Bits of this landscape look UNDESIGNED, yet nothing was left to chance.
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A potent landscape design tool:
CONTRAST FORMAL VS. INFORMAL.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thanks Krystol for your pic.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
A LITTLE COLOR
Thursday, October 15, 2009
ROOFSCAPE
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
KISS: Keep It Simple Sweetie
How little can you do in your landscape and have it evoke in picaresque who you are? Splendiferous you.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for this pic
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for this pic
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
PATH & PATIO
PATH GIRL, born 1935, hired me early summer. She was stuck in her backyard. One glance, I knew. First, stain patio furnishings a shade from inside.
More important, paths. PATH GIRL created a beautiful garden but the paths weren't 'done'. A roundabout, below, radiates paths.
Gravel to the rescue. PATH GIRL shoveled her own. Edging garden beds with stone found on-site & fallen tree limbs. Not quite finished yet. Yes, dearies, part of the design, use what's at hand.
An alcove of path with an antique marble bench &, while sitting on the bench, a pineapple, symbol of welcome, at your feet.
And the pre-built potting shed, Magnolia Hall, is steeped in gravel too.
Up to its side, adding a new sitting area.
Many weeks of shoveling then an invitation to lunch.
Crabcakes & conversation. Hours of connection.
Crabcakes & conversation. Hours of connection.
In the dining room a 2nd, smaller, table for games, reading or dining with a view.
Vanishing Threshold views, above & below.
* Paint Colors for deck furniture: Behr Ultra Exterior Satin [primer & paint all in one] at Home Depot. Antique Red UL 170, Native Soil 179-22 [taupe].
* Edge gravel path, with stone or brick, closer to the house.
* Edge gravel path with fallen tree limbs farther away from the house.
* Transitioning edging materials creates another layer of interest.
* Paint Colors for deck furniture: Behr Ultra Exterior Satin [primer & paint all in one] at Home Depot. Antique Red UL 170, Native Soil 179-22 [taupe].
* Powder Coating of wrought iron table/chairs: http://www.millerpowdercoating.com/. 4251 Wayside Ct. #B, Lilburn, GA, 770-931-1505.
* Rug for deck, not shown, http://www.rugsusa.com/
* Shot pea gravel: Atlanta Landscape Materials, 5996 Buford Hwy., Doraville, GA 770-936-8462
* Lantern, not shown, http://www.nadeauimports.com/, Buckhead Store.
* PATH GIRL had the shot pea gravel delivered to her driveway. It took her several weeks to shovel from the pile to a wheelbarrow then dump into place. A neighbor, seeing her shovel, offered help. With a smile of appreciation she happily declined. Enjoying her gardening too much to let others in on her fun. Remember PATH GIRL, born 1935, is DIY.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
Monday, October 12, 2009
CECIL BEATON & CELIA THAXTER
Dear Cecil photographed his conservatory, below. At first glance I thought it was an 'illumination' by Childe Hassam.
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Then I locked eyes on the Blue/White mixed with terra cotta & wicker. A trinity that will never go out of style. A trinity I've used consistently, Ha, thinking it was original.
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Childe Hassam has pictures and illuminations throughout, An Island Garden, by Celia Thaxter.
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"He who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth is generally considered a fortunate person, but his good fortune is small compared to that of the happy mortal who enters this world with a passion for flowers in his soul." Celia Thaxter.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic from Architectural Digest Celebrity Home, 1977, via, Mrs. Blandings.
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Then I locked eyes on the Blue/White mixed with terra cotta & wicker. A trinity that will never go out of style. A trinity I've used consistently, Ha, thinking it was original.
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Childe Hassam has pictures and illuminations throughout, An Island Garden, by Celia Thaxter.
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"He who is born with a silver spoon in his mouth is generally considered a fortunate person, but his good fortune is small compared to that of the happy mortal who enters this world with a passion for flowers in his soul." Celia Thaxter.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic from Architectural Digest Celebrity Home, 1977, via, Mrs. Blandings.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
TRIPLE AXIS FROM THIS BENCH
A landscape where you might see a, "disheveled wood nymph after a night carousing with satyrs." as N. Singer wrote. Oops, digressing. Sitting in the bench, above, you'll see the house, below, a double axis.
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The more axis a focal point has the better a focal point is.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Krystol, thanks for your pics.
Friday, October 9, 2009
POT CLUSTER
Castles to cottages, throughout Europe, you'll see pot clusters. Rather a lot, above. Sometimes it's a single pot, but wow, in that single pot is something Of-The-Moment-Fabulous.
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Don't you love gravel upholstering the ground? I'm not a fan of ornamental grass but here it's done with palpable magnificence.
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Tiny, this landscape, and erudite.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for this pic from England.
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Don't you love gravel upholstering the ground? I'm not a fan of ornamental grass but here it's done with palpable magnificence.
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Tiny, this landscape, and erudite.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for this pic from England.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
DOUBLE AXIS IN YOUR LANDSCAPE
If you have a focal point bench in your landscapeyou must be able to sit in the bench and see another focal point. Double Axis.
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My invention, Double Axis. Realizing all the best gardens have it. And. Yes, dahlings, more. The more axis views a focal point has the better it is.
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From the house, above, you see an Enfilade to the focal point bench. From the bench, above, you see an Enfilade to the focal point house/terrace/urns.
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Isn't it amazing how one line in a garden looks like 2 gardens when viewed in opposite directions?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for your English pics.
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My invention, Double Axis. Realizing all the best gardens have it. And. Yes, dahlings, more. The more axis views a focal point has the better it is.
.
From the house, above, you see an Enfilade to the focal point bench. From the bench, above, you see an Enfilade to the focal point house/terrace/urns.
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Isn't it amazing how one line in a garden looks like 2 gardens when viewed in opposite directions?
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for your English pics.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
VANISHING THRESHOLD STORY
Vanishing Threshold, with so little, yet it's a story. And I want to know the story!
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NOTES:
* Great color choices: roof, doors, bricks, throw over couch, pony-curtains-chair.
* Bricks leading to house acting as a doormat.
* Chair outside brings outside in and inside out, Vanishing Threshold.
* Weeds in the bricks & gravel. Delightful. Reality.
* I would like to see lamps on inside.
* Love the tiny bit of framing with plant foliage.
* Fabulous little landscape space with few ingredients. Yet, I want to know the story.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for this Pony Pic taken while you were in England.
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NOTES:
* Great color choices: roof, doors, bricks, throw over couch, pony-curtains-chair.
* Bricks leading to house acting as a doormat.
* Chair outside brings outside in and inside out, Vanishing Threshold.
* Weeds in the bricks & gravel. Delightful. Reality.
* I would like to see lamps on inside.
* Love the tiny bit of framing with plant foliage.
* Fabulous little landscape space with few ingredients. Yet, I want to know the story.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for this Pony Pic taken while you were in England.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
CENTURIES OLD YET NEW
Nothing original here. It's all been done, for centuries. Yet it's fresh at each site. Easy to maintain.
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IN THIS LANDSCAPE:
* Path mown thru low meadow on axis to home
* Repetition of greens
* Contrasting shapes, oval & connical, of large shrubs & trees
* Gravel terrace scaled appropriately to architecture of home & functional use
* Pair of planters, informing you, "Yes, enter here."
* Plant on the house, Gertrude Jekyll, world's 1st landscape designer, said, "The first thing I consider in a design is what to put on the house."
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I'm already in my new cedar Adirondack chair, from Smith/Hawken going-out-of-business sale, reading a book on this gravel terrace. Of course it's stained the color of the window trim.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for sending this pic from your England trip.
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IN THIS LANDSCAPE:
* Path mown thru low meadow on axis to home
* Repetition of greens
* Contrasting shapes, oval & connical, of large shrubs & trees
* Gravel terrace scaled appropriately to architecture of home & functional use
* Pair of planters, informing you, "Yes, enter here."
* Plant on the house, Gertrude Jekyll, world's 1st landscape designer, said, "The first thing I consider in a design is what to put on the house."
.
I'm already in my new cedar Adirondack chair, from Smith/Hawken going-out-of-business sale, reading a book on this gravel terrace. Of course it's stained the color of the window trim.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for sending this pic from your England trip.
Monday, October 5, 2009
RAIN BUTT
They speak of life. The makers hand, & heart. The art of living a Vanishing Threshold life.
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Rain butt contrivances do amuse.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for sending me your pic taken while visiting England. Few people thrill at the still life of a rain butt. Much less take a picture. Mine are all slides........
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Rain butt contrivances do amuse.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Thank you Krystol for sending me your pic taken while visiting England. Few people thrill at the still life of a rain butt. Much less take a picture. Mine are all slides........
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