URBAN LANDSCAPE: CHICKENS & HONEY BEES

A dozen years ago LAWYER didn't know herbaceous from deciduous. Now, he's an urban pioneer in his landscape.
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LAWYER designed his chicken coop, it uses new & reclaimed materials.
URBAN PLANNER chose the colors.

The chickens make a sweet cooing sound. Their neighborhood, nearly a century old, is intown Atlanta.

The bees pelted me as I took pics. Hadn't the slightest worry of stings. And there were none.

Yes, the little door, above, is the egg door.

View, below, from the driveway.

URBAN PLANNER said LAWYER lets his chickens out, first thing, arriving home from work. They free range until the sun informs them, Back to the coop.

You knew I was sent home with eggs. Brown, white, blue. Delicious.

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I met LAWYER & URBAN PLANNER a dozen years ago when they took my class at The Atlanta Botanical Garden. Their (then) baby just had his Bar Mitzvah and now has 2 siblings. Can it be?

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Back then they knew little about gardening, now, LAWYER can teach me about chickens & honey bees. Isn't that the best type of story about teacher & student?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

LANDSCAPE DESIGN: CONTRAST

Levens Hall, England, is where I learned to contrast formal with informal in landscape design. It's one of the most potent tools you'll use.
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Formality, below, whimsical, not cute, overdosing on its theme.
Not far away, below, Susanne Hudson kept her dead tree, called a snag, romanticising it with a rescued ladder. Monet did something similar at Giverny.

Melted candles, below, and wishing I had been there for whatever the event was.

Nearby, below, the Wild Wood. OMG. Candles in a formal garden room overlooking fireflies in a Wild Wood. Really wishing I had been there.

Inches, below, separate formal from informal. Outside the garden cottage, stone. Inside the garden cottage, cinder block. So practical.

Who says steps in a garden are expensive?

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Cinder blocks were rescued from a neighbor's garbage last Monday. They'll be used near my potting table, with a board, to hold new cuttings. The board was rescued too. Will stain it my famous faded Monet green.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

FRONT PORCH IN A SUBDIVISION, FAST

Rare people implement landscape design quickly. What is quick? One year is a blink of the eye in the landscape realm. Jeri Farmer, retired marketing guru, moved in a year ago. In retirement? She owns, Le Jardin Blanc, with Susanne Hudson.

Jeri is hooked on white. With some blue. Susanne designed Jeri's garden overdosing Jeri's theme.

Jeri did something shocking. She implemented the plan, without wavering. And in a year has a garden life.

Landscapes, like people, are more defined by what they say no to.

"Men come to build sooner than to garden finely as if gardening were the greater art." Alexander Pope 17th century
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

HEDGE ENTRY + ENFILADE

How's this, below, for a holly hedge? (Note, proper pruning, top slightly narrower than bottom.)Mystery, backdrop, entry, evergreen, drought tolerant, bug proof. Hitching posts are all antique. Now you see, below, what the hedge is embracing. Does it matter, anymore, the parking court is a mere 4' from the pool decking?

A fabulous ENFILADE, above.

Leading to another ENFILADE, above.

You like?

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This private garden is in Douglasville, GA where it, and the home's interior, are under the guidance of designer Susanne Hudson.

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Shooting this garden with its owner & Susanne was an incredible hour of power. You'll be seeing more of it.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

STREET VISIT WITH A CLIENT LANDSCAPE

SHIPMEN invited me to a picnic yesterday. Thought you would like a few street views of their landscape. Path & perennial border, below, led them to hire me. Years ago.Don't you love this hint of entry, below, luring you further? SHIPMEN purchased their neighbor's backyard and extended their garden beyond the entry, above. A few steps further, below, and you see their gate.

A few steps more, below, and you realize the entry is an ENFILADE.Entering the gate, above, but before arriving at the 2nd gate, welcoming urns of geraniums. Notice the lattice walls, below, painted black. Perfect.

Sneaking thru their garden, because I could, and I knew you would want to peak into their conservatory, below. A hint of one FETISH.

SHIPMEN adore antique chandeliers. They're shipped home from across the globe.SHIPMEN use their conservatory for dining & plant propagation. It's not for show.


Leaving thru the same gate, above. These were only street views. Tempted to see more?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

GARDEN VIEWS FROM THE MUDROOM

Every window should have a garden view. Penny, below, has several good views.

Susanne Hudson, standing at her washer/dryer, below, has this view.

Turning slightly, below, another laundry view. The tall jar holds a collection of glass frogs. And the dryer becomes an excuse to hold another lamp. You've got to love that in anyone.

More collections in glass jars: antique wheelbarrows, flexible wire frogs, iron frogs. And a view thru the arbor over her grill.

