In the garden, pace develops quickly, if it's just you, and the terrain. Whatever it is you're about to do in the garden, the garden joins in. Tempering your pace with its own. Time of day, seasons, and weather are tag along pace markers.
.
Amusing, when you're trying for this, below, yet it seems another bank account and decade away from reality.
Pic, above, here.
.
If you have the good fortune to install most of the garden, above, yourself, know this for sure, it is one of the greatest gifts you'll receive across the span of your life. Pace and epiphanies live across their own timelines in a garden while you're gardening it. What you learned 3 years ago, becomes another type of epiphany 2 decades later. Though you may have moved from the garden, the garden doesn't stop its work of pace and epiphany in you.
.
Those moments in my garden I had thought I was lost to the present, instead were the moments I was most truly inside myself.
.
I sought conquest in my garden, instead, I reaped contemplation, a willingness to let the soul lead, listen, inform, change me. How many years was I leading? None, the garden won its conquest before I was born, the garden leading me, with its soul.
.
"Place and a mind may interpenetrate till the nature of both is altered." Nan Shepherd.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
Trust the pace of your gardening & garden.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Saturday, November 9, 2019
Bringing Potted Plants Inside: Not Your Mother's Advice
Months, no rain, weeks, 100f, without a goodbye, cold.
.
Quickly, pots luxuriating all summer outside, now inside.
.
No drama, no worries where those pots would be placed.
.
Garden Design Course, in a photo, below.
.
Got the memo first seeing this table/pots. And a new Garden Design Rule. You must have a pretty table, inside, to be ruined with potted plants.
.
Beloved, with great concern, "You're damaging the table." Me, with a smile from the heart, "I know."
.
Of course I made sure to use a table I had bought at a thrift store, solid mahogany, dropleaf, gateleg, ca. 1940's.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
So, do you already have a table to ruin, or heading to thrift store today?
.
Aside from childish glee in setting pots to table inside, humbled by the layer of beauty and joy they bring to what had already been thought a pretty room. Whoa, missed a layer? Bigly.
.
Quickly, pots luxuriating all summer outside, now inside.
.
No drama, no worries where those pots would be placed.
.
Garden Design Course, in a photo, below.
.
Got the memo first seeing this table/pots. And a new Garden Design Rule. You must have a pretty table, inside, to be ruined with potted plants.
.
Beloved, with great concern, "You're damaging the table." Me, with a smile from the heart, "I know."
.
Of course I made sure to use a table I had bought at a thrift store, solid mahogany, dropleaf, gateleg, ca. 1940's.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
So, do you already have a table to ruin, or heading to thrift store today?
.
Aside from childish glee in setting pots to table inside, humbled by the layer of beauty and joy they bring to what had already been thought a pretty room. Whoa, missed a layer? Bigly.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Landscape: Fixed vs Growth Mindsets
Deepest winter is the test of Garden Design. A garden looking good in winter, below, will look good all year.
.
Two gardens, below. One green all year, the other flowers for a few weeks.
.
Which garden attracts and benefits the most pollinators?
Pic, above, here.
.
Which garden is a Fixed Mindset Garden, and which is a Growth Mindset Garden ?
Pic, above, here.
.
Which garden is the easiest to maintain?
.
Virtue Signaling with gardens, pollinator habitat, eco, sustainable, regenerative, all a bit much. Meanings vary by region, era, and person.
.
What a garden does, for Earth, is its test.
.
Growth Mindset, 'What type of garden most benefits Earth, and makes me happy?'
.
Fixed Mindset, 'I like this garden, looks easy, affordable, and eco.'
.
"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakes." Carl Jung
.
Which garden, above, looks outside, which looks inside?
.
These questions matter in the micro, we said goodbye to macro decades ago. Bees are dying and we're peeing anti-depressants into waterways, How Depression Medication is Polluting the Ocean and Altering The Behaviors of Sea Creatures. Antidepressants in Stream Waters! Are They in the Fish Too?
.
Solutions quite simple, happy, and loving. Didactic apoplexy isn't intended, and not meant. Time was given me, with loving teachers, from Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset, as it should be for you too.
.
Excepting I began in my 20's. What if you're beginning in your 50's, and above, wanting to go from Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset, about your best Garden Design? You're good, they're the only gardens here. Years of agrarian gardens. Only recently did I realize my gardens are Agrarian, and most other gardens are Industrialized. Agrarian vs. Industrialized. Interesting, I've been slipping Agrarian Gardens into Deed Restricted/HOA Industrialized neighborhoods for decades.
