New Layer for Fall & Winter

Time to begin hunting/gathering for winter gardening.
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Incredible silhouettes, below, and packing a punch with a strand of lights.






In my garden shed are several balled strands of white lights, extension cords, urns, and in our woods, plenty of sticks/branches/greenery.
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Mechanics & ingredients accounted for.  Now, pure pleasure vision questing where to place them.
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Yes, will leave the lights on all nite.
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This is your heads-up.  If you enjoy the anticipation of a new garden layer, as much as I do, a new layer has arrived, just now, sublime.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO T
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Would be fun seeing how many ships sail from this port.  Better, their structural mechanics.
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Pics Deborah Silver.

Pot Cluster

Pot Cluster, below.
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Quite the thing to do, across Europe for centuries.



Pic, above, here.

Of course there are 2 personalities about the Pot Cluster, "Not in a billion years.", and, "Oh goody, I get to buy more plants."
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Want a Pot Cluster but life is woe-unto-me at present?  A single pot can be your Pot Cluster.  More than a potted plant, it's your spirit saying, "I choose beauty, I choose to smile."
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During the few short days it took to sell 2 houses & buy a house, about this time last year, I bought a lone tomato plant from wallyworld.  Potted into classic terra cotta, sited on axis from every window at the back of the house, leaving my 30 year precious sweet garden, this little tomato plant carried my heart.  Beloved was out-of-state working during the 'festivities' of moving.   He did come home for a weekend, teased me terribly about my Charlie Brown tomato plant.  Of course that tomato plant made the move, Beloved could not believe discovering it had made the move.  That I would "waste" my time upon that lone tomato plant, "You won't get any tomatoes, cheaper to buy them at the store, waste of time to keep it watered."  After the 1st frost, Beloved & I were walking in our new garden and we discovered, at the same moment, my Charlie Brown tomato plant near death, leaves brown/crisp, yet it had a silver dollar sized tomato, pristine, ripe, beautiful orange-red.  That lone tomato worth more than a grocery store full of tomatoes, to me.  With a piquant bonus, Beloved vanquished by a tomato.  How didn't he see at the front end I wasn't planting a tomato, I was planting a metaphor?

Formal into the Wild Wood

"And, I don't want anything formal."
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Gets me every time.  In the early years I would explain how 'formal' is your friend.  Now, I just let it rip, playing with formal elements, don't mention the word, and enjoy, "I love this."
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Because I know what is most important in life, I checked Pinterest late last nite, hoping something new popped up for Furlow Gatewood.  This pic, below, may not be new but I had never seen his allee of mophead hydrangea from this angle.
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Gatewood's allee has sailed a fleet of ships since its debut in Veranda in July of 2013.
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Adore how he smashed formal into wild wood.
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His wild wood of canopy-understory-walls-floors, a total home run.
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Another home run?  No dinky-is-stinky here.
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Further south than my garden, I look at Gatewood's hydrangea, nostrils flared, right eyebrow cocked/loaded, in a momentary whiff of envy.  No near decade of leisurely late freezes, in March/April, taking out hydrangea buds.
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No, there is not next year to get this decadence, below, back.  It is several good 'next years' in a row, to get the decadence back.
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Before you think this is a problem to maintain, notice front/left, a clearly exposed drip irrigation tube.
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Pic, above, here.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara

What Happens When 2 Queens Take on Pot

After Scotland, weeks of studying historic gardens, I came home the Queen of Pots.
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Years later, I encountered another Queen of Pots, Deborah Silver, below.
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She put me into a new chapter.



Deborah's take on pots made me realize, "Perhaps I've been harming myself, by only doing 'my' Queens Pots."  Harm?  Embracing the seasons, in honor & thanks.  Enjoying hunting/gathering, assembling.



















My Queen's Pot, above, so wonderful it can be empty. or planted.
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Deborah took my theme, and didn't 'plant' in the traditional sense.  She creates exterior floral arrangements withstanding 'weather', for months.  Seeing her pots, why-didn't-I-think-of-that?
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Bottom line?  Choose pots so wonderful they can remain empty all year, AND you have a choice of adding an exterior floral arrangement.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Bottom pic from my garden, top pics from Deborah's recent post.