Can you imagine doing laundry surrounded by your garden & a few of your favorite things?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

LAVENDER HILL

AUNT is finally ensconced upon her 100+ acres. I helped design her previous landscape.

This landscape: sunny, dry, windy, large. AUNT, a busy woman, has a great eye & depth of feeling. Understanding the constraints? Design a landscape to inspire & feed the soul.

Low maintenance.

UNCLE is on the tractor, a crew weed-eats the edges. At lunch, below, mixed greens+roasted walnuts+goat cheese+strawberries+blueberries, and artisanal bread, I asked AUNT, What do you miss about your other garden?

It was on acreage too and included a small walled garden, vegetable garden and fruit orchard. She missed, Having a little place to take care of without help.

Reclaimed timbers in the living room, above. Seeing her furniture in a new home. Some of the pieces inherited from her mother, MISS LOUISE, and, aunt, AUNT TILLIE. Mentors to her, and me.

My own home & garden with things inherited from MISS LOUISE & AUNT TILLIE. Their gardens within us both. Their love too.

A guest bath, above. I recognized the mirror from AUNT's previous home.

A bedroom, above. With AUNT TILLIEs vanity & MISS LOUISE's mirror. Great light and views 180 degrees while laying in bed. Garden views. Wanting so much to get this landscape right.

Portions of the home are 1-room deep. Views of acreage spanning north-south.

A bank of 5 pair French doors, above. (My little camera couldn't shoot them all.)

AUNT's previous home had a stunning dining room window too.

Dining room, above, is not finished.

Clothes line, above, will be stained the trim color of the home. And French lavender planted. Screened porch, above, off the main rooms + kitchen. AUNT, a wonderful cook, wanting a tiny spot to charcoal grill & herb garden. AUNT wanting herbs in large pots. Of course, they'll go here nearest the kitchen.

On the way to AUNT's property, herd of decorator cows.

Trees + evergreen shrubs, the bones, are already placed. My job? Flowering, and fragrant, shrubs + trees sequenced to have something different coming into bloom every 2 weeks.

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Magic? All landscapes NEED magic. Don't you want your soul stirred? It's the shaking of our soul, at least mine, taking me into the garden.

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This site perfect, front to back, for lavender. Sunny & dry. Low maintenance. Fragrant. And those winds? They will scent the air with lavender even when not in bloom. The winds are strong enough to rub lavender leaves against each other.

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FRENCH LAVENDER. Will use a few Spanish lavender too. Spanish lavender blooms before the French, are darker purple, less fragrant, & look like butterfly wings.

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French Lavender is the magic of AUNT's garden.

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AUNT is already living at Lavender Hill. Thoughts of a garden are that strong.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

MISSIONS & PAINTS & OBITS

Faded green, color-matched from a House & Garden magazine picture circa 1990's. The home was in England, owned by a couturier to the Queen. My trim had been white. (Blinds, above, are always open but lowered to prevent birds smashing.)

Antique iron gates, Egyptian, late-Victorian, arrived rusted with hints of Robin's egg blue. It became the color for all the iron in my garden, above.

This chair, above, arrived, from Wal-Mart circa 1990's, already stained. Ick.

Original stain finally wore away and I stained, above, the chair Saturday. You knew, of course, I do these chores myself? Then, as it dried on the patio the rains came.

Choices had to be made, above, painting this iron gate with wood post. Stain the wood, as all the wood is stained, faded green, or go with Robin's egg blue? After that, choosing the bird's color was easy.
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Robin's Egg Blue: from Lowe's color matched, Olympic exterior oil gloss, base 4-73704, B57-3, Kingston Aqua exterior gloss oil, 101-24 102-28 103-3 Flat egg Sat s/g gloss. Note, they don't sell oil anymore.

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Faded Green: from Lowe's color matched, Olympic maximum, Deck Fence & Siding Stain. 100% acrylic Latex Formula, clear base, custom color, manual dispense 113-5Y40.5 115-2Y1.5 114-2Y47 102-1Y8.5

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Staining teak or an arbor aren't easy choices. My regret was waiting to make choices. The colors never bore. They are different in shade, sun, morning, evening, rain & etc.

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Painting & staining in the garden completed the interiors of my home.

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I live from the center of my home to the property line. Before, I only lived from the center of my home to its walls.
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A delightful obituary in the NYTimes Tuesday for Edward Durell Stone, Jr., landscape architect included, ...Most recent honor , the ASLA Landmark Award co-sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Presevation for PepsiCo's world headquarters in Purchase, NY was particularly gratifying. Designed over thirty years ago, PepsiCo's corporate campus was recognized for its excellence and inspiration to its people and their purpose.

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Why do anything less for yourself?

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A home & garden to inspire your daily life & your purpose in this world.

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Reminds me of something from Oprah magazine, What is your life the answer to?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara