Renovating a Landscape: Before - After

A jobsite desk this week, below.

New homeowners bought the 30+ year old home/garden last year.

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Gut renovation.

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Sadly, previous owner let the landscape degrade into majority invasives.

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Had to use the Caterpillar to remove them.  Dumpster in the driveway hauled them off.

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After clearing, below, silt fencing added, topsoil was brought in & contoured, irrigation ditches dug.

Fescue sod, below, chosen to match the historical theme of the home's renovation.

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Beyond the new #89 gravel path, below, is a stream.  A destination.

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Where margins meet, drama reigns.  Here it's formality of lawn, rustication of path, and finally, wild wood.

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Kitchen view, below,  Foundation for the Summer House was built into the modest swale.  Neighbor's rainwater had flooded the back yard for decades.  15 minutes work with man/Caterpillar, water flows in desirable watershed management to the stream.

 There is an order to installing landscapes.  Here: clearing, contouring, placing paths/edging/gravel, laying sod, next, plantings.
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Another view from the kitchen, below.

 Homeowner chose white for the home.  Cannot wait for that phase to be completed.  My Landscape Design included French doors from the terrace level, into the garden, plywood, bottom right, Of course a few windows and bricks had to be knocked out.  Ironically, husbands think a Landscape Designer will waste their money on 'flowers'.  The force-of-Tara is quickly realized when they see I've knocked holes into their home.  Big holes.  Flowers, indeed.  One must see flowers easily, and get to them freely.

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Cobblestone edging is used nearer the home, rustic rubbles further away in the Wild Wood.

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Crazed week with this project.  Client panicked during the process.

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Once the invasives were gone she wanted groundcovers to be planted first.  No.  Will trample them to oblivion with equipment/materials if that is done first.  "Oh."

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Truly panicked.  It's ok.  The process is older than Christ's birth, no voodoo.  A scientific template.  Trying to direct men/equipment/materials, client created great angst for herself, and my team.

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Every delay created, men/equipment standing idle, cash register bells rang, good weather fading.  Hence our angst.

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Finally, when the bones of the garden, above, went in, her panic eased.  She could 'see'.  Their was a method to all the men, machine, materials, dirt.

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Cannot wait for her next changes to the landscape installation.  They will arise from context, not panic.

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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

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Pics taken this week.

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

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Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.

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NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 

Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.

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Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.

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Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow. 

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Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
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What do YOU want?

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Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

.

Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 
 I  welcome your input.

Historic Design: David Hicks Door

We could do anything, below, at this portion of the Orchard wall.

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Money was not the hunt.

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Creating a historic garden is the decadence.

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Nearby, century old fig bushes were thriving at Long Barn.

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Overdose on a Theme, was the design rule followed.  

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Notice the 1st major choice, before the figs?

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Tara Turf.  Vintage meadow, and pollinator habitat, increasing yields of any crop grown.

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Another design choice, below ?  No cobblestone/brick edging.  Meadow meeting gravel.

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First design choice was siting the brick orchard walls & choosing dimensions on axis with a gable of the home.

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Once I saw how close this corner, below, was to the gravel drive, 'I knew'.

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Perfect element of 'wonky', imperfectly perfect.

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Parent fig bushes, below, to the cuttings taken, above, almost died last winter.

This near-kill, above, was too close.  The relief of having taken the cuttings is huge.
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Historically digging, the client learned farmers commonly planted fruit bearing trees/bushes in odd places about their land.  Micro-climates are the difference between death & thriving.  Not only to the fruiting plants but sometimes for livestock & people.  May those days never return.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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Pics taken at jobsite this month.  Door, above, copied from David Hick's garden.  Another garden design rule, Copy the Best.
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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.

.

NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 

Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.

.

Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.

.

Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow. 

.

Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.

What do YOU want?

.

Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

.

Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 
 I  welcome your input.

Design: Finding Numinosity & Beauty

This is what I know, for sure, in seeking beauty & numinosity.

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They take conscious effort, never arrive in the expected, and leverage every layer of living with energy & calm.

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Furniture on the porch, above/below.

A trinity of pics, taken quickly.  Recording great effort, years of experience from every member of my team, and the client.

Seeking numinosity, & beauty is. too often. suspect.

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From the outside it seems beyond plodding.  Perhaps dereliction of duty?  Yet, results say otherwise.

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If you have read this far I know you want more than a pretty garden, you are seeking numinosity, and beauty.

Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara

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Pics taken this month at a jobsite.

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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.

.

NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 

Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.

.

Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.

.

Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow. 

.

Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.

What do YOU want?

.

Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

.

Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 
 I  welcome your input.

Most Important Design Element?

With the might of my (perceived) intelligence, 3 decades later, do you see the work, below, I'm most proud of?

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Designed/planted 3 years ago.

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My present self says to my younger self, "Oh, girlie, you are pitiful.  Really?  Step it up, you've done nothing.  A holly hedge.  Pedestrian.  Ridiculous girl."  

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When Vita Sackville-West & Harold Nicolson's head gardener marched off to war, one of his first letters admonished them, "Whatever you do, maintain the hedges."

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Last weekend, in this client garden, above, they had a ceremony unveiling a historical marker.  Quietude reigns, above.