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
No, I didn't answer those questions, above. They are for you to answer. Answers in next post.
.
Two gardens, below. One green all year, the other flowers for a few weeks.
.
Which garden attracts and benefits the most pollinators?
Pic, above, here.
.
Which garden is a Fixed Mindset Garden, and which is a Growth Mindset Garden ?
Pic, above, here.
.
Which garden is the easiest to maintain?
.
Virtue Signaling with gardens, pollinator habitat, eco, sustainable, regenerative, all a bit much. Meanings vary by region, era, and person.
.
What a garden does, for Earth, is its test.
.
Growth Mindset, 'What type of garden most benefits Earth, and makes me happy?'
.
Fixed Mindset, 'I like this garden, looks easy, affordable, and eco.'
.
"Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakes." Carl Jung
.
Which garden, above, looks outside, which looks inside?
.
These questions matter in the micro, we said goodbye to macro decades ago. Bees are dying and we're peeing anti-depressants into waterways, How Depression Medication is Polluting the Ocean and Altering The Behaviors of Sea Creatures. Antidepressants in Stream Waters! Are They in the Fish Too?
.
Solutions quite simple, happy, and loving. Didactic apoplexy isn't intended, and not meant. Time was given me, with loving teachers, from Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset, as it should be for you too.
.
Excepting I began in my 20's. What if you're beginning in your 50's, and above, wanting to go from Fixed Mindset to Growth Mindset, about your best Garden Design? You're good, they're the only gardens here. Years of agrarian gardens. Only recently did I realize my gardens are Agrarian, and most other gardens are Industrialized. Agrarian vs. Industrialized. Interesting, I've been slipping Agrarian Gardens into Deed Restricted/HOA Industrialized neighborhoods for decades.
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
No, I didn't answer those questions, above. They are for you to answer. Answers in next post.
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Take What's Best for You: Agrarian vs. Industrialized
My grandmother grew up on a farm, a land grant from King James to our family. We track to the Revolutionary War era. Her only child, my mom, did not relish caring for chickens, pigs, or crops.
.
Dad's family also dates to the Revolutionary War era, along with something quite American, he was a legal Native American Indian, Cherokee. Wonderful, knowing I have the blood of 2 great-great grandmothers, 100% Cherokee.
.
Both sides of my family, until my grandparents, lived agrarian lives. Centuries upon centuries of agrarian knowledge.
.
Good and bad. Dad went on to be part of the core team of 50 NASA engineers putting man on the moon. Cell phones/laptops came from that program, and more. Glad he didn't stay agrarian.
.
What's the point, where is this headed? It took only a single generation, my parents, to lose centuries of agrarian knowledge. Lessons to be learned before we walk, or talk. E. M. Forster takes this up with the character of Leonard Bast in, Howard's End.
.
From earliest memories I knew industrialized landscapes were wrong. Real landscapes were the marshes, pastures full of Longhorn cattle, Pecan orchards, cattails in the drainage ditches along the roads, Oak trees trailing moss above meadows full of white clover, and whatever else the tropical winds of Galveston Bay blew in. Thought everyone knew which landscapes were the right landscapes.
.
"(Iris) Murdoch begins by reflecting on the fundamental difference between the function of philosophy and that of art --- one being to clarify and concretize, the other to mystify and expand." Maria Popova.
.
Realized, early 20's, I was society's strange one. Society adores industrialized landscapes, mow-blow-go-commodify all they touch-fertilizers-chemicals-mulches-annuals. Industrialized landscapes are written into law via deed restrictions and HOA's.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Marvelous young orchard with guilds, and potager, above.
.
Getting that 2nd college degree, in my 20's, horticulture, knowing it was bogus USA industrialized landscape nonsense, it was off to study historic gardens across Europe for decades. First time seeing this type of garden, above, moth-to-a-flame. Pure agrarian.
.
This is how I garden, and design gardens, decades now. It's still a rare profession, designing agrarian based gardens. Illegal for millions of Americans, millions more think they are 'messy', see pic, above. Why do they think they are messy? I think, because they don't realize what they are looking at. Why should they? Most are generations away from agrarian living.
.
