NO SPACE TO GARDEN

When there is no space to garden, yet there is, indeed, a garden it speaks of the gardener not the garden.
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Passed this little garden, above, during an open garden scheme in the Cotswolds.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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PUPPET BARBUDA sees: charm (remember CUTE KILLS), perfection of scale, field gathered plants, rescued hardscape items, sharp eye for color on the door, Vanishing Threshold, contrasting foliage texture & color, stone softened with plantings (my rule of JUST LET IT TOUCH), fabulous maintenance, low maintenance, modesty of checkbook (PUPPET BARBUDA is disgusted when someone says, "I don't have money to garden"), joy in the gardeners hand-heart-eye (ha, mind-body-spirit).

A MADELEINE

Where does it go? Client, Friend & Mentor Mary Kistner would have me to lunch. A cloth on her table. Cloth she wove. Flowers she had cut that morning. A book, too, would be near the flowers, opened to a page completing a still life with the vase, dishes, cloth. Dishes she orchestrated. Mary cooked, carefully chosen recipes, always hiring a neighbor to serve/clean, facilitating our conversation.
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Sparking. That's what I called our conversation. Interesting, full of energy.

David Stevens, my contractor, entered our realm. A kindred spirit. Many lunches & Sparking. Enjoying our trinity. After 15 minutes of lunch realizing it was 2 hours. Ending, always, with a walk of Mary's acreage. Snow, rain, spring's shocking greens, fall's crown of colors, summer's green humidity.

Did I think, ever, to take a picture of the table, food, cloth, book, dishes, Mary, David? Though not long ago, it was another era.

Mary died, home & acreage bequeathed to a land trust. David died. Their ashes enrich Mary's land. Their memory enriches me.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tare
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pic from Apartment Therapy.

HALLOWEEN IN THE LANDSCAPE

I spent the night with Susanne Hudson this week. Her house & garden are Halloween. Below, her tin roofed potting shed.

Susanne, photographer Joe Descoise, and I are working on a book project.

It's about Susanne's interior/exterior design. Wednesday was a full day of shooting & discussions.

Thursday morning Susanne & I were in the library drinking coffee when I 'found' the book's title.

It was in an old stack of 3x5 note cards Susanne has used for eons with lectures.

It's obvious these are my pics. Aaaaah, you should have seen Joe's.

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We began shooting this summer, and of course we need a full year of shots. It's amazing, this is work? Each time, leaving Susanne, I feel energized, full of peace, and creative.

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Exactly why I've taken on this project.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

LIVING AS STILL LIFE

Setting your tools down, do they look this good? I saw the gardener, as he was working, set these down as I was meandering Great Dixter in England.
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EPIPHANY.
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My gardening, without effort, should look like a still life. Just like Great Dixter.
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Now, mostly, it does.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

SUPPORTING BEAUTY

Books, calendars, magazines, TV often don't show the whole story. It's the whole story I adore, above.
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Seeing the gardener's loving hands.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Hmm, can't remember where I took the pic, England?

LIGHT BULB MOMENT

Her entire house, guest bath below, is filled with beautiful, and interesting, things. Decades in the house, the landscape was well maintained, functional, good. Not beautiful and interesting. After I lectured at her garden club she hired me. A small phase was installed. Her light bulb went on! With confidence she's been buying terra cotta and iron pieces, significant pieces, beautiful & interesting. Sending me pics from her phone while shopping.

A place she's found incredible things for her garden, above, Englishman's. Their website, unfortunately, doesn't have pics of all their landscape merchandise. They also sell lots of interior items.

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Now her house & garden are a Vanishing Threshold.

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Always fun to see the birth of a GARDENISTA!!!

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pic, above, from the Englishman's site.
And of course her garden is more than about buying 'stuff', the plantings are gorgeous. Will post her again this spring.

HOW TO GET LOVELY HIPS

Athletic hips. Sexy hips.

Subtle hips.

Have you ever seen such rose hips?

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Fall is the season for rose hips.

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Wish I could tell you which roses they're from but I didn't write down their names. Pics taken while studying in France.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

WHAT'S MISSING IN THIS PICTURE?

Centuries of landscape design & garden maintenance lessons in France, where I took this pic. What is wrong in this pic?
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The gardener has increased his gardening time by 10-15X's. Why? Don't we all want low maintenance?
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Fallen prunings, with thorns, have to be picked up by hand. Leaves & petals will have to be blown.
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A sheet under the prunings, dahlings. A sheet. All is picked up, no thorn worries, no blower.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Other gardeners at this public park outside Paris were using sheets.

HGTV & TARA DILLARD?

HGTV contacted me last Monday. They are scouting, across America, talent for new shows. I interviewed on tape, yesterday. They asked, Bring what's exciting you in the landscape.

Having hosted a CBS TV show & author of several books I thought that's how HGTV found me. NOT.

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Good news Blogland, you are being heard-seen-read. HGTV knew none of my past. They found me thru this little blog.

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Exciting. HGTV carefully choosing new show concepts. Of course, more exciting if they CHOOSE ME!

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

INSIDE TO OUTSIDE LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Style inside is directly related to style outside. What? Often I copy arrangements atop mantels, chests & tables. What? Easy!! Above & below, painting is evergreen hedge or side of your house, lamp is an understory tree, clock is a 4'-5' evergreen shrub, books/box are hellebores, and the porcelains are cinnamon fern,

the platter is dwarf sarcoccoca and the nosegay is a stunning pieris cultivar.
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Took these pics at a client's this week while installing a new phase. I love it when clients have a strong sense of style. A challenge to be on top of my game.

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What do you see in your interiors, to use outside?

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

FRONT PORCH

Wreaths on doors are difficult. Scale, color, quality. Oh no, The 'Cute' Factor. CUTE KILLS. Ha, another Tara rule. Wit, whimsy, humor. YES. Last week BOOK GIRL's door had it right.

Looking to the right of the door, above. Reality garden photography, I styled nothing.

Looking to the left of the front door, above, more reality garden photography. Nothing styled for the pics. BOOK GIRL does her own decorating.

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Landscapes should be designed and decorated for the impromptu photo shoot.

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Think of your landscape as it is, this moment, can I meander and take several shots to steal your heart?

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When you look out the windows of your home, at your garden (Vanishing Threshold), does it steal your heart?

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When your garden melts your heart you've got an endless stream of energy, joy, beauty, wit, serenity, peace to draw from for daily living.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

RANCHBURGER: Before & After

Contouring of the land, below. What to do, what to do?

The most important thing you can do to a Ranchburger? Let It Out Of Jail.

Remove the rails, and those ratty (Rattus rattus) evergreen meatball shrubs, which are naked at the bottom and chopped at the top, the builder planted decades ago. Shall I wax poetic about builders landscape design? Hmm, PUPPET BARBUDA is too busy today.

Aaaaaaah, the brick was liberated too. This ranch is going country French.

Furnishings & Pots aren't 'done' yet. But the Ranchburger is done. Done gone!!

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Thank you for sharing your Ranchburger before/after pics Krystol. Love the dogs & your intuitive landscape design. Fabulous.