Yet, on the other side of the hedge, the ceremony is underway.
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How little can you do in a garden, for the greatest impact, with the least amount of ongoing maintenance, maximum pollinator habitat, beautiful views in the garden and beautiful views of the garden from inside the home?
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FYI, the habitat, above, is maximum pollinator habitat.  Do you know why?  High density meets low density.  Woodland with meadow.
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Few are brave enough to be this simple.  Lucky me.  I get paid to be simple.  More, my type of simplicity pays money into the future.  Higher property value, lower HVAC & maintenance costs.  Once established no irrigation, no chemicals, no fertilizer.
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Perhaps the best reason to pay attention!
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This is the most important design element.  All of the, above.  With curiosity I want to know what your takeaway/s are.  Please.
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Garden & Be Well,      XO Tara

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.

.

NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 

Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.

.

Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.

.

Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow. 

.

Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.

What do YOU want?

.

Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

.

Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 
 I  welcome your input.

Checklist to Create Your Beautiful Easy Landscape

Since childhood I've adored walking 2 houses from my parents, to my piano teacher's house.

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Life is good, I was able to see my piano teacher this week.

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Air-conditioning repairman came to do her winter check while I was visiting.  He's done this for her since 1982.

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After his work we had a chance to chat and his viewpoints about his industry were fascinating, and instructive.  Stay with me, won't go there now.

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Prior to starting his own company he was in the Navy then NASA.  A normal trajectory for most of the men, in the 60's, where I grew up.

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He did editing & printing of any words needing editing, or printing during his years with NASA.

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(Found this pic, above, of Neil Armstrong on the ESA website.  Don't know that?  European Space Agency.  Went to several locations of ESA during the summer of 1976, dad was working the space shuttle payload avionics systems.  6 weeks of heaven for mom/me.  And my introduction to the garden of Versailles.  Dad added, of course, to his per diem, and we stayed in delightful places across Europe.  And, oh my, the food !  Had my first champagne, at The Lido, in Paris.)

Not long before NASA's 1st lunar landing/moon walk, several men came to the air-conditioning repairman's office requesting a checklist.  They were concerned Neil Armstrong would forget some of his assignments, on the moon.

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Checklist, not a problem.

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How, they asked, to keep the checklist easily visible, safely attached, to Neil Armstrong during the Moon Walk.

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Hilarious task, for an editor, printer.

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But, you must remember the era, and the men.

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Give them a task, they gave results.

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He suggested a type of printing, attaching it to a sleeve or lanyard around the neck.  NASA chose the sleeve, and his printing choices-methods.

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Hearing the story, I told him this should be in the Smithsonian.  He said, "It is."

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Normal.

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Leaving, he asked my name, "Tara Sayers", I said.  Before he said anything, I knew by his face, he knew my dad.  

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Before NASA, dad was a test pilot at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where I was born.

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Famous for many accomplishments, the Flight Checklist, was created by WPAFB & has done more than aid work flow, it saves lives.

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Before every childhood trip/vacation, that I can remember, dad had a 3x5 index card with a checklist.  By college, he told me I needed one.  You know I scoffed, until this week.

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It's time to create, Checklist for Beautiful Easy Landscapes.  

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Not for you, though that will a lovely benefit.  It's for ME.

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Color, light fixtures, seasonal bloom, contrasting foliage, views into windows, views out of windows, focal points on axis, focal points with double axis, maintenance schedule, fragrance, front door, planted pots, empty pots, scale, flow, & etc.

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Sideways, inspiration.  AKA, too stubborn to listen to good advice.  Decades of stubborn, apparently.

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And the terrible irony, I started at WPAFB.

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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara

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My dad was sole author of the request to Congress for funding the Space Shuttle.  I must find the document/pamphlet, saw it years ago amongst his 'boring stuff', and ask the air-conditioning-repairman if he was responsible for getting it into 'print'.

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When, Beautiful Easy Landscapes: Checklist, is reality, it will be a course.

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30 years in the learning, it must get rooted everywhere.

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Excited to have it at jobsites with me.  Very.  Excited.  

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.

.

NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 

Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.

.

Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.

.

Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow. 

.

Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.

What do YOU want?

.

Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

.

Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 
 I  welcome your input.

Blank Wall: Innovation in Design

Pinteraddicting, a few weeks ago & discovered this, below.  Image/idea will not leave mind/heart.

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Such a stunner, it's a stunnah.

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Still life, gallery wall, assemblage, collage, Matisse, Picasso, Kadinsky, Berlin Dadaists, Merz, Schwitters.

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Mary Kistner, mentor/client/friend, refined my knowledge of all the, above, and she's been gone forever-and-a-day-too-long.

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Without her to spend hours talking about this pic, below, I have you.

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Choose a wall, choose your scale, choose the axis it is seen from,interiors/exteriors, choose your 'merz'.  High, low, no matter.

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Voila, Blank Wall Landscape Design.

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Tara Dillard's, newest, Landscape Design Invention, BLANK WALL, more inventions, here.

Blank Wall Landscape Design, above, should become a standard at Home/Garden Shows, Botanical Gardens, Big Box garden displays, your home.

Time to rethink your walls, above.  Much love swathed upon the walls here.

 Vignettes easy to maintain, fun to create, zero drudgery.

Well loved Blank Wall Landscape Design, above.  Would love to see their choices during a big event garden soiree, above.

What is common to each?  Simplicity.  And the thought, "I can do that."

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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara

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All pics, Pinterest.

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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.

.

NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 

Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.

.

Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.

.

Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow. 

.

Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
.

What do YOU want?

.

Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.

.

Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 
 I  welcome your input.