Looking at the pic, above, I see the poyeema of Providence. God's workmanship, gifted as the joy of handywork for ourselves, if we deem to partake. They did, above. How fine, above, if a full'ish moon and warm'ish evening are expected, the tail end of fall, dahlias still showing, apples on the branch, a picnic dinner, wine, friends, blankets and large pillows in the orchard, in celebration.
.
Ironically, not too different from the life George Washington or John Adams knew. America was founded upon agrarian models. It's good to have choices beyond agrarian. Yet, in the macro, global industrialization has been at the agrarian expense, especially industrialized livestock.
.
"...art is what makes us not only human but humane." Iris Murdoch.
.
Losing the stewardship agrarian life instills, has led to not 'seeing' industrialized livestock as an issue. Same thread as not 'seeing' what this garden, above, means. Same issue as our health diminished with industrialized vs. agrarian farming, and, industrialized vs. agrarian landscaping. While we harm ourselves, and livestock with industrialized methods, we're poisoning groundwater, killing mycorrhizal fungi, why that matters, here, killing pollinator habitat for insects/birds/wildlife that migrate, only to journey to areas now bereft of food, so they die, after millions of years having followed the same migration patterns. Jack Nicholson,with his best smile and unkempt greasy hair, couldn't ask it better, "Who are the killers now?".
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Sacred vs. profane. Pairs of words, in opposite, shout at me, especially when they make me think. Humility vs. hubris is a nice pair of words read this morning. From my own Commonplace book, Mystery-Meaning, Creation-Transcendence, Law-Grace, Righteousness- Corruption, Universalism-Particularism, Pious-Secular, Compassion-Violence, Justice-Judging. In the garden, gardening, performing the gift of poyeema, pairs of words find their journey from the noise of daily life and neo-fixed mindset into the realms of transcendence with a growth mindset.
.
It is the garden passing along epiphanies. Do you do this too?
.
"....if there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet...maybe we could understand something." Federico Fellini.
.
Part of my mission statement, for decades, for my garden, "......I want to look out any window, any day, and think, Oh Wow." Seeking awe.
.
"Awe enables us to sense in small things the beginnings of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common & simple." Joshua Herschel Abraham.
.
Have you already found your garden to be a talker? "The habit of prayer, by which I mean the habit of listening." Loren Eisley.
.
With Industrialized Gardens, "It is the shrewdness of the fox after the chicken. A low order of mentality often goes with it." Sherwood Anderson.
.
Working with agrarian gardens there are myriad 'greats' to work with, they have died, but not the dynamic of their poyeema. Working with them, is one of the greatest joys of my life. How can I not accept the rebuke from Alexander Pope, "My gardens improve more than my writings." Serious rebuke, taken to heart, yet with complete humor of good will.
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
Pic, above, take from Ben Pentreath's blog, I think you'll enjoy it.
.
Dad's family also dates to the Revolutionary War era, along with something quite American, he was a legal Native American Indian, Cherokee. Wonderful, knowing I have the blood of 2 great-great grandmothers, 100% Cherokee.
.
Both sides of my family, until my grandparents, lived agrarian lives. Centuries upon centuries of agrarian knowledge.
.
Good and bad. Dad went on to be part of the core team of 50 NASA engineers putting man on the moon. Cell phones/laptops came from that program, and more. Glad he didn't stay agrarian.
.
What's the point, where is this headed? It took only a single generation, my parents, to lose centuries of agrarian knowledge. Lessons to be learned before we walk, or talk. E. M. Forster takes this up with the character of Leonard Bast in, Howard's End.
.
From earliest memories I knew industrialized landscapes were wrong. Real landscapes were the marshes, pastures full of Longhorn cattle, Pecan orchards, cattails in the drainage ditches along the roads, Oak trees trailing moss above meadows full of white clover, and whatever else the tropical winds of Galveston Bay blew in. Thought everyone knew which landscapes were the right landscapes.
.
"(Iris) Murdoch begins by reflecting on the fundamental difference between the function of philosophy and that of art --- one being to clarify and concretize, the other to mystify and expand." Maria Popova.
.
Realized, early 20's, I was society's strange one. Society adores industrialized landscapes, mow-blow-go-commodify all they touch-fertilizers-chemicals-mulches-annuals. Industrialized landscapes are written into law via deed restrictions and HOA's.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Marvelous young orchard with guilds, and potager, above.
.
