Showing posts with label Stone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stone. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Designing to Solve Problems: Maintenance & Snakes

From the 1st visit with the realtor to our new home, I KNEW the garden around the house would be gravel with meandering paths & terraces of gravel further from the house.  And, siting of large pots with HYDRANGEA, drip irrigation of course, were paramount.



Leaving a cottage garden of 3 decades, our new garden is American Farmhouse, ca. 1900.  More importantly, its design will be for our 80 year old selves.  I must be 80 years old, have a gorgeous garden with zero worries about maintaining it.  A garden must leverage life, not the reverse.
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This garden, above/below, I shot late last summer.  Limelight hydrangeas in the same situation as my new garden.  Loving, to the center of my DNA, this garden, I had zero clue I would soon be owning similar.  Alas, it's owned by a man, greatly talented, and strong.  My garden must be smarter, my strength not as great.  Game on.



Fearless, gravel will go to the house, similarly, below.

Interesting block +clapboard

Not wanting formality, gravel will lap at our century old pecan trees, Tara Turf will lap at some pecan trees too.

French garden design - gravel courtyard

As time passes, stone will be added to the gravel as needed.  Stone, below, added for rain issues.  And, I will site wisteria 'Amethyst Falls' at my front porch.  Vines or espaliered trees/shrubs add lush without space.

gravel bordered by pavers / french courtyard draped in wisteria

Knowing gravel terraces will be included, below, great anticipation in wondering 'exactly' where.
Screen-Shot-2013-06-10-at-2.49.40-PM.png 666×482 pixels

Transitioning to meadow, I will add checkerboard squares, below.

Make the best of both worlds using green grass paired with square pavers

Furlow Gatewood has smashed a bottle of champagne upon thousands of ships, below, with his allee of hydrangeas in pots.  Copy, it's the 1st rule of garden design.



Wildly, without knowing the deeper truths of our new garden, my initial thoughts for design are more than suitable at age 80.  Even life saving, for any age.  Snakes, the indigenous timber rattler.  Luckily have already interrupted a long king snake under the house.  Lucky, yet totally scared when I saw him.
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Gravel is the best solution, trying to be safe, in defense of snakes near the house.  I got the memo, go me.
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Sourcing pots now, I think I've found them !
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Garden & Be Well,    XO T
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Top 2 pics mine, the rest from my Pinterest Board, Stone.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Brave Enough to be this Simple?

Glen Ella, below, New Year's Eve.
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Still in use, their barn, more than a century later, its current garden design pulls deep admiration.
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Simplicity.
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Mostly, these barns are rotting/caving-in/gone across USA.
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Go off the grid?  These barns are original off the grid support.



Field gathered stones, below, still functioning.


Perhaps my favorite view of the barn, below.  Simplicity of garden design, and views into the guts of its architecture.  What is the narrative?  Was it added on to?  More than once?


Barn still in use, above, totally garden designed.  Yet, to most, it will seem derelict, dangerous, and they will think, "Why don't they do something, or tear it down?"  Without realizing the brain power creating this current narrative with form/function.  More than brain power, a relationship with Providence.
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Would you be this bold, above, as a garden designer?
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Simplicity is a hard/impossible task.
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Simplicity requires the ego to mask itself.
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No worries about that, once you realize your ego can shine via the simplicity.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Arrived with friends, for dinner, at Glen Ella near dusk, the later seating was booked.  Cold, little light, and everyone walked toward the entry, and warmth.  Not me.  I forgot they existed.  My behavior, whence a good garden appears, targeted on the hunt.  The garden, camera, me, a trinity & zone flying beyond time, social acceptance, whatever.  Poor unfortunate souls needing drugs to arrive in this zone.  
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Have met 1 other soul with this trinity to Nirvana, in Italy, a Delta pilot.  He/I were constantly in each other's way and beyond irritated, beyond the moon irritated.  A few days of this hell we knew some sort of 'arrangement' had to be discovered, some sort of 'friendship'.  Finally, we spoke.  Of course he had to let me know he was a Captain, and a bit about his lovely large home etc.  Woo-woo, let him know a friend's dad had been a Flying Tiger, and original pilot hire by Delta, and he lived around the corner from me growing up.  Told you we didn't like each other up front.  And by the way, someone had to train the astronauts how to fly their rockets, uh, that would be my dad in the simulator with them, former Air Force test pilot.  Isn't it rare the events bringing out our best 7 year old selves, in a snit?  Oh that archaic lizard brain.  You know exactly what happened next.   Talked our way to what is best for both of us, have been true friends since.   He's a wonderful pilot, and person, the best.  Adore his wife, she's a junker for antiques too.
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Grew up knowing the neighbor was a Flying Tiger.  Thought it was euphemism.  During college saw a movie with John Wayne, Flying Tigers.  Consistently, when I'm wrong, it's never a little.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Design: Defining Space with Paths


Garden paths are ahead of plantings in the garden design process.
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Lawns & Tara Turf are paths too.
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Paths are dictated by the house, function, patio, driveway, shade, trees, existing plantings, new features, etc.
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Shot yesterday, below, this new path follows a well trod dirt path my client created during 2+ decades in his home.
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Stepping stones, and edging stones were chosen to copy the type of stone put in by the builder originally.
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Gray cobblestone edging is more common, but not for this site.  I needed to flow with the history already created, aka keep it simple sweetie.
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This project should be completed by the end of the week.  Can't wait to do the walk thru with the owners.


Foot path location, below, used to create new formal stone path.  Many garden paths would be complete, with just stones in dirt, below.  This home is formal French architecture, the garden is not large, the entire garden is treated as a courtyard.


His original dirt path, below.


