Good Surprises In Your Landscape

At year 6 in the garden my eyes were overwhelmed, finally, by something tried from inception. A VISION OF BEAUTY. ( Laskett, below, in the Conservatory with me last nite.) College for horticulture was a joke for my Landscape Design skills. Creating Landscapes (making mistakes) & myriad trips across Europe studying historic Landscapes were my teachers.
Hewing to historical Landscape Design principles began my journey to success. Ridiculously stupid to wait 6 years for beauty or lower the bar and aim for: organic, rainwater, native, low-maintenance, green & etc...
Those facets are in Historical Landscape Design Principles. Of course I want all of that, more, I want life changing beauty. And I want it daily, it's important to know when to be selfish. To walk amongst, and, see from every window. Vanishing Threshold. A Landscape filling me with energy, joy & grace.
A dream for years my conservatory, 1 week old today, gave me the surprise of Laskett. He adores being carried to the conservatory in the evenings, a nice fire & cuddling at my side. A simple life pleasure; not anticipated. A good surprise indeed.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Want good surprises in your Landscape? Hew to historic landscapes. In addition to all of the above historic landscapes raise property value & reduce HVAC costs. As byproducts not effort.

Focus

Looking in, below, my new conservatory.(Hope you've seen, I Capture The Castle, from the book below.)
Knowing I wanted the Conservatory was easy. Clear focus was not.
A pond had to be removed, my property is tiny, to site the Conservatory.

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Mr. Beloved Bullfrog lived in this pond, his pond was on perfect axis from each window at the back of my house. I lost focus; emotions were involved.

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After contacting a bullfrog expert (it's important to know the right people) a plan was devised. My guys dug a trench draining water slowly. We captured Mr. Beloved Bullfrog in a large bucket. He was trotted to his new home in my other pond.

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Siting the conservatory & creating a landscape design were easy, once the focus was clear.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Clear focus. But tough choices. Love my Conservatory, no regrets about the pond.

Strange Tree

Time running out, I finally asked, "What would make you happy on the tree?"
Using bare branches pruned from the contorted filbert I decided to use the many pairs of figures I've collected. Their theme is always nature. He, below, is holding a bird's nest.
Pleased with the theme, alas, the Christmas tree needs more attention to detail, but it's not going to get it . This year the Conservatory, below, lovingly received all my time, creativity, & playing Barbie with a new house.Age, 2 days, the conservatory is already bigger than my dream.
In my garden, above, the conservatory's 1st nite being furnished. Fire was toasty as I sat inside absorbing a decade of waiting for this.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

Jewelry

2 single doors, below, brought together as French doors. Fiddling with the knobs? Never. They are jewelry. Yesterday my carpenter fashioned latching for these doors.
Though the string has had its charms during the construction of my conservatory.
More magic was putting a door on the side of my conservatory. A chandelier, oodles of electrical outlets & multiple doors.

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Playing house as a grown-up girl is DELIGHTFUL.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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A grand morning. Must get out of my gown & into work clothes, pronto. At this very moment one of my men is on his way to help me bring antiques (aka junk) into my conservatory. Pity, no time for a fire. Have to head out for Christmas shopping when he leaves.

Last Night in the Conservatory

Power, below, arrived yesterday in my conservatory. Lights inside my home, above, seen thru the French doors
Honoring, above, talented hands/minds/hearts building the conservatory. My guys (3 lead men with several more on the team) leverage every idea I have. Humbling & exciting.
Last nite, above, 1st nite with a fire in the stove. Yes, I was given a little lesson in how to use it.
Conservatory is a bit 'CABINESQUE' inside. Tongue/groove walls rescued from a Lake Burton 1908 cottage. Unfinished, above, soon tongue/groove will go to the rafters & to the gravel.
Last night, after taking these pics, I brought a basket to the conservatory with wine, cheese, apples, summer sausage. Fire in the stove kept me toasty. Spent a happy hour calling girlfriends. Susanne Hudson, of course, was 1st she inspired the conservatory.

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Already, joy & laughter in the conservatory. And it's not finished. Exciting to anticipate: lamps, tables, chests & etc.... field gathered & awaiting their new life in the conservatory.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Had thought I would paint the interior of the conservatory. NOT. The sweetly aged tongue/groove is too fabulous. Will paint the windows. Yes, the chairs above look rather dreadful but were closest to the conservatory & I did need to sit. Cannot wait to hang the huge chinoiserie mirror I snagged at my local thrift store for $10. In theory, it will have a table under it made from the ancient iron radiator I rescued.