Getting that 2nd college degree, in my 20's, horticulture, knowing it was bogus USA industrialized landscape nonsense, it was off to study historic gardens across Europe for decades. First time seeing this type of garden, above, moth-to-a-flame. Pure agrarian.
.
This is how I garden, and design gardens, decades now. It's still a rare profession, designing agrarian based gardens. Illegal for millions of Americans, millions more think they are 'messy', see pic, above. Why do they think they are messy? I think, because they don't realize what they are looking at. Why should they? Most are generations away from agrarian living.
.
Looking at the pic, above, I see the poyeema of Providence. God's workmanship, gifted as the joy of handywork for ourselves, if we deem to partake. They did, above. How fine, above, if a full'ish moon and warm'ish evening are expected, the tail end of fall, dahlias still showing, apples on the branch, a picnic dinner, wine, friends, blankets and large pillows in the orchard, in celebration.
.
Ironically, not too different from the life George Washington or John Adams knew. America was founded upon agrarian models. It's good to have choices beyond agrarian. Yet, in the macro, global industrialization has been at the agrarian expense, especially industrialized livestock.
.
"...art is what makes us not only human but humane." Iris Murdoch.
.
Losing the stewardship agrarian life instills, has led to not 'seeing' industrialized livestock as an issue. Same thread as not 'seeing' what this garden, above, means. Same issue as our health diminished with industrialized vs. agrarian farming, and, industrialized vs. agrarian landscaping. While we harm ourselves, and livestock with industrialized methods, we're poisoning groundwater, killing mycorrhizal fungi, why that matters, here, killing pollinator habitat for insects/birds/wildlife that migrate, only to journey to areas now bereft of food, so they die, after millions of years having followed the same migration patterns. Jack Nicholson,with his best smile and unkempt greasy hair, couldn't ask it better, "Who are the killers now?".
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Sacred vs. profane. Pairs of words, in opposite, shout at me, especially when they make me think. Humility vs. hubris is a nice pair of words read this morning. From my own Commonplace book, Mystery-Meaning, Creation-Transcendence, Law-Grace, Righteousness- Corruption, Universalism-Particularism, Pious-Secular, Compassion-Violence, Justice-Judging. In the garden, gardening, performing the gift of poyeema, pairs of words find their journey from the noise of daily life and neo-fixed mindset into the realms of transcendence with a growth mindset.
.
It is the garden passing along epiphanies. Do you do this too?
.
"....if there were a little more silence, if we all kept quiet...maybe we could understand something." Federico Fellini.
.
Part of my mission statement, for decades, for my garden, "......I want to look out any window, any day, and think, Oh Wow." Seeking awe.
.
"Awe enables us to sense in small things the beginnings of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in the common & simple." Joshua Herschel Abraham.
.
Have you already found your garden to be a talker? "The habit of prayer, by which I mean the habit of listening." Loren Eisley.
.
With Industrialized Gardens, "It is the shrewdness of the fox after the chicken. A low order of mentality often goes with it." Sherwood Anderson.
.
Working with agrarian gardens there are myriad 'greats' to work with, they have died, but not the dynamic of their poyeema. Working with them, is one of the greatest joys of my life. How can I not accept the rebuke from Alexander Pope, "My gardens improve more than my writings." Serious rebuke, taken to heart, yet with complete humor of good will.
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
Pic, above, take from Ben Pentreath's blog, I think you'll enjoy it.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Historic Agrarian Modern Arrangements
Perfect, arrangement, below. Florist style, without flowers, without expense.
.
Only recently have I begun making 'arrangements'. Who has time for that? People, without a life, made arrangements. Now, apparently that is me. Oddly, life gets crazier, necessity increases to hunt/gather and create arrangements for the house. My life 'fell out', so choices had to be made.
.
Hungering for joy, the choice was easy.
.
Aside from the expense of store bought flowers, their footprint upon Earth isn't something I wish to partake. What about flowers in my own garden? Rather a mood about those too. Taking my own flowers, takes away pollinator food, and later, their seeds won't exist upon Earth.
.
What to do?
.
Bushes need pruning, and there's plenty of roadside greenery, pure joy taking clippers/basket, zero guilt.
Pic, above, here.
.
Line and form are the most important layers of historic agrarian modern garden design. Exactly the gardens I relish.
.
Not a stretch, understanding, my love for the arrangement, above.
.