What Your Home Should Say, from the Curb

Your garden must tell me who you are from the curb.

'Overdose on your theme', is the best way to get there.

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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara

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Pic, 5th and State, take the link, Debra's done an excellent treatise on matching pots to houses.

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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.

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Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.

                                                                                 .

Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

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Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.

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Construction by Award Winning

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

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
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What do YOU want?

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Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

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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.

Design: Fearless Editing

What you won't see, below, in beautiful landscapes.

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In the best landscapes, across the globe & eras, courageous editing never ceases.

 Knock-out rose, above, is not paying the rent.  Client's boxwood had been in a disgusting cheap plastic pot.  Classic rolled rim cast concrete planter was lurking, empty, under the steps.

A few minutes old, above.  Pot & boxwood already paying rent.  Imagine when groundcovers are planted and oodles of flowers rim the pot.

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It's the rare garden not needing an edit.  And rarer, the garden without a lot of extra 'stuff'.

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What changes can you make in your landscape with these thoughts?

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Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara

Pics at jobsite this week.  

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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.

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Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.

                                                                                 .

Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

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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.

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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. 

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Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.

What do YOU want?

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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.

Pots Tutorial : Site & Client Specific

My team is installing a flagstone terrace and garden I designed at this home, below.

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Home is new construction atop historic foundation.

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Clients both work, young children, pets, and shade on the front porch with moments of intense light.

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Urns, chairs, tub already on the porch.  Of course I moved everything.

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The urns, below, had been too close to the door, 'squeezing' the front door 'smaller'.

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This family is too busy to fru-fru over caretaking pots.

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Deborah Silver's urn, below, is perfect for my client's urns, above.  For scale/height I would add a tee-pee of 3 bamboo canes tied with brown twine, with matching dried vines of base wreath threading up the tee-pee.

I moved the wash tub, below, in front of their library window.  Now, a focal point inside/outside.
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With potting soil in the tub, I would set

3 terra cotta pots with ivy topiaries, below, and also,

add whimsy, with a properly scaled animal topiary, below.

 I moved the white chairs, below, in front of their dining room window.
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On each I see a large terra cotta pot filled with ivy topiary.

Especially like these 'basket' ivy topiaries with space in the center left for a plastic pot to be slipped in with a flowering plant- of- the- season.

If we can't find the ivy basket, above, perhaps the ivy topiary at her feet, below.

These flowering terra cotta pots, below, would be pretty on the chairs, but I do worry about the amount of sunlight available to keep them thriving.

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Perhaps pot them anyway, do the ivy too, and swap them as desired.

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Tiny pumpkins, matching those in the black urns, in the tub/terra cotta too.

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Notice echoes of terra cotta, ivy, seasonal across all of the containers?  Repetition.  One of the strongest elements of Garden Design.

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Tara's perfect pots?  So incredibly fabulous they can remain empty. 
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 Reading Deborah Silver recently I had a planting pot epiphany, here.  Perhaps I'm harming my spirit by ALWAYS having my pots empty.  Thank you for that, Deborah.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pics taken at jobsite yesterday, beautiful pot pics from Deborah Silver.
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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.

Beautiful Easy Landscapes: Design Course Free in this Pic

Beautiful easy landscape design course, below, in a single picture.

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What is here?

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Scale, flow, invitation, axis, double axis, mystery, color theme, contrasting textures, path, mall, historical theme, lighting, focal points, canopy of sky, understory trees, pots so wonderful they can be planted- or not.

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  The most important landscape design element, aside from easy to maintain? 

 Creation of a beautiful backdrop to life. 

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Prior to age 40 most clients want gobsmacks of stuff in their landscape.  Past 50 most clients want strong editing in their landscape, and, demanding it be beautiful backdrop to their lives.

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This is you demanding your landscape leverage your life, in all layers.

