Design Deeply: Connecting Dots

Some of my best work, below.  

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See the connected dots in the garden, below?

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Those who understand hire me to design their acreage or townhome.

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Or, hire me to lecture across the USA.

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Some offer book contracts or ask for magazine content.

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 The best?  People who share appreciation of their epiphanies with my work, tell their stories, enriching my knowledge.

View, above, from client's Music Room.

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What type of Garden Design is this?

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Why do Garden Centers abhor this type of garden?

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What are the tough choices made?

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What type of ecosystem are you looking at?

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What is the relationship, and why, between the ground layer & tree layer?

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How does this ecosystem keep other layers on this property thriving?

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How many other layers would that be?

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Why would a PhD professor at UGA Ag school want his students to intern here?

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Why did Historic Williamsburg, after my lecture there last year, pick up many of the layers shown, above, for their topics in this year's symposium?

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What is the relationship between government laws & this type of garden?

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Took me decades to connect the dots, including myriad trips across the globe studying historic landscapes.

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What else is in this garden?

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Answers in previous posts.

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Did you realize my stories connect these dots?

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The teacher appears when the student is ready.

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Ironically, with this client,  land-plants-livestock-wildlife-weather-buildings-roads taught us.

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We listened.

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And we share.

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Don't live on acreage?  No worries, many layers are HOA approved & adaptable.

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What does this type of Gardening have to do with property value & HVAC bills?

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Yes, have taught at the local college for years.  Atlanta Botanical Garden too!

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I don't believe in spoon feeding knowledge, passionately sharing yes.

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Tasha Tudor believed in, "Take joy."  Here, it's "Take Knowledge."

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Both are there, always.  All you have to do is 'take'.

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Life conspired, teaching me, take both, everyday.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

 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.

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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.

This Old House: On The Cover

Their Macon, GA garden had a shaded back corner which neighborhood dogs enjoyed as a powder room.

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"Do something with the back corner", they said.

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Creativity is a Muse & this time she knew immediately there would be an 'L' shaped conservatory, #89 granite gravel, a chandelier hanging from the oak over a table.

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He knew of a recently condemned property, over a century old, ripe for rescue. 

Quite fun, the client, nor I, knew we were on the cover.

Their front yard, above.

More of their home, above/below.

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The garden was designed in 2010.  

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More than 4 years to this story.

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Due to work changes, the clients moved.

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Hired  to design their new garden, another historic Georgia home, we had a moment of grieving about their previous home/garden.

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Their new garden includes a Chicken Coop in the plan with Conservatory.

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Haven't had the call yet, "Tara you must come see the garden!"

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Steve Bender of Southern Living chose this garden & Ralph Anderson shot it.

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I first sent Lisa Mowry pics of the garden.

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Another surprise about this garden on Instagram, for Southern Living Magazine, written on Ralph Anderson's Facebook page, 

"Ralph that photo was put on SL's instagram page and it has gotten more likes than any other photo they have posted!! congrats!! "

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Recently had a call from Lisa Mowry about gardens to scout.  A national editor was in town blah-blah.

Gathered pics, did captions, connected with clients to get permissions & make sure they could fluff their garden for scout, wrote little stories about the gardens for Lisa all on days already too full with work.

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Lisa emails that the gardens were too 'hardscape' for their particular focus.  They would not be coming.  This 2nd story is the typical-common-normal story.  Decades of them.

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Any gardener, any, with credentials in the media, has done dozens of things that never fruit.

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Thank you to every client saying 'yes' when I call in a hurry asking a huge favor then nothing happens.

 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.

Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival: Don Shadow & H. 'Ruby Slippers'

Susanne Hudson & Jeri Farmer, founders of the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival, ( June 6-8, 2014), in Douglasville, GA, are picking up Hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' today from Don Shadow Nursery.

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Innocent sentence, above, if you don't know many gardeners.  Why?  The 4 names, above, are all Rock Stars of the horticulture industry.

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Martha Stewart is so impressed with Don Shadow she has an article/video about him, here.

Lacecap hydrangea, above, at a previous Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival tour garden.

 Don Shadow, above/below.  Michael Dirr, another rock star, at a lecture decades ago, referenced Don Shadow with obvious awe/respect in his tone.  From that 'tone' I sought & attended a Don Shadow lecture decades ago too.

Don Shadow nursery, below.  It's rare to discover a man, living, comparable to the late Victorian era of wide ranging talents & interests & action.  Shadow wears that mantle with ease.

No surprise Susanne & Jeri are on their way to pick up Hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' Don Shadow Nursery is providing (gratis) the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival.
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Take some of the links, above, about Don Shadow.  He's a renaissance man of the Land, and far ahead of our era.  Alternative livestock anyone?  Has me wondering if he's friends with Wendell_Berry.  And knowing it's time for a road trip, I've never been to Shadow's nursery.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Pics from Don Shadow.  Hydrangea pic mine.  Heads-up my HF Chicks, we must do the Shadow roadtrip together (togetha).  Yes, doing a little display for the PMHF again this year.  Hope to see you there.
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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.

Design: Know Where Important Views Begin

The most important views of your garden are from inside.

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Kitchen views into the garden are imperative. 

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Make a choice, it's that simple.

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Continue with your life accepting garden views harmful to your spirit or make the choice to create garden views joyful to your heart.

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Too busy?  No Money?  Life issues?

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Then, those views are essential.

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I know from whence I speak.  With zero need to relay any of it here.

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No matter where you start, your garden can take you (if needed) from victim to survivor to thriver.

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Each of us is all of the above, excepting, too often, thriver.