Silhouette, above, of the greenery, its scale to the container, and relationship between greenery/container using rustic/formal. Full on miniature historic agrarian modern garden design in an urn.
.
Notice the debris field, above? Quite amusing, and part of the process, creating.
.
I create arrangements on the front porch of our ca. 1900 home. With its historic agrarian modern garden design, sweeping clippings, from making arrangements, off the porch, enriches the soil, and is covered with foliage. Win/win.
.
Hunted/gathered greenery, often has a lifespan of a month as an arrangement.
.
Understanding the alchemy of creating these historic agrarian modern floral arrangements, and what they add to my life & home, pure visceral. Yet what are the words for the creation, then enjoyment?
.
Grace and joy arrive quickly, but it's deeper than that.
.
A transcendence.
.
Certainly worth the price, becoming one-of-those-people-without-a-life !
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
Only recently have I begun making 'arrangements'. Who has time for that? People, without a life, made arrangements. Now, apparently that is me. Oddly, life gets crazier, necessity increases to hunt/gather and create arrangements for the house. My life 'fell out', so choices had to be made.
.
Hungering for joy, the choice was easy.
.
Aside from the expense of store bought flowers, their footprint upon Earth isn't something I wish to partake. What about flowers in my own garden? Rather a mood about those too. Taking my own flowers, takes away pollinator food, and later, their seeds won't exist upon Earth.
.
What to do?
.
Bushes need pruning, and there's plenty of roadside greenery, pure joy taking clippers/basket, zero guilt.
Pic, above, here.
.
Line and form are the most important layers of historic agrarian modern garden design. Exactly the gardens I relish.
.
Not a stretch, understanding, my love for the arrangement, above.
.
Silhouette, above, of the greenery, its scale to the container, and relationship between greenery/container using rustic/formal. Full on miniature historic agrarian modern garden design in an urn.
.
Notice the debris field, above? Quite amusing, and part of the process, creating.
.
I create arrangements on the front porch of our ca. 1900 home. With its historic agrarian modern garden design, sweeping clippings, from making arrangements, off the porch, enriches the soil, and is covered with foliage. Win/win.
.
Hunted/gathered greenery, often has a lifespan of a month as an arrangement.
.
Understanding the alchemy of creating these historic agrarian modern floral arrangements, and what they add to my life & home, pure visceral. Yet what are the words for the creation, then enjoyment?
.
Grace and joy arrive quickly, but it's deeper than that.
.
A transcendence.
.
Certainly worth the price, becoming one-of-those-people-without-a-life !
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Before/After: Color
Charming before/after, below. Don't know any details about the home, purchased to live in, bought to flip, perhaps a new owner knows they will only live in the house 4-5 years max, and the budget had to go into new wiring, plumbing, septic, windows, floors, kitchen.
.
Without primping, the house has great bones.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Notice the fascia boards at roof's edge, above. Painted dark, they lift upward visually, into the roof, giving greater height to the house from the ground. Always adore making this change. And, the gutters are dark too. Perfect choices.
.
Another height altering paint/color technique, with a home at this scale, above, paint the gable the same color as the walls. Nothing to 'pull down' the height, a pure line of color rising up. Two colors, at this scale, makes the gable look more 'squat'.
.
The white windows are probably vinyl and not easily painted, or painting them would invalidate a warranty. If this is the issue, and those windows were being chosen now, choose almond vinyl not white. White windows, above, are jumping forward, instead of calmly receding, and looking larger.
.
Great choice replacing the front door, depth of character.
.
In addition, at the front door, swap the square post, for a round post, greater contrast with all the square lines of the house, and new post about 25% larger in scale.
.
Opening the front door zone further, remove the side rails, wrap the steps around the entire front door landing. Reuse the handrail at the angle where the new steps 'turn' from the front. Now, the front door zone is scaled to a focal point welcome, not merely a small niche along the front facade of the home.
.
Changing the front door steps, the curbed garden edging will need to be changed. And, the stone walk must be enlarged to create a landing at the steps.
.
Another before/after, below, using color as their best tool.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Won't mention, above, landscape plantings, it's the colors used in the 'after' drawing delight. 'After', the foundation uses colors from the house, to the ground, making the house recede, appear larger, and creating flow from the house to the ground. Keeping the house the focal point, not the foundation.
.
Bright colors on foundations too often accentuate the foundation, not the house.
.
