LUSH PATIO TEMPLATE

Does your patio, or deck, answer the question:
IS THIS PATIO SO WONDERFUL I MUST SEE THE LANDSCAPE AND IS THIS PATIO SO WONDERFUL I MUST SEE INSIDE THE HOUSE?

If you're not answering YES the patio isn't finished.
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PATIO-DECK TEMPLATE: Lush plantings, privacy, easy to move furnishings, comfort, color choices for furnishings-home-accents to match interior design, lighting choices, detailing choices on house for 3-D effects, above, it's the shutters, large pots, area for conversation-reading-napping, area for eating, outdoor ceiling fans. Is the patio an extension of the room/s it is viewed from?

The template doesn't waver for the value of your real estate. Starter home or Madoff golf course community, the template remains the same.

Thank you Cote de Texas for posting this picture, from Ernesto Buch, on your blog

Garden & Be Well XO T

LANDSCAPE CAUGHT MY IMAGINATION

This little garden found on Aesthetes Lament stole my heart. A centuries old style. Do you see only a woman standing in gravel? Ha!

Gravel is cheaper than stone, doesn't require skilled labor and lasts as long as a stone terrace. Creating a planting bed in gravel is simple, place cobblestones as edging and presto---a planting bed.

The bed, below, is lush and has stakes ready for tall blooms and twine ready for, most likely, clematis.

A solid urn is a wise choice atop the brick column. Who wants to water a pot that high? Do you want to climb a ladder and replant a pot up there?

An iron gate contrasts materials, shapes and has a keyhole view to another garden room. Ooooooh mystery, I must go thru that gate. Does your garden have mystery? No disgusting foundation planting ruins the front of this home. Obama should have included, Americans cling to their foundation plantings as a source of security. Lushness is espaliered on the house. Easier to maintain espalier 'whatever' than foundation plantings.

A pair of iron clamming baskets frame the sitting man. (Made that up, don't know what those iron baskets are.) Without plants they will hold the design-decorating together.

I want to smell this garden, hear the gravel crunch, meander thru the gate and ask to use the toilet (the English look at you funny when you ask for the restroom) then I can see inside the house. Assuming I'm on a garden tour of course.

Cecil Beaton's eye, the photographer, is knowing. Movie-set designer, gardener and writer he adored decadent amounts of fresh flowers in his home, cut from his garden.

He wrote, Here was the garden at its best & I lay in bed & saw the Picasso & Hockney engravings framed on my side wall, & the pictures were alliterated with the reflections from outside the window of roses blowing in the breeze, & the green marvel of the garden beyond."
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Photo from National Portrait Gallery

INTERIOR DESIGN INSPIRES LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Landscape magazines haven't inspired me for design in at least a decade.
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Interior magazines are full of ideas if you transpose furnishings & art for plants & hardscape.

Copy your interior style outside.

The table, below, is a landscape template. A pathway leads through its center. Shrubs and groundcovers are each side of the path. The insect is an iron arbor coated in evergreen vine leading to another garden room. The candlesticks are an understory tree, perhaps redbud. The ferns in terra cotta pots are southern indica azaleas. The plate is a drift of Lenten rose. Bric-brac- to the left of center- are wild ginger. The green walls are obviously a hedge of dwarf cherry laurel. The pair of chairs are lovely urns on plinths. Below, another tiny space to copy outside. Perhaps the side of a brick house between a front corner and fireplace. The lamp is witchhazel 'Arnolds Promise', the vase a cryptomeria 'Yoshino'. The 3 misc. items a variegated daphne, dwarf sarcoccoca, and heuchera 'pewter veil'. Placement of the plants matches the tabletop.

This would be fun, below. The painting would be a blue conifer, pair of vases, to the left, Snow azalea. The pair of matching silver candlesticks are fastigiate plum yew, the roses a dwarf burgundy loropetalum, the finial looking thing a daphne and the decanter a virginia sweetspire.

Everything blooms white but the plant where the roses are. All evergreen plants except the decanter (virginia sweetspire). The chair transposes into a bench outside. Paint it a showy color from artwork within the house.

Planting zones and scale don't matter the theory is the same for all scales and zones.

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Design using furnishings transposed into plants works especially well with mature landscapes needing a tweak.

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The overall landscape design must have strong simple structure.

