Mr. Checkbook & My French Doors

Their old dated vintage pool is almost as cool as Steve McQueen's tan lines.  

Mr. Checkbook did not want to put the French doors to the pool during renovations.

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Mrs. was all-in.

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Blessedly financing was s-l-o-w.  Thank you bad economy!

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Me?  Never wavered.

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Full frontal verbal.  For weeks.

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Mr. Checkbook & I have history, this is our 3rd garden together.

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Mrs. surprised me this month, "Come for a consult this week."

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French doors installed & Mr. Checkbook beyond pleased.

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My Intergalactic Wimbledon Finals backhand down the line winner with the perfect amount of insouciant speed against Mr. Checkbook for the tennis title win of all time.

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Except this is better, he wins too.

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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara

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Remember this pic from the 60's Life article?  

Full Moon Landscaping

The old barn was updated for wine tastings & dinners.

Beyond the doors are tall & short meadows, fat curving gravel roads, views of the Appalachians, and vineyards.
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By accident I think they've come upon the perfect landscape design for the light of a full moon.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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My little suburban garden mimics many 'large' garden design ideas.  This?  A league of its own.

Glass Rain Chain

Rain chain you'll want to have.

These chains, hooked to a drain, remain taut & sheet water beautifully.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic last weekend.  Where have I been, this was the first glass rain chain I've ever seen.

Simple & Functional is the Goal

Looks simple.  Isn't simple.

Major functional too.
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Reminds me of the cliche, restraint-of-tongue-and-pen.  We know it when we should do it yet don't !!
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Do you know what the vine on the house is called?  Vertical lawn.
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Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara
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Pic provas bc.

Hiding Houses with Landscaping

Here is the western full frontal side of my home, below, shot from the neighborhood street.

This is a neighbor's home, below, at the western side of my home.

Another pleasing view of my home from the street, below.

Within this hedge, above, is a pond, arbor, stone terrace, paths, & my home.
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I should have been the Benevolent Duchess of Hambrick in Alice In Wonderland, "I don't want to see those houses."
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics taken in my garden this month.  Amazing, and amusing, how large my property looks in pics.  It's teeny in real time.  Of course it is indeed large in relationship with the depths of my life.  Do you love coming home to your garden?  You know I do, it's never boring.  Always something new, delightful, charming.  As if the garden anticipates and desires to please me.  And knows my reactions.

Perfect House

Acreage?

I see this on wheels.
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And made of rescued materials.
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No, one of these would not be enough.
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Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara
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Pic India Hicks.

Create Mystery

A path into my tiny back garden, below.

 A coop, conservatory, flagstone terraces & etc. are slipped with precision into their setting.

Who wants to see everything at once?  Discovery & delight are fundamentals of garden mystery.
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Plants are allowed to be themselves.  Mostly.  Camellias, azaleas, hydrangeas, tea olive, roses, boxwood, itea, aucuba, akebia, daphne.  Something is blooming every day, all year.  Now, it's hydrangeas & crape myrtles.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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pics taken last week in my garden.  The entire lot is a mere 8500sq. ft.  Paths are integral to creating mystery in my garden.  

Fruit at the Front Gate

At my front gate

my apple orchard with H. 'Tardiva', above, and R. triloba, below.

In person the visible is a working class neighborhood of closely set homes each with green meatball foundation plantings and lawn.
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Amongst this setting my apple orchard & flowers are outrageous.  A negative to neighbors.  And some who love me.
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Go figure.  Gardening is subversive?
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Merely following my heart towards the beauty it desires.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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pics taken last week in my garden.

Driveway Planting

This was lawn, below, with a view down the cul-de-sac & myriad houses.

"I want a better view than this", was my thought a decade ago.

And, I want hydrangeas decadently gracing the side of my car as I pull into the garage.

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Everything shown was planted as 1 gallons.

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Desire on a tight budget, just add patience.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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pics taken in my garden last week.

A Path

Looking into the street, below.  Without my garden 5-6 homes would be visible, 2 streets + stop sign.

Looking into the path, above, from the street, below.

Yesterday, someone said about my garden , "You cannot walk in it."

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Perhaps this day you aren't meant to walk in my garden.  Its narrative stepping from metaphor caressing the spirit.

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Going within, and to my garden, to do Jung's universal, "Our lives are about getting our outside to match our inside."

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How can you not see, my garden lets me fly to realms not meant to be walked.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics shot in my garden yesterday.

Potent Garden Design Question

After finishing a Garden Design the best question is, "What can I take out & it still holds together?"

If wisteria scares you try the diminutive, W. 'Amethyst Falls', zones 5-9.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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This pic, lost the provenance, could be the basis of a landscape design class.  Not only for simplicity, A+, but content.

Meadow vs Foundation Plantings

 16 foot ceilings are the secret.

The house, I hope it's small, has surprised me.  When I find the right 5 acres, I will build it.

However, no green meatball foundation plantings for me.

Luxury is having your home set in a meadow.

Pleasure grounds flirting richly, unfolding a narrative.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Top 2 pics Furlow Gatewood's home in Americus, GA, from Veranda magazine.

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Bottom 2 pics a client garden.