Another bit of fabulous flow, above, the new entry from the sidewalk, up the steps, to the house. No longer must you enter the house from a service court, now you can enter the house via the garden.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Another before/after, above.
.
Porch rails, top pic, probably not original to the home, yet added not long after construction. Have seen those exact metal pole rails used across Georgia at many historic homes. Not good if you have children/grandchildren. Nor if you're selling your home and the buyer uses a VA loan. VA loans require modern safety/efficiency layers for approval.
.
We made an offer on our ca. 1900 home within hours of touring. Another family made an offer a few days later, VA loan. Our lucky day. We love our front porch, still historically accurate, no rails.
.
The porch, above, would look a bit larger, in the 'after', if the rails were painted the same color as the foundation. In addition, the fence/gate to the left of the home, above, stained same color as the brick columns, will extend the architecture of the home.
.
Plantings, above, I would move to the slope and add more plants, creating a hedge from sidewalk to crest of hill, growing no taller than the porch rail. Why? Add privacy to front porch, yet keeping visibility outward to neighbors, trees, and without seeing parked/moving cars, and the road. More importantly, creating the hedge closer to the road blocks many toxins cars spew.
.
Rubber crumb, from tires, used to make mulch, is toxic to soil, ground water, and above certain temp turns into fumes absorbed thru our skin. And that's merely one layer of toxicity from cars.
.
Lastly, above, painting gutter/fascia boards at the roof line, the same color as the foundation, will make the roof rise taller, and settle the house into the landscape vs. currently jumping forward in the landscape, similar to the painting of the fascia in the top pic.
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
Appreciate the thought going into each of the renovations, above. Every thought = $$$, both in renovation expense or sales price or rental income. In addition to the joy of living in the homes. Alas, landscaping always last on the budget list, literally.
.
Without primping, the house has great bones.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Notice the fascia boards at roof's edge, above. Painted dark, they lift upward visually, into the roof, giving greater height to the house from the ground. Always adore making this change. And, the gutters are dark too. Perfect choices.
.
Another height altering paint/color technique, with a home at this scale, above, paint the gable the same color as the walls. Nothing to 'pull down' the height, a pure line of color rising up. Two colors, at this scale, makes the gable look more 'squat'.
.
The white windows are probably vinyl and not easily painted, or painting them would invalidate a warranty. If this is the issue, and those windows were being chosen now, choose almond vinyl not white. White windows, above, are jumping forward, instead of calmly receding, and looking larger.
.
Great choice replacing the front door, depth of character.
.
In addition, at the front door, swap the square post, for a round post, greater contrast with all the square lines of the house, and new post about 25% larger in scale.
.
Opening the front door zone further, remove the side rails, wrap the steps around the entire front door landing. Reuse the handrail at the angle where the new steps 'turn' from the front. Now, the front door zone is scaled to a focal point welcome, not merely a small niche along the front facade of the home.
.
Changing the front door steps, the curbed garden edging will need to be changed. And, the stone walk must be enlarged to create a landing at the steps.
.
Another before/after, below, using color as their best tool.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Won't mention, above, landscape plantings, it's the colors used in the 'after' drawing delight. 'After', the foundation uses colors from the house, to the ground, making the house recede, appear larger, and creating flow from the house to the ground. Keeping the house the focal point, not the foundation.
.
Bright colors on foundations too often accentuate the foundation, not the house.
.
Another bit of fabulous flow, above, the new entry from the sidewalk, up the steps, to the house. No longer must you enter the house from a service court, now you can enter the house via the garden.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Another before/after, above.
.
Porch rails, top pic, probably not original to the home, yet added not long after construction. Have seen those exact metal pole rails used across Georgia at many historic homes. Not good if you have children/grandchildren. Nor if you're selling your home and the buyer uses a VA loan. VA loans require modern safety/efficiency layers for approval.
.
We made an offer on our ca. 1900 home within hours of touring. Another family made an offer a few days later, VA loan. Our lucky day. We love our front porch, still historically accurate, no rails.
.
The porch, above, would look a bit larger, in the 'after', if the rails were painted the same color as the foundation. In addition, the fence/gate to the left of the home, above, stained same color as the brick columns, will extend the architecture of the home.
.
Plantings, above, I would move to the slope and add more plants, creating a hedge from sidewalk to crest of hill, growing no taller than the porch rail. Why? Add privacy to front porch, yet keeping visibility outward to neighbors, trees, and without seeing parked/moving cars, and the road. More importantly, creating the hedge closer to the road blocks many toxins cars spew.
