Gertrude Jekyll's beloved home, Munstead Wood, above.
But first, below, an oval of turf. What's left, red clay, will become meadow (clover, fescue, bulbs, English daisy, ageratum, rudbeckia fulgida x fulgida, what the wind blows in & etc.)
Broad dry stone steps, below, taming the slope. Meadow, mown at 3 heights 
will carpet these steps.
We designed architecture & landscape, decorated & styled with only items junked, rescued, borrowed. (Well, we did buy tin roofing, gravel & a few pots.)
Tiny, potent. Peek thru, below, see our potting table?
Leftover pavers from edging the gravel. Voila, a table. And a meadow, does it get any better? Yes, hearing the crunch of gravel, smelling the fragrance of meadow & woodland, sound of rain on tin, seeing the chandelier & lamps on at nite. Knowing you have a bolt hole.
Disgusting 1980's French doors, from the dump, turned into something fabulous, below.
Our wagon, below, filled with a foray behind the barn.
A good man for this project was unspoken, below. Notice, we did not think 'crew of men'. Notice, too, more Field Gathering: old wheelbarrow, bed frame, & altar table on its side. But you already saw that yesterday. Oooh-la-la, notice the old bathroom sink in the Tara Turf?
Poppets, pay attention to the galvanized culvert, below.
How would you use it?
Sunday, a client's soiree. She invited dozens. Meeting a delightful man & describing to him Tara Turf. Further,
telling him 'some locals' did not want her to have Tara Turf, aka meadow. Too many problems with tall meadows 'they' said. Full sail, go Tara Go, describing Tara Turf's fabulousity.
as jewelry upon this bench.
TARA TURF is its carpet.
Discovered over a decade ago during a study tour of Scotland TARA TURF is obvious.
TARA TURF: moss, lichens, mondo, clover, bulbs, dandelion, violets, fragrance, dwarf chamomile, scilla, muscari, dwarf daffodils, honeybees, ladybugs, fescue, what the wind blows in, 50%-75% less mowing, formal or informal depending upon mowing pattern & heights, zero fertilizer, zero chemicals, zero irrigation Mother Nature's rain only, unique to each zone & region world wide.
Here, above/below, in Susanne Hudson's backyard.
Looking thru the gate, below, is a view from the frontyard.
Blossoms, below, each had honeybees. Wish you could hear this tree.
Notice winter's bare branches? I adore the frisson. 
This is my weakness: leaf litter mulch. No edging. Moss & lichens. Evergreen flowering shrubs. Petals on the ground. Patches of bare earth. Bench & bush. Low meadow leading to wildwood. Fragrance. Sound of wind thru leaves. Birds. Beauty.
Tires crunching along the gravel, scent of meadow.
Passing thru the yew hedge into this, above.
LOLA was growing TARA TURF before we met! Historically correct for her older home. A mix of fescue-moss-clover-what the wind blows in. Never needs water, fertilizer or chemicals. Honeybees love it.
LOLA chose the paint for her bricks and created her own interiors. How to get you the fragrance of this magnolia?
Vanishing Threshold, above, dictates views into a window are pretty in both directions. No backsides of pictures, clocks, or TV.
Do you like still life's too?
About here, above, I thought to myself, This is probably rude leaving the party to wander & take pics without asking. Ha, did I stop?
I knew LOLA wouldn't have paper plates. Or paper napkins.
Gazpacho in the pitcher, Mario Bitalli asparagus (sauteed with garlic/parsley/citrus), fruit salad, cucumber salad, field pea salad.... Wine & beer & tea were in the copper farmhouse sink cradled in ice.
Set into a slight hill the house is crowned with a hardwood canopy of oaks. Captured light, above.
Vanishing Threshold, house & garden, each a seduction of comfort.
LOLA added French doors.
The back garden has 3 terraces.
LOLA really nailed her pot clusters, above. She overdosed, with 3!
Standing at the French doors looking into the garden. A designer planned the garden; contractors put in the stone. LOLA and darling TOM are doing the plantings & maintenance. Exactly the hand-heart-eye a paid maintenance crew cannot provide. The word for it? Charm.
What is a house & garden without a Queen? CHESSIE was in control. She also sweetly gave away a personal tidbit. She's a Daddy's Girl. 
APPLE SAUCE QUEEN had 4 minutes notice of our arrival. She & her husband were in the backyard gardening & caretaking a grandson. Spring, calm, beauty, love, laughter emanated from this trio as we pulled into their drive. 
Have you designed shadows, above, into your landscape? Wish you could have walked upon this venerable stone path to APPLE SAUCE QUEEN's front door with me.
Immediately at the front door, above, original stairs, rail, floor, foyer.
Each side of the foyer, above, with these doors. Were they to help caretake children, control pets?
The dining room, above & below, was a later addition. In the china cabinet, above, APPLE SAUCE QUEEN has a jar full of pottery, china, pipes, marbles & other misc. things found while digging in the garden. Some of the china is from China. Slow-witted me did not think to get a picture for you. Oops.
Why is this a fabulous landscape picture, above? Trust me, it is. APPLE SAUCE QUEEN was in the process of removing iris and planting vinca minor when NAUGHTY GIRL & I arrived.