Curtained Debut

Yesterday, below, my conservatory under construction. Rescued materials (aka free) a century old: doors, most windows, cedar planks, tongue-groove.French doors, above, are the front of my conservatory & face the back of my home.
My carpenter (now my hero, for this feature alone) set the back windows, above, to open. Notice the outlet above? Chandelier + gravel floor + 3 outlets + 4 walls of windows; what more could a girl (no worries, girl knows when to sling queenly commands) want in less than 200 sq ft?
My patio, above, in normal life.
My patio, above, today. I can't abide it.
Curtains, above, from my bedroom onto the patio have been closed for weeks. My constitution does not include the strength to see this.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Today, maybe, guys will be done !!!! Cannot wait for the curtained debut of my conservatory. No, my guys aren't slow they keep working on my client's jobs. Yes, a GOOD problem.

Copy Landscapes

Resist the temptation to be UNIQUE in your landscape. It will slow you down, and fail. You & your landscape are inherently unique. It's already there. Lipstick-on-a-pig when you 'add' uniqueness.
I fell in love with Susanne Hudson's little cloche's, miniature tools & wood shelves, above.
All year I've been collecting, above/below,
old wood shelves, antique English lead garden pieces & little cloches. Soon, they will be in my new conservatory. Just like Susanne Hudson.

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Poppets, everything in my garden is copied from somewhere. EVERYTHING.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Every effort at uniqueness does not fail, obviously. Don't let me sway you from trying something deep in your passionate soul bursting to get out. Ironically, uniqueness arrives in my garden when I DON'T try.

Seeing Thru Your Window

Janus, January was named for this god, looks forward & backward. Janus was with me in TEXAS last week. My parents, below, are gorgeous. My sister, below right, came to my parent's home too.
We slept in the same bed, to visit more. She stole my pillow.
My life, below, moved forward while I was gone. A dream come true, my conservatory of new & rescued materials was begun. Only for family would I have done this, missed the start of my conservatory. Ironic, family helping me to see backward in my life last week while starting my house of windows.
"We have an inner window through which we can see the world and though it gets cloudy in life it's our job to wipe it clean." von Donnersmarck

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I'm not always brave on the wiping-it-clean. Poppets, do you know the name of my landscape design business? A Garden View. Clean windows are much better with the moat of grace of a garden.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Hepcat

Finally, met a HEPCAT, below.
My right hand on his dropleaf table at Scott Antique Market this month, he anticipated my intent, before I finished my sentence, he had grabbed my right hand & lowered to his knees. Firmly guiding my hand (me clueless) to a screw. They were loose on purpose.
Bought the Hungarian chest & too cute watering can, above, before I met my HEPCAT.
HEPCAT knew loose screws would make it quicker to get the legs off the table.
HEPCAT wanted $175 for the table, (me- intense eye contact), then he said $145? I said, "You think about that price while I wander the booths & come back." "$100?" "Sold, will you keep the table while I wander?" He grabbed my hand, "Let's shake."

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There was something intensely USA-of-my-childhood, real, true, honest, earnest, delightful, a light behind his eyes, spiritual, joyful, peaceful, warm, intelligent, been thru the fire & came out a phoenix within HEPCAT.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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HEPCAT, George, was at the location inside the perimeter & selling his wares outside on the sidewalk at the end of the building. Poppets, you do realize what these acquisitions are for? My new conservatory!!!

NYTimes & Anne Raver: Backwards Design

30 years with a beautiful flower garden, Page Dickey, finally creates a fabulous Landscape Design. "We need an overall plan: more green architecture & less plants.", she says. How? "The first step is to replace perennials with shrubs & ground covers."Page has arrived. ATONEMENT.

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Anne Raver, yesterday's NYTimes, knew to lead her delicious garden column with these facts. It's human nature to garden backwards. Flowers are seductive.

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Magazines & nurseries pimp flowers.

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PUPPET BARBUDA is miffed her industry, Landscape Design, is tainted with the Flower Pimp industry.

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How many flowers do you see, above, in my conservatory?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Poppets, did you see the pic of Page Dickey? I want to look like her when I'm 70, sexy gorgeous !!

Not Easy To Find

If you see terra cotta pots: marked-down, at a garage sale or thrift store, BUY.They are harder to find good/cheap/free.
Some Ace Hardware have a line of excellent terra cotta in spring. Once they sell-out it's another year before the shipment arrives again.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken at Susanne Hudson's conservatory. Poppets, the pics are not styled. Why have a landscape be anything less?