.
Rubber crumb, from tires, used to make mulch, is toxic to soil, ground water, and above certain temp turns into fumes absorbed thru our skin. And that's merely one layer of toxicity from cars.
.
Lastly, above, painting gutter/fascia boards at the roof line, the same color as the foundation, will make the roof rise taller, and settle the house into the landscape vs. currently jumping forward in the landscape, similar to the painting of the fascia in the top pic.
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
Appreciate the thought going into each of the renovations, above. Every thought = $$$, both in renovation expense or sales price or rental income. In addition to the joy of living in the homes. Alas, landscaping always last on the budget list, literally.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Easiest Pot Watering
Part of my mission statement, looking out my windows, ".......Oh WOW.........." Not, "I must go get that done."
.
Wouldn't want to water these pots, below. Could never leave town.
.
Drip irrigation. Nor do I want to see drip irrigation tubing. Easy, thread the tubing up the pots, from the bottom drain hole.
.
If the pots are by the pool, line the pot with landscape fabric, ahead of placing soil in the pot. Less staining on the hardscape.
Pic, above, here.
.
At the front end of gardening, these gardens, above, were ridiculous, awful & boring, knew it for sure.
.
Now, these gardens, above, are smart, modern, playful, even better, useful upon myriad layers.
.
Perhaps you already knew, this is Valentino's garden, above. Smart man, nothing in the garden is original, instead, centuries old.
.
Not in your budget, above? Don't fall for that thinking. Too small.
.
Canopy, understory, floors, & pots arrive at all price points, free to extravagant.
.
Amusing, remembering my first thoughts, years, about these gardens, above. Who was that person?
.
Then arrives another layer of genius. And one of the first Garden Design principles. COPY .
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
.
Wouldn't want to water these pots, below. Could never leave town.
.
Drip irrigation. Nor do I want to see drip irrigation tubing. Easy, thread the tubing up the pots, from the bottom drain hole.
.
If the pots are by the pool, line the pot with landscape fabric, ahead of placing soil in the pot. Less staining on the hardscape.
Pic, above, here.
.
At the front end of gardening, these gardens, above, were ridiculous, awful & boring, knew it for sure.
.
Now, these gardens, above, are smart, modern, playful, even better, useful upon myriad layers.
.
Perhaps you already knew, this is Valentino's garden, above. Smart man, nothing in the garden is original, instead, centuries old.
.
Not in your budget, above? Don't fall for that thinking. Too small.
.
Canopy, understory, floors, & pots arrive at all price points, free to extravagant.
.
Amusing, remembering my first thoughts, years, about these gardens, above. Who was that person?
.
"Talent hits a target others can’t hit. Genius
hits a target others can’t even see."
– Schopenhauer
– Schopenhauer
.
Genius, above, was designed by truly great minds, Valentino saw it, finally, I saw it. Hope you do too. If you don't, at least hang on to the genius of others, maybe you'll see it in time.
.Then arrives another layer of genius. And one of the first Garden Design principles. COPY .
.
Garden & Be Well, XOT
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Mastering: The Well-Placed Table
When enthusiasm invades, it will, and it must be brought home to the garden, below.
Pic, above, here.
.
The Well-Placed Table, and its appointments.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
All yours, best when you've delved deeply into what gives you joy.
.
Tell me who you are, with your Well-Placed Table and appointments.
.
Hope you're already planning changes thru the year in appointments.
.
No worries details, excepting the most singularly important detail. Joy.
.
Buy the table because looking at it makes you happy.
.
Choose your table color because it makes you happy.
.
Site your table because looking at it, exactly in that spot, makes you happy.
.
Place appointment/s on your table because they make you happy.
.
Remember, the more you go inward, the more you outwardly connect.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
Pic, above, here.
.
The Well-Placed Table, and its appointments.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
All yours, best when you've delved deeply into what gives you joy.
.
Tell me who you are, with your Well-Placed Table and appointments.
.
Hope you're already planning changes thru the year in appointments.
.
No worries details, excepting the most singularly important detail. Joy.
.
Buy the table because looking at it makes you happy.
.
Choose your table color because it makes you happy.
.
Site your table because looking at it, exactly in that spot, makes you happy.
.
Place appointment/s on your table because they make you happy.