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Photos via style court, Courtney Barnes. Top from Thomas Jayne Studio, middle from Josyln at Desgin*Sponge, bottom from Martin Morrell.
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Garden & Be Well XO T

MRS. POWERS GARDEN GATE

Mrs. Powers garden gate at Mackenzie-Childs has charmed me. No fence? Don't worry, set it into a hedge or hang it.I've always said, CHOOSE A THEME & OVERDOSE ON IT. Mrs. Powers door knocker, below, matching the gate. Ship Men already gave me a charming door knocker from Malta but this is tempting.

MacKenzie-Childs is a kindred spirit. Mrs. Powers door bell.

I have Mrs. Powers Door Bell and am still deciding where to place it. Until then it's in my office where I can see it.

pics above via MacKenzie-Childs

EVERGREEN HEDGES & GARDEN ROOMS

Evergreen hedges are the bones of a landscape. No down time. Behind the hedge is a secret garden room.

FORMULA: TREES (ceiling), SHRUBS (walls), MEADOW (rug), FOCAL POINT (art)
*Big leaves next to small leaves.
*Green leaves next to yellow leaves.
*Oval shapes next to flat shapes.
*Tara Turf, meadow, mix of what's there and keep what blows in.
*Focal point, think, Is it so wonderful it will be fought over at my estate sale?

Landscapes are about contrasting everything for greater impact. Use as little as possible for the biggest impact. "Elegance is refusal" anon.
Behind the winged statue, above, is this charming garden room, below.

The same garden, below, contrasting purple foliage with green foliage.

Garden room, below, behind the hedge, above. Photo, below, framed with the purple foliage, above.

Sustainability isn't boring or new & needs little maintenance.

GARDEN INTUITIVE at an OLD ENGLISH COUNTRY CHURCH

An old English country church. Do you see the beautiful garden? I see a prophet without honor. The worker in the landscape. A garden intuitive. Are you a garden intuitive? Do you see the consistent amount of good garden work done at this church?

Vines kept off the church. Meadow kept off church & headstones. Trees kept away. No stray piles of debris from mourner's flowers, wheelbarrow neatly stowed. No garden tools carelessly left about. I know this is the work of one man. How? I've been a garden intuitive since childhood.

Often I've seen the passing of a garden prophet. Within weeks the loss is understood. The larger group suddenly realizing, 'Charles' really did maintain the landscape. It wasn't natural, it was 'Charles'. Maybe the group will hire a lawn service, or worse, do the work themselves as a committee.

Neither choice achieving what 'Charles' did with a seeming lack of effort. A lych-gate, below. Dead bodies were placed here for 2-3 days before burial. In case they began to breath.

Seeing the church, below, I can still smell the meadow & feel the excitement & anticipation of exploration. Reading headstones, discovering which plants are thriving, finding the gardener's work area. Intuitively feeling its history yet enjoying the power of intention actively present.

Maybe find a fabulous rock rescue. A breeze, birds and my own footfall for a soundtrac. The joy of solitude.

Garden & Be Well, XO T

SUBSIDIARY FOCAL POINTS

I spoke in Augusta, GA at the Sacred Heart Cultural Center a couple of years ago. Display gardens in a cathedral, speakers, food, booths. It's exciting to be in another city. Knowing I'll find something unique, a new person entering my life, new ideas & something to buy for my garden.

Choosing a private home vs. an offered hotel. Saving money isn't the noble reason, pure selfishness. Curiosity about the garden, interior, cooking, lifestyle of those choosing to share their time, home and garden with me.

Often, hosts have a dinner party and I meet their friends-family. Always, a tour of gardens. Lunch at a delightful spot, the gardens chosen with care & pride. Usually it's 2 cars of serious gardeners.

Sharing on these trips has shaped my life. Lives laid bare. Decorating, good food, a child's drug use, shoes, a spouse's drinking, hats, vacations, the sister with breast cancer, divorce, sex, a parent's alzheimer's, new books, the latest movie, great bras, antiques, pets, travel & more mingle with hydrangeas, manure, granite grit and water use.

Hydrangea 'Penny Mac' above. Birdhouse, behind, bought while at the Sacred Heart lecture. Reminding me of a special time with new friends, gardens, food and conversations.

Larry Smith, 706-894-1737, thebirds@hemc.net, made the birdhouse,
"ARCHITECTURAL BIRD HOMES! Scale models of authentic historical homes and buildings throughout America. Each home is one of a kind."

My birdhouse is a replica of the Jonathan Edwards Home, circa 1760.

