Landscape Design: Subsidiary Focal Points

At woodland's edge, below, a tiny vegetable garden.  Perfect siting for her red leaf Japanese maple.

 Too pretty, rusted urn, to not use, below, but the garden already has a main focal point here, the roundabout (yesterday's pics), it's discreetly tucked into a 'shrub clump'.  A subsidiary focal point.

 Leaving yesterday's roundabout, below, a path.  Peaking thru the garden, above, notice her USA flag.

With its curve this path has my interest.  Eyes, mind & feet are pulled.
.
Yes, I'm going to walk you thru more of Mary's garden next post.
.
Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara
.
Adore the concept, SHRUB CLUMP.  Of course it's from Gertrude Jekyll.  It's difficult to read her in bed at night.  She's always exciting.  Graham Stuart Thomas, same thing.
.
Mary didn't know I was coming to her garden, she is at the beach with grandchildren.  Nothing is styled, and why historical landscape design concepts keep working.  Note arrived from Mary yesterday, she's 71.  Important for you to know this.  She is the gardener.

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.

.

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

.

How to create Double Axis. A class by itself.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pics taken last week in Susanne Hudson's garden.

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.

.

Looks easy, can you do it?

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

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

How To Add Depth In A Narrow Space

The long brick walk was already installed before I designed this project. My design added to its length, literally & metaphorically.Instead of bringing the brick 'straight' to the curb I flared it slightly.
A common technique for painting on canvas; transition from wider to narrower for creating the illusion of greater depth.
Can you believe the timing of the shadow? Ugh!

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pics taken at a recent project.

Edwardian Simplicity

Pecan Orchard needs a gate. A simple gate.Visiting an English country house & garden I fell in love with this gate.

.

Simple, but not.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

This gate starts a conversation, Pecan Orchard needs a taller/wider gate. The garden, above, typically English, a wildwood beyond a gate luring you away from the formal garden. Wondering, finally, if you'll find Sirens, Nyads, Dryads, Satyres.... The last 2 sentences summing up the best of Landscape Design !

How Women Share Their 'Man'

Chandelier Chick's home had a previous tenant who scavenged anything/everything. Her 'Man' cleared, put in a fence, a pond, & etc. Chandelier Chick told her 'Man'where she needed her path, & how to lay its pattern of bricks, salvaged on site. "I told him......", began many sentences while touring her garden last Saturday.
Her 'Man' is obviously good with his hands, & cheap. Pure catnip to women of a certain age.
Many of my Lady clients share a 'Man' in their neighborhood. And that 'Man' is spoken of OFTEN within their circle.

.

'Man' is shared only with like-minded women, & never beyond their organically formed Harem. 'Man' is paid what the Harem decides, 'Man' shares the Harem's tools/equipment amongst the Harem, Harem members pass along 'Man's' newest skill set, because of course, all Harem members will need those skills at some point. If a Harem member has something unexpected and needs 'Man' in an emergency other Harem members delightfully relinquish their planned day with 'Man'. 'Man' knows "Yes, ma'am" is a heady elixir for his Harem.

.

Trying to find your 'Man' is as difficult as getting on the circuit of a fabulous mobile pet groomer.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pics taken in Chandelier Chick's garden last Saturday. Top pic a centuries old garden.

Southern Living Magazine: Clear Winner

When I design landscapes I must see pictures of gardens you like, and dislike.Women, men, widowed, single, divorced, all ages, starter home, mansion, city, country, heterosexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, whatever, this garden is the clear winner.

.

Yesterday's client, yep ! Saved this pic since its debut.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pic taken of Southern Living magazine photo at my jobsite yesterday.

.

Why does this garden resonate? Good Design: canopy trees, understory trees, evergreen walls, groundcover flooring, layers of green (contrasting in texture/color), hi density & low density. Paths, seating, water, sky, intuitively low maintenance plantings.

.

Do you know why hi & low density are potent? Pollinators............