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Favorite question I ask myself about every landscape design, "What can I take out, and it remains a beautiful landscape?"

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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.

.

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.

The Best Garden Design Ideas

The best garden design ideas are simple.  And have been done for thousands of years.

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No worries, ever, about copying them.

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Each site is unique.

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Any garden design idea you choose to copy will be original and fresh in your garden.

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Focal point on axis with backdrop, below.

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With greater surprise as the garden is walked, there are more axis on this focal point, below.

Same table, above/below, as yesterday's post.

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Except shot from different axis.

Backdrop hedges are as important as the focal point and axis.

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Without the backdrop hedges you would see a mash-up of other garden rooms.

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Gardens must have mystery.

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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara

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I didn't want to copy pretty gardens when I got out of college.  I wanted to be unique.  Those unique efforts created cringe worthy gardens.  Aside from ugly, they cost money, and the worst loss, TIME.  No one can buy more time.

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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.

Front Porch: Remove the Rails

No rails.

Shutters are full length door scale, adding 'height'.  Screen door with long top panel, and a plain bottom panel, again adding height.
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Gravel to the house.  Yes.  Downspout is piped away, and round, very nice.
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To enlarge the space further, add step across entire front & side.  More flow/movement.  Cole Porter's, Don't Fence Me In.
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Wonder how the shutter color is being used inside, curious about the color on the ceiling.
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Ironically, everything is done with a sure hand except the pots.  They seem like mere filler (or magazine staging at its pinnacle of pots/pillows) until the correct pots are chosen/planted.
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Historically designed, low maintenance.  Unskilled labor could easily keep this in shape.
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Maria Killam had this pic recently & nailed it on the color.  Made me laugh, all I could see was the 'entire' excellent garden design, color included.  Of course I'm always happy seeing a front porch rail liberation. Would like an architect to do a post on this pic next !
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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.

Garden Design: Hydrangeas in Pots

Ripe. 

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 Notice, below, the color echo?  Wonder where the axis leads from the paired entry?  Garden design tenants are rife: spikes with rounds, all layers accounted for sky-canopy-walls-floor, contrasting textures, mystery, repetition, copied, color theme, change thru the seasons, low maintenance, maximum pollinator habitat, no chemicals needed, a historical template.

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Does your garden tell me who you are?  This one does, as all good gardens must.

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Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes, her sister asked, "Have you seen her house."  Frances knew, she's asking, "Who is she, what is she like?"

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Hydrangeas do great in pots.  Choose mopheads, PeeGee, Tardiva, Limelight, etc.
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Worried about hydrangea's brown sticks in winter?  Move on from that chapter, it's too shallow for you.  Good Garden Design backdrops normal changes thru the seasons in beauty.
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Focal points change by the day.

Tara Turf, above/below.  Garden Design is fierce in this garden.
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Fierce?   Simplicity is hard, keeping elements of the poverty cycle is hard, good Garden Design is hard.
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 Getting to this iteration of his garden, I know the gardener grew through, and blew through, many life chapters.  Many.
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 Self -will ended.  Gardenese is spoken here.  A life language.  More, the language of Providence.

Garden Design's status symbols, above, are now gravel drives, no edging.  Tara Turf.

At the front end of studying the best historic Garden Design across Europe I 'got' that.

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If you want this type of Garden Design, I can do that for you.

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If you want a Garden Design to meet HOA requirements, and no more, I will not do that, anymore.

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If you wish to push your HOA rules to the max, and have to ask for approval, I will be happy to do your Garden Design.

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Understand, I've blown thru chapters and books, and continents, to get here with Garden Design.

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Ripe.

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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara

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Pics taken this month.  Top pic best shows the humidity in the air.  Was with Susanne Hudson, Liz Tedder, and poor Martha Tate (we missed yo) had to zip in/out ahead of us.

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Think you can do Hydrangeas in Pots like this?

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Takes the full arsenal of Garden Design.

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Which is either simple or will take you a life time.

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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.