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Ugly is easy, fabulous is intellect.

Building Your Garden Room: 10 Steps

Think, cha-ching, this isn't for you? Poppets, PUPPET BARBUDA will not let you off easy. That measly excuse of no money? HOW TO build your new GARDEN ROOM:

1. Make decision to build a GARDEN ROOM. (Odd, this is the most important step)

2. Get envelope, label it, GARDEN ROOM. (Leftover paper money 2-3/week goes here.)

3. Tell all your friends, "I'm building a GARDEN ROOM."

4. Look at everything in your path with RESCUE eyes.

5. Bring it home. Old fencing, stone, brick, concrete, wood, house parts.

6. Get paint from the rejects at hardware store.

7. Accessorize from thrift store & sale items: TJMAXX, Marshall's, Ross.

8. Pots/urns from garage sales, big box store sales.

9. Put the right man in your project. (Alas, difficult.)

10. Hire man, & the same day, invite girlfriends to your Garden Tea Party.

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Take step #1 and your GARDEN ROOM will appear.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Charlotte Moss, pic, above. OMG, wonderful, & doable! This pic has come across my path at least a zillion times.

Best Conservatory Dimensions

Front: French doors 5'-6' wide with old windows on each side of

about 30"-32" each. Creating a total average 11'-12' wide.

Side: Old windows connected to each other with 2x4's. Creating

a total average length of 23' long.

Roof: 4-12 pitch with metal roofing.

Interior: Entering thru French doors each side is best dimension, at minimum, 36"-32" for furniture.

"L": Adding an "L" at right angle is most desirable. Not enough space, have another doorway, single door, along the side with a culvert cover for door awning.

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Average best dimension range using old/found materials for conservatory: 11' wide by 23' long.

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Poppets, above notes are copied directly from a email sent to my Macon, GA clients. You've seen their home & garden, & happy dogs, the past few days.

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The last pic, above, is Susanne Hudson's 1st conservatory. Too small, she enlarged it, seen in the top pics. Susanne & I built the conservatory, in my blog header pic, for the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival, in Douglasville, GA this spring.

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Building a conservatory in my garden, using rescued materials, beginning next week.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Susanne Hudson's conservatory was a feature article in Southern Living magazine. Took these pics in her garden earlier this year. Following my passion, they are not styled.

Details of a Garden Room

Rescued sink, "champagne is on ice in the conservatory", & stand made from leftover structural pieces, century old rescued pine. Rescued culvert, above, has a new life, & the rescued chest, windows, shutter.

How calm the shutter looks, above, hiding the sink. Carpet, #89 granite gravel.

Nap, above, on the daybed in the Garden Room? Notice its pot feet? Having a chandelier & lamps is of utter importance.

Chandelier, for sale, alas borrowed from Le Jardin Blanc, hanging from the tin roof. Ugh, we had to buy the roof. Curtains? Jute erosion control fabric. Bedding borrowed from Susanne Hudson's home, & mine.

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Hydrangea welcome, above. After all it's the garden Susanne Hudson & I created for the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival on the grounds of Le Jardin Blanc.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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You will not believe what this Garden Room looks like. Can't wait to show you the money shot, soon poppets ! Alert, this garden room built solely with the labor of 1 man & 2 women. None labeled 'young' in contemporary culture. Ha, young in what we create. Please, let us create a Garden Room for YOU. It's all we wanna do. Oh dear, this snippet is turning into the lines of a country song......... ta-ta before it gets worse.

Repetition

Puppet Barbuda took awhile to trust repetition, a landscape design tool. Wasted years. Puppet Barbuda was stubborn. Still is.

Puppet Barbuda was too smart to COPY !!!!!

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Alas, years in the wilderness, and Puppet Barbuda DID NOT recreate a new wheel.

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REPETITION, if it works in one landscape it will work in your landscape. Each time repetition repeats....................IT'S NEW & UNIQUE at each repeat.

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Of course poppets you must adjust for plant zone, money, maintenance, & time. Ironically, copying $$$ landscapes rewards you, often, with better results than the original.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics from Susanne Hudson's garden last month.

A Favorite Landscape Book

5 bookcases line the walls of my office. One of my favorite books, below, Garden Magic by Roy Biles.
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Several editions of this book are on my shelves; of my top 10 go-t0 books this is one.
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Seeing it displayed in Susanne Hudson's conservatory, above, made me smile in complete understanding.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken last Sunday.