a demonstration on successfully incorporating outdoor living spaces into your designs - March 24, noon-1pm, at AmericasMart. RSVP to 404-220-2055 or nlyle@americasmart.com.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pot on plinth, above, on axis from my living room. Centered on window. Interior decorators, are you looking out the windows of your clients home? Interiors are not finished unless the window views are part of a home's interior. My landscape designs are not complete unless views into windows are fabulous.

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Designer? What is original to you? What is your horse/pony show? Willing to get out of your comfort zone & let the world know?

Contrasts

Wildwood, mother nature's contrast of shapes, with a transition zone of pruned hedges, and another transition zone of tightly clipped lawn leading to a hardscaped yet watery focal point.

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Add the man made contrasts of circles, ovals, rectangles, squares & spires.

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Toss in multiple axis, changes of elevation, and canopy-understory-walls-floor.

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Even a non-gardener knows, intuitively, the plant selections are CHOICE. Serenity of greens, low maintenance, no irrigation & perfect pollinator habitat.

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Yes, this pic by Slim Aaron ca. 1960, is an exciting garden. Gardens are all CONTRASTS.

I doubt they thought about the garden at all. Their clothes, the gossip, & dry martinis, yes.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Change Of Color: Last Month & This Month

7 am last Tuesday, below, crape myrtles coloring; spreading to the walls of my office & casting their russet glow on my skin. Same view from my office last month, below.

Last Tuesday again, below.

And the same chair from above, 2 months ago, below.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Poppets wish I had more time to shoot my garden, but there is this little thing called a Day Job. Thankfully it is creating more of these views. Ha, many of my clients say I Tara'ize them. They're right.

Axis, Bench, Focal Point In Your Landscape

A note yesterday, "Should I buy a pair of these.....?" "Yes", in reply.$200 each. Don't know the name of the shop. Designed her Birmingham, AL landscape a year ago & know there is a perfect place.

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Where? TBD !!!!

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Why is To-Be-Determined so extraordinarily exciting, always, in a landscape? When, many parts of life To-Be-Determined contains a wariness, an acceptance, a sense of 'this too, shall pass'. (Trees are noble shedding their leaves. Enriched by what they shed. A metaphor to hang on to. Oh, no, I have to relearn it over-over.....)

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pic via Birmingham........ I'm partial to benches as focal points. You may never have time to sit on your bench but looking at a bench from inside your home gives the illusion of repose.

One Room Deep

You must see this parlor, one room deep. Below, a view from the frontyard. The warmth of draperies, and lamps glowing. (Poppets, from your frontyard, looking into your home, ask, "Are the views into my home so fabulously interesting intellectual-well-read-successful-talented-mentoring-civic minded-active-athletic-art-loving-appreciators-of-good-cooking-charity-giving-people curious? Face it we are voyeur's. And, don't you adore Tara Questions?)

Inside, below, the window from above.
Alas, the weather was nice, we never sat here, below, we used the patio for wine-canapes-conversation-dinner-breakfast-lunch.
Same room, below, views the back garden too.
I adore rooms scaled for comfort, beauty, conversation, reading, napping,
and viewing the garden.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Hope you enjoyed my client's home in Macon, GA. None of the pics were styled, they didn't know I would be taking pics. Remember, pics were taken quickly, early morning while still in my gown/robe. He was starting the coffee when I began & it finished brewing as my pics were done. Then, the 3 of us sat on the patio, with our coffee, and began talking gardening. Then, she served breakfast at the patio table. Loved the breakfast quiche and the little sourdough rolls with homemade fig preserves and peak of season fresh fruit salad & etc...

Landscape Design Solutions

Scored concrete & a roundabout of pavers in the parking court, below, diminish its 'nature'. Softens the impact.From their fabulous patio, below, a view into the garden via an enfilade with the parking court. Every landscape has its thorns. Mostly 2 cars, more with family/friends.
Another view from the fabulous patio, below.
The foyer between parking court & patio, above. I removed the turf & put in rosemary behind the bench, 1 Michelia figo behind that & etc. Both evergreen & fragrant. Views from the patio with the plantings will obscure views of the parking court & block neighbor's views into the gate of garden/patio/home. (Double Axis with little input AND no mowing, weedeating, yet adding privacy, fragrance, increased property value, & better curb appeal.)
More of the same foyer, above. Copied rosemary behind the bench, Abelia 'Rose Creek' behind that & etc. Mystery created! From the patio you'll see hints of the fabulous garden. From the garden you'll see hints of the fabulous patio. Of course, the parking court is diminished.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Turf, pic above, removed also. Used pairs of boxwood at the sidewalks leading from parking court into the parterre. Used repetition with the Abelia and existing Pittosporum. (Pittosporum, viewed from the parterre, will block views of the front of the cars.) Repetition, is a potent Landscape Design tool.

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Same Macon, GA garden as the past few posts.

Why Was I Hired?

A beautiful garden, below. Why was I hired? Above, is EXACTLY why I was hired. Mystery & Surprise & Anticipation are missing.
From the garden, above, looking into the patio, it's the same story. Mystery & Surprise & Anticipation are missing.

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Do you know how to create Mystery & Surprise & Anticipation here?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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They thought they hired me for a backhand corner of their landscape. Ha, that was easy. I put in a conservatory, gravel & a table under the pecan tree with a pair of chandeliers hanging from a large branch. Materials are already being sourced from a ca. 1830 home recently condemned. And I didn't mention a huge THORN in the pictures above. For today, I'll let you be the Garden Designer. My Garden Design solution tomorrow.