Landscape Design Patterns Inside Your Home

Art, furniture, architecture, lamps, even rugs inspire landscape design patterns. Particularly scrumptious, below.The curves she had led me in a NEW direction; pattern in a mass planting of evergreen groundcover, below.
Wine Bottle pattern, above, pure subtlety with green bottles, I'm thinking yellow/gold wine bottles instead. I want the pattern to be seen.
How the Wine Bottle patterns look in concept, above.

.

Her frontyard meadow is ripe for the central pattern in the carpet, top pic. Expanse of meadow with pathways radiating.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Yes, Poppets, Landscape Design is this easy.

Wine Bottle Edging

She let go. And isn't it fun when a woman let's go?She lined a garden path DRAMATICALLY with wine bottles. (Poppets, she did it herself, no hired labor. Unwittingly, she copied curves from a table in her foyer, above.)
Adoring genius, I copied her lead. Concept plan, above, new curving paths will be Wine Bottle Edged & capped with her signature curve.
Her home is historic, the garden revitalized. Curving flourishes with the Wine Bottle Edging are subtle up close, DRAMATIC when viewed from the house.

Bare soil, above, will be filled-in with evergreen groundcover.

.

Gravel terrace at the tennis court, above, becomes a landing for her party tent (she's a fundraiser for the Humane Society). Under the tented area the gravel will be checker boarded with 18" concrete squares. Did I mention she loves to sail? Lakes of mondo in the gravel will be home to old wood boats, sails flying from their masts. The little Williamsburg building at the tennis court will be enlarged, creating a 'boathouse', complete with dock. In addition to storage it will be the Bar during parties.

.

Stay tuned, there's more.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pics taken last week, same home/garden as previous post.

Same Spot: 2 Views

Shooting pic, below, in a tiny garden. Feet remain stationary, below,

& shooting a pic in the opposite direction.

.

Double Axis never ceases to amaze. Being on the same line with night & day views.

.

Can you do this in your garden?

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pics taken last month in the same antebellum garden as the previous post.

Double Axis

Looking along a path, below, in one direction. Looking along the same path, below, in its opposite direction.

DOUBLE AXIS. (Same garden as yesterday's post.)

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Double Axis, my landscape design invention (la-ti-da). I noticed the best gardens have beautiful axis, and when you turn around they are beautiful along the opposite axis, DOUBLE AXIS.

.

So, dear poppets, it's not merely good enough to have a beautiful view. You must have a beautiful view in 2 directions along the same line.

.

Of course you can throw a roundabout into your Double Axis and create a Double Double Axis. Life is good when these are your musings.

Create Seductive Doorways

Invite people thru your garden with doorways. Use a pair of pots, pair of vertical stones, pair of plinths, pair evergreen shrubs, arbor & etc. Drama of a step, narrowing to the path, above, less than 3' wide, lines of boxwood creating a hallway. Focal point on axis, creating a foyer and

beyond is another fabulous living room.

.

Doorway, top pic, leads from the terrace in yesterday's post.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

It is this simple. Doorway, landing, hallway, foyer, living room. Gorgeous & low maintenance too.

Enfilade

More windows than shown, below, view the patio. From the windows, thru the patio, across the lawn, and into

the woods. A complete view, an enfilade.

.

Imagine, sitting on your couch, enjoying views of the patio, lawn & woodland.

.

Nice, indeed.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pics taken last week in Athens.

Tuteur & Drama

Cone shapes draw the eye in landscapes. Charming tuteur, below, buta subtle color.

Imagine if each tuteur were bright yellow or red. Changes the garden, yes?

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Pic from the same garden as yesterday's post. My client made these tuteurs. Notice the drama of tuteurs in pots. The Anna Belle hydrangeas are a victory in this drought & hi temps & sun.