Stone edging piled, below, are called rubles.  By us !   I think they are correctly named stone rubble.
Brown/beige/white gravel was chosen, too, to copy the existing stone color on site.
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Owner enlarged the scope of the project once we began.  Always happens.  Always.  I think it's because owners 'see', once the paper design becomes 3-D.  Of course there is great humor in knowing a few days earlier only a certain amount of money was available.  Then, poof, voila, money landed from space to enlarge their garden project.


Paths are instant in a garden.  Compare top/bottom pics.  This project is incomplete but the changes are 180.
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Human nature, aka untrained garden design brain, thinks plants will create an instant landscape.  I think of this as job security.  
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Garden & Be Well,     XO T

For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.


NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 
Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.
.
Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.
.
Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow
.
Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.
What do YOU want?
.
Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.
.
Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 

 I  welcome your input.

Monday, December 1, 2014

When it's Time to Change the Design


You'll know when it's time to round the corners.
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Time passes, trees grow, shade encroaches, turf dies.
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Freshly installed cobblestones, below.  What happens when there is even more shade?
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Forget grass, plant a groundcover.
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Sure, this is change.  Refinement too.


This progression is years in the making.
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And, a metaphor for 'life'.
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What corners does your life need to round?  What turf does your life need to let go?  Where does your life need you to invest in cobblestones installed by experienced hands?  How long did this chapter of life take?  Why didn't I realize, sooner, this corner always needed more space?
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Answers to these types of questions arrive in 3 places, for me: in my garden, walking in Nature, or in the shower.

From childhood, I've found gardens, and Nature, to be great conversationalists.
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But.  Have been stumped by a garden request since last week, a new lecture title.  Help me if you can, please.  What is 'new' in gardening?    
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 Gardening is an ancient craft, yet each garden I create is 'new'.  But.  What is 'new', to you, in gardening?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken at jobsite.
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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.
.
NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 
Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.
.
Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.
.
Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow
.
Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.
What do YOU want?
.
Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.
.
Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 

 I  welcome your input.

Monday, October 13, 2014

William Morris: Nuance of Beautiful & Useful

At a jobsite last week, below, a stone path on a slight slope with a slight curve.
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The man creating this path is a stone whisperer.
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His lead stone says, 'Welcome.', with, secondary stone saying, with great nuance, 'Turn this way.'
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Stones are not set in mortar.  Yet, solid, stable, and rank as art.  William Morris, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
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In nuance is the metaphor.
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The fallen branch, below, Nature hard at work, boldly flinging bright white, fungi.  Most people never achieve the beauty of this fungi, nor courage in mission.  Doing the next-right-thing is, too often, hard, until it's the easiest choice available.  My best teachers are in my garden, the nuance of allowing Nature to speak. 
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Cannot imagine my tiny cottage garden without it's formal stone terraces, clipped boxwood, conservatory, and more, not having its Wildwood.  Earth's path with Providence playing the leading role.  


Michael Dirr said, "Of all the trees in the forest, oaks have the wildest sex."
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Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."
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Oak seedling, below.


 I specialize in Le Jardin Rustique.  More than nuance, they are gardens giving far more than they ever demand.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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All pics taken last week.  No idea how the bottom pic did the 'swirl thing', nor why it perfectly targets the oak seedling.  Providence or accident?  You know my answer !
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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.
.
NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 
Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.
.
Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.
.
Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow
.
Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.
What do YOU want?
.
Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.
.
Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 

 I  welcome your input.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Gravel Path: Before + After

Garden path, a few minutes old, below.
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Their back yard, thankfully, a quagmire.  In addition to significant man made drainage issues they have an underground spring.
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Thankfully?  They had to hire help, me.  
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#89 Granite gravel, above/below, is best, color/size, for their garden.  I never tire of seeing before/after of cobblestone edging.


The area was not pretty, below, when we began.


Seems like the older women get the more men their projects demand.
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Especially love women demanding a beautiful easy landscape, and needing a commercial dumpster in their driveway because they are doing a 'few' things inside too !
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These women are my tribe.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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Pics taken at jobsite last week.
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Women who know their driveway must be jackhammered to oblivion are a particular delight.  If you are a woman, with a man in your life, no worries, Man Coaching is free.   Husband's refer to me as, that woman, up front.  Within days husband's say, 'call Tara'.    
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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.
.
NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 
Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.
.
Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.
.
Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow
.
Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.
What do YOU want?
.
Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.
.
Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 

 I  welcome your input.

Monday, August 18, 2014

On Houzz: Stone Steps in Waiting

Recently on Houzz here, below.
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Modern renovation to vintage home.
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Seriously good modern.
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Made me laugh.
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Why?
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Happens all the time with new architectural construction.
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Tunnel vision harking back to the old map makers, "Beyond this point there be dragons."


With long term clients, they learn to finish 'certain' landscape items sooner rather than later.
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How do I know?
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They tell my general contractor, "Don't tell Tara, we will not do XYZ yet but please put in those 3 stone steps so she won't be so upset."
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This beautiful old home with new renovation, above, went international with its 3 gorgeous stones 'not complete'.  In Tara Talk those stones are jewelry-for-the-landscape.  Setting is complete, stones are bought, please let the jeweler do their work.
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Best part of this home/garden?  Nothing has to be 'undone'.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
 For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Top Garden Design Feature to Help Sell Your Home


For decades this, below, was a bare slope with mulch.


Now, flow exists around the entire home.
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Flow.  Is it easy to walk around the entire home?
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90% of my out-of-state Garden Design work has come from past clients hiring me for their new home. They've each said the same thing, "You helped me sell my home, fast."  The ubiquitous beauty, color, lighting, etc. was important but I know the, unexpected, #1 reason they assume their Garden Design helped sell their home.  Flow.
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Flow.  Get you some.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara  
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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning:

Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.