FROST'S GARDEN CENTRE, ENGLAND LAST MONTH

Enjoy Frosts Garden Centre in Oxfordshire. We stopped for lunch and investigating on the way to Kew. Frosts sells everything to create a landscape. Everything.

Instant fantasies about this man? Like how dirty he is? Me too. See a gate in your color in your landscape? Clematis & sweetpeas on the willow wall? Hydrangeas, roses, foxgloves, Dianthus 'Bath Pink' in front?

Corner seat, below, was on sale. Confederate jasmine caressing its roof, cryptomeria 'Yoshino' gracing the right corner, a camellia barely touching the left. A Prunus mume tree blooming......... I can't stop designing.

What's a landscape without fabulous pots? Below, a book with prices and other pieces for special order. Pages laminated. Easy concept. Rarely done in my town. Why?

Lead colored containers, below, are better against a red brick wall than the terra cotta color.

Frosts, below, does it all. They subcontract with Shires, and other businesses, to complete theirs.

The cafe has a separate dining area for private groups to reserve.

It's frustrating to design a landscape for DIY and have no single place to refer you for pots, gates, soil amendments, mulch, plants, patio furnishings, focal points, pond supplies.

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Locally, Buck Jones, Land Art's and Wilkerson Mill Gardens give discounts to my design clients. You must have a copy of my plan. Each nursery run with passion, intellect, dedication.

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Great nurseries, above, but you'll still need garage sales and flea markets to personalize your landscape. Dumpster diving, TJMax and rock rescues are also in the best landscapes.
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Garden & Be Well XO Tara

FIELD GATHERING & FRENCH COLOR

French landscapes often paint everything the same color to unify. Field gathered iron found at Scott Antique over several years.

Egyptian iron fence panel used as faux gate, below. A fleck of robbins egg blue clinging to the rust inspired the color. Lowe's did the color matching. I chose oil base. French bistro table, circa 1930's, below, arrived a dark green. Wanting to keep its history , I failed.

Iron table, circa 1960, has legs inspired by the 1950's. I adore furniture overlapping eras. It arrived in grey black.

The chairs, above, were a gift in the early 80's. They were black.

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Robbins egg blue is common in European landscapes. It's a different color all day. In shade, sun, part sun, rain. Its hues change. They're a delight. It took courage to copy what I saw working in Europe.

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Why was I afraid to paint? I regret the time not having my furniture robbins egg blue.

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It MAKES ME HAPPY.

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Garden & Be Well XO T

DOUBLE AXIS

DOUBLE AXIS: One line with a focal point at each end. I coined double axis studying in Europe. Noticing landscapes had focal points facing focal points.

Below, view of the conservatory from the upper garden. The path is the 'axis'.

View of the upper garden from the conservatory, below. The same path is the axis.
Ship Men travel the world with their business. I constantly edit their landscape, above, acquisitions. They constantly share new ideas. We teach each other.

Focal points rotate on/off view.

Their landscape is low maintenance. Ship Man 'D', with joy, does most of the gardening.

Beautiful by Design, is about double axis.

"SPEND NO MONEY: MAKE MY BOLT HOLE BEAUTIFUL"

A bolt hole. A room of her own to regain serenity. She rented this little loft during a drought. Money to garden drier than the summer. She said, Make it beautiful. I have leftover chairs, houseplants, pots, bakers rack, rug, etc. Leftovers. No money.

She loved the rusty bin of coal, above. It became installation art.

She wanted corn, above. Did she know it was the base of life & spirit in some cultures?

View from her kitchen, vanishing threshold with her garden.

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Two hours to place everything. Hyacinth bean vine used for speed, lushness, drought tolerance and beauty.

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We shared lunch, life, laughter at the table, above.

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She's a lawyer turned soapmaker, Secret Garden Soap.

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She says she can change a life with scent.

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Isn't that what it takes?

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A pianist, singer, songwriter, painter, teacher, gardener, shoemaker, couturier, and more, knowing their work changes lives.

URBAN LANDSCAPES

Landscapes erupt from the soul of every gardener. No matter where they live. No matter their budget. As I type there are Defiant Gardeners in Baghdad. A garden in NY City, above, pic from Urban Greenery

In Toronto, above, pic from Urban Greenery Vine on the wall is a vertical lawn. Can you imagine the birds, butterflies, fragrance, sounds, coolness, privacy, pleasure, retreat, these little gardens provide? Puttering about in the gardens creates stronger ambient community ties and higher property values.

Discovered the pics above on a fabulous blog, Landscape Urbanism. The pictures, words, intellect are delightful.