Transition

Closer to the house the landscaping is more formal. Near the back of the property, below, the landscape transitions into natural woodland.
.
Gravel drive & path drift/mingle with leaf litter mulch. No stone or brick edging, 'soldiers'. Not even tree limb edging.
.
Landscapes are stories. Work the drama.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Pic taken in Susanne Hudson's garden last month.

An Exception

Landscape Design Rule: 1 Focal Point per Area Faux bois bench.
.
Oversized hanging candle lantern.
.
Blooming Hydrangea in a pot.
.
Gravel path.
.
Breaking Landscape Design Rules creates fabulous landscapes.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Pic taken almost 2 weeks ago in Susanne Hudson's garden. I spent 5 nites with her while creating our garden for the annual Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival. Oh yes, dahlings, will be posting those pics soon.
.
I've taken dozens of pics of this gorgeous faux bois bench. Each awful. Finally. Ah, finally. Got it !!
.
Yes, broken landscape design rule, above, but don't overlook the fabulous landscape design: canopy trees, understory trees, walls of shrubs, color theme, sense of mystery, sense of surprise.

Don't Overbuild II

Same slope/drainage issue, different garden, as the last post, below. I created this path, above, over 20 years ago. Stone & gravel were under $150.00 and all the labor was done by ME!
.
The day I created this path COLLEGE BOY said, "All the gravel is going to wash across the garden with the first rain."
.
Hey COLLEGE BOY, "2 decades & counting, when exactly is the gravel going to wash away?"
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Gravel path with slight slope, drainage issue. Path terraced, shot pea gravel poured, stones dug into slope with 2" buried in soil, stones angled slightly into slope.
.

Shot pea gravel loaded at quarry into the back of my pick-up truck. Parked at the curb & shoveled gravel into my double-wheeled wheelbarrow.

.

Stepped off the length of this path, counting steps, and bought chunky field stone to match number of steps. Chose only stones I could carry in my arms. Each of the stones you see, above, I carried one-by-one from my truck at the curb to the backyard (easier than the wheelbarrow routine) & dug into the slope.

Don't Overbuild

Solving a slight drainage issue easily, affordably, without pooling water, without breeding mosquitoes & will last over a century, below. Path was terraced, #89 granite gravel poured, slope dug into with stone laid (dug in about 1"-2" at each base) angled into the slope.
.
Unskilled labor required at each phase, above. Easily woman powered, or man.
.
Water, now, follows the path. As does the eye & foot.
.
Too often I am at a new client's landscape and discover French drains already installed. And already NOT WORKING. Excepting mosquito production. And They Are UGLY & Expensive.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
New path, above, in Jeri Farmer's garden. Not all areas, obviously, can be solved with the method above. Some areas, alas, do need a French drain. Dahlings, I don't want you oversold by a contractor wanting your money instead of the right thing for your landscape. Studying gardens in Europe I saw this same method used countless times in many countries. Built one in my garden 2 decades ago. Will find pic and post it soon. It's fabulous!!!

Checkerboard Flooring

Checkerboard flooring, below, in shade. Grass won't grow.

12" X 12" concrete squares.

Gorgeous all year. Affordable, low-maintenance, unskilled labor, rain water only. Add crocus, scilla, blue grape hyacinths.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

.

Yesterday's client's office has a black/white checkerboard floor. Soon the garden outside her windows will have checkerboard flooring too.

Pic taken last week in Susanne Hudson's garden. She installed the checkerboard flooring herself. 18" X 18" concrete squares? Too heavy. Unskilled labor & woman powered.

At The Gate

From the Tea Olive Terrace, below, looking into my backyard. At the same gate, in my backyard, below, looking into the Tea Olive Terrace.

Double Axis: 2 views fabulous. A fabulous view in 1 direction must be fabulous in the opposite direction.

.

There are no exits in a garden, only entries.

.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.

Pics taken last week in my garden. See the template? A Trinity of the Ages: Path, Gate, Boxwood. Ramped up: painted gate, gravel path, blooming hydrangeas.