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When you make a choice for your garden, you indeed make a choice to thrive.

Standing at the kitchen sink this morning eating yogurt I see, above, to my left, Torte de Shelle, resting on the table Beloved commissioned for me as a birthday gift.

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The mophead hydrangeas starting to color, above, a gift from my bosom friend Penny McHenry, who died several years ago.

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Without moving my feet, and looking right, above, another hydrangea from Penny causing a great stir in my heart as it approaches peak.
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The teak bench was a 40th birthday present to myself.  It arrived with a surprise, it needed assembly.  I adore that type of chore !
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The variegated Boxwood was bought on a whim, not knowing if it would do well in this zone.  It does well.
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Is it any wonder I stand at the kitchen sink & eat breakfast?  Literally, the energy & joy filling into my spirit is felt.  Pure atonement.
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2+ decades ago I named my business, A Garden View, Inc.  Obvious, now, where I was headed though zero clue at the time.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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pics taken this morning.  Pic, below, though fuzzy is my favorite.

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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.

5 Important Covered Porch Design Elements

Hope the luxury of designing a porch is yours, not a previous owner.

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1.  Plenty of electrical outlets.  Every wall should have 1 or more electrical outlets.  Enough electrical outlets to disturb your electrician.  Never, in my experience, does an electrician understand this.  (Nor spouse.)

2.  Place can lights, below, away from fan blades.  Who wants haunted house strobe lights?

3.  Do not use off-the-shelf lattice.  Lattice, below, is special order, a bit thicker wood, looks custom, costs minimally more.

4.  Detail the walls & ceiling.

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5.  Choose colors that flow from your interiors inside the covered porch & colors that flow from your home's exterior to the outside of your covered porch.

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At jobsite yesterday we 'vision quested' furniture to source/buy/reuse/place, art to hang, tv, etc.

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Yes, it was fun.

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This porch has done something quite special.  It has given her a new house.  It began as a deck 1/2 the size of the new covered porch.  A never used deck.

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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.

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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.

Designing a Garden to Interact in your Life

A celebration this month in one of my gardens.

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3 decades of photographing gardens.

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Gardens.

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This garden, that evening, a wild 'need' to shoot people.

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Friends, below.  Their story brings sweet tears to the cheeks.

Happy daughter, below, waiting for her dad to bring back petits fours in a take-home box.

Every note, below, a lament to life's abiding.

Sisters, below.  And a peak at those petifores.

Beyond grace, atonement & joy, this garden has crossed an unknown threshold & gardens me in return.
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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.

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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.

The Garden Cat's Daughter

Wherever I am in the garden, Laura follows.

It's these odd little serendipities satisfying the spirit beyond expectation.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken earlier this month.  Ivy 'Gold Heart' on the wall.  Oak leaf hydrangea espaliered at window.   Yes, Laura is focused on her mom, Torte de Shelle !  My garden cat a neighbor left behind.  Each safely spayed.
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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.

2 Important Facts about the Pots in your Garden

All of your pots must be so wonderful they can remain empty.

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Every pot you own should be so fabulous it's fought over at your estate sale.

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A pot by Deborah Silver, below.

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Curating pics to Pinterest many Deborah Silver pots are on my Focal Points board.

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Her pots are seriously well chosen and the plantings majestically yet simply arranged.

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I subcontract pots, well executed pots, to 3 different specialty companies.

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Look around your garden today.  What are your pots telling you?

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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara

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Pic from Deborah Silver.

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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

.

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.

Design: Hired to Solve Problems

A current job with incredible modern ca. 1970 architecture, revived with a superior architect ca. 2014, has major challenges.

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Garbage cans, 4 of the hurly-burly-honkers, in front of the house.  

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And.

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Minimal parking trying to shoot you & your car off a cliff.

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Welcome home. 

Have never dealt with this parking problem.

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Solution?

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Balls or low flat planters.

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Have gathered several resources for both and look forward to what the client chooses.

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There is more than 1 right answer.

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Better a car is dented than shot over the hill.

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I adore problem gardens.

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 I'm hired to solve problems.

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Balls with plinths would be awful, want 3 balls, top pic, without plinths.

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If they choose the low planter, I do like its plinth.  And want a round large ball of chicken-wire covered in small leaf ivy and drip irrigation.

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Their lifestyle is more suited to the Balls.  Less maintenance.

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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.

Creating 'Natural': Follow Nature's Template

Past a certain age when a friend has a Bucket List Wish you can make happen.  You do.

 She had always dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail. I hadn't hiked it in over a decade.

With serendipity, yet needfully, we saw this above/below, from the ridge of the Eastern Continental Divide.

Overwhelmed in the moment it was later, in bed, I think how perfect the peaks & 'V's are for siting canopy & understory trees.   Perhaps a combination of daffodils and blue grape hyacinths.

Yes, I will come back as needed to these pictures.  To perfectly site a 'Natural' landscape.
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Nothing worse than trying to be 'Natural' and instead it merely looks stupid.
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Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara
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Pics taken this week.
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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.

Screened Porch: Furniture Texture

Furniture textures are important.  In addition to color.

A new covered screened porch, above/below, with warmth & welcome.

Patio/deck/porch/garden furniture is too often in 'sets' with matchy-watchy pieces too.

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What is this hold garden furniture ads have over popular imagination?

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Of course they want you to buy sets.

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Most often, why would you do that?

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However, there are lovely exceptions.  

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Be sure you are one before embarking upon sets of matchy-watchy garden furniture.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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pics this week in a client garden.

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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.