Curb Appeal Before Entering the Front Porch

Don't tell me 'welcome' with letters on a sign or doormat, show me.

The curb appeal of this tiny frontyard says, "Yes, you want to see the porch, inside the home, and the rest of the garden."

And you're experiencing the potency of the garden's color trinity, without being aware.

Adore the smartness of cast stone urns filled with cast stone flowers & fruits.
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Get the color trinity?  Green, brown & white.  Trinity of the ages.  Low maintenance, serene, elegant.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Pics shot in Susanne Hudson's garden last month.  Girlfriend is serious!  Curb appeal + front porch fabulosity.  We are working on a book together and planning another spend-the-night this month.

Old Tool Bouquet a la Toile

Start collecting now.

You've seen dozens of old tool bouquets on toiles across the span of your life.

Old tools in my garage are ladies-in-waiting.

Think this bit of garden is serendipitous?  Unplanned?  Needs weeding?  A trinity of wrong.  This garden room is rustic balance with its formal companions nearby.
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Garden Design is all about contrasts.  And finding a way to hang lovely old tools.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Pics shot in Susanne Hudson's garden last month.  Seems old tools, old terra cotta & old tin are a new trinity.

Desk in the Garden

Don't you adore hearing a new strange fact, and know it's true immediately?

Every garden needs a desk.

First shared with me by Susanne Hudson.
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Have adored sharing it for years.  Zero dissent.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics in Susanne Hudson's garden last month.

Hanging Hydrangea

"Hanging hydrangea", said Robin

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to Batman.

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How few choose to hang their 6" pots of hydrangea!
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pics last month in Suzanne Hudson's garden.  Don't you still see people talking in their Batman/Robin cutouts?  No?  How boring.  I do.  Of course I thought they were the stupidest thing on the planet watching, enthralled, the first run episodes.

Contorted & Twisted

Take advantage of contorted & twisted.  Honor them.

No lawn, no mulch, above.
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Yet elegance reigns.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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Pic Susanne Hudson's garden this month.  Had the good fortune to spend the nite when the crabapple was blooming.  In the morning we had coffee in the library with the crabapple blossoms filling the horizon, backlit by the morning sun.  An unexpected 'life' moment.

Big Garden Design Rule

One of the most important things to know in Landscape Design, below.

Know when to leave it alone.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic this month in Susanne Hudson's garden.

New Use for Erosion Control Fabric

Hanging from a large oak tree, below, chandy stays on 24/7.

Recognize the tablecloth?  Erosion control fabric.  Bought in huge rolls.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pic this month from Susanne Hudson's garden.

How to Place Sofa Table

Sofa table, below, rather formulaic with pair of lamps & table toppers.

Laughably obvious!  Yes, put the sofa table outside.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken this month in Susanne Hudson's garden.  She has a totally warped way of looking at & doing the obvious.  Lamps on 24/7.   Don't know where to start furnishing your garden?  Sofa table seems easy.

Covershot Garden Design

Gardens must have rooms which includes halls, foyers, parlors, and the roundabout, below.

Leaning left, below, at the roundabout.

Leaning right at the roundabout, below.

In the roundabout, below, turned & shooting back.  What is this called?  Double Axis.

Same hydrangea, above/below, a few days apart.

Same roundabout, below, different axis.

See your garden thru the camera.  More, see your garden in February thru the camera.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics this month in Susanne Hudson's garden.
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Where today, in your garden, can you take covershot pics?  No?   Why live that way?  
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Yesterday, late afternoon, fuse to my Conservatory blew.  Tried all the breakers, no go.  Immediate call to 'my guys'.  One will be here today.  It is not too much to ask that Conservatory chandelier & lamps light my days & nites on view from every angle I live. 

Double Axis & Before/After

With a view, below, you must be able to turn around

and have an equally fabulous view, below.  Double Axis.

Had the good fortune to visit Susanne Hudson's garden again a few days after this pic, below, was shot.

Without the roses peaking, below, the arbor resumed its status as Focal Point.

Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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All pics shot this month.  Created a garden this weekend and put in one of these arbors, above.  With pendant lite.  We'll use a historic fence template too but one with a bit more privacy.  We won't use white, they already have a delicious dark putty color on their home.

Said Without Words

Simplicity, beauty, easy maintenance, and saying, "Welcome", without words on a stupid sign or flag or doormat.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Susanne Hudson's garden, pic taken earlier this month.

Accessorize

Accessorize.

Focal points are macro garden design.

Accessories are subsidiary focal points.

The micro garden design.
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Perhaps the strongest tool in Garden Design, micro garden design, making your garden MORE you.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Susanne Hudson's garden, pics taken earlier this month.  I laughed out loud when I saw this pair, had been in the garden days earlier and did not see them.
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Remember this garden design rule at the antique shops, art shows, garage sales, junk stores, it's your permission to buy!