.
Remember, the more you go inward, the more you outwardly connect.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Outdoor Pots in Winter: New, FUN, Florist Arena
It's rare someone changes my mind, and getting their result includes 'more' money, time, effort.
.
Deborah Silver is the florist of planting outdoor pots. She changed my mind.
.
Prior to Deborah I was content to not plant my pots, just as the Queen, and Queen Mother, did not plant their pots. Once I saw their royal pots I knew, A Pot Must Be So Wonderful It Can Remain Empty. Dubbed, The Queen's Pot.
.
Then comes Deborah. Queen of Pots, 2.0 .
.
More. Worse? Deborah makes me want to plant my pots during an 'off' season, fall.
.
.
More than 'pretty', Deborah's pots share her exuberance for life, in each permutation.
.
.
For years she's shared her seasonal pots, and how to create them.
.
.
These pots, all above/below, use the shape of the pot, with the shape of their 'arrangements'. Creating a new florist arena.
.
.
By now, your eye, studying Deborah's pots, has already noted, I'm sure, it's not specific plants she uses, but their shapes, colors, and contrasts to each other, along with scale, form, flow.
.
.
Perhaps the best ingredient in all of the pots, above/below, is the element of pure FUN.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Why are Deborah's pots so incredible? At their core, is a transcendence.
.
.
.
My eyes are already calibrated to hunting/gathering phase for pot planting. Of course my eyes are calibrated to Deborah's instructions.
.
Thought you would like to have the same fun too.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
More fall pots from Deborah Silver, here.
.
Fall pots Deborah Silver's team made, to her specifications, with their own freedom, here.
.
No, this is not a sponsored post !
.
Deborah Silver is the florist of planting outdoor pots. She changed my mind.
.
Prior to Deborah I was content to not plant my pots, just as the Queen, and Queen Mother, did not plant their pots. Once I saw their royal pots I knew, A Pot Must Be So Wonderful It Can Remain Empty. Dubbed, The Queen's Pot.
.
Then comes Deborah. Queen of Pots, 2.0 .
.
More. Worse? Deborah makes me want to plant my pots during an 'off' season, fall.
.
.
More than 'pretty', Deborah's pots share her exuberance for life, in each permutation.
.
.
For years she's shared her seasonal pots, and how to create them.
.
.
These pots, all above/below, use the shape of the pot, with the shape of their 'arrangements'. Creating a new florist arena.
.
.
By now, your eye, studying Deborah's pots, has already noted, I'm sure, it's not specific plants she uses, but their shapes, colors, and contrasts to each other, along with scale, form, flow.
.
.
Perhaps the best ingredient in all of the pots, above/below, is the element of pure FUN.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Why are Deborah's pots so incredible? At their core, is a transcendence.
.
.
.
My eyes are already calibrated to hunting/gathering phase for pot planting. Of course my eyes are calibrated to Deborah's instructions.
.
Thought you would like to have the same fun too.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
More fall pots from Deborah Silver, here.
.
Fall pots Deborah Silver's team made, to her specifications, with their own freedom, here.
.
No, this is not a sponsored post !
Monday, September 30, 2019
Simplicity is the Best Garden Design
Tasha Tudor chose one of the most powerful quotes, as the sign off to her letter writing, Take Joy.
.
Take Joy.
.
Did you get it? Had you already had the epiphany?
.
Doesn't seem possible. Yet it's true. Joy is always present. 'Take', is up to you.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Green Meatballs have irritated me for decades, then this, above. How could I not laugh? Apparently I adore green boxes and wedges.
.
Recognize the stone path, above ? Variation of the centuries old stone wheelbarrow paths.
.
Hint of Tara Turf, above, too. Meadows of Tara Turf, pure pollinator habitat. Tara Turf under fruit trees historically named, guilds.
Pic, above, here.
.
Evergreens/trees, meadow, home, above/below. Relationships. Core connections. House to garden, garden to Nature, us to garden, Nature to us.
.
At the front end, decades ago, I could not be this simple, above/below. Not for me, I was still too special, knew so little, thought I knew something. Now, the garden, above, reeks of sacred & scientific wisdom. A gift from centuries of the best minds. In conversation with us, if we'll listen.
.
Simple? I see layers of complexity, above. At the front end, for years, I saw none of the complexity. Complexity? Aka, layers of riches.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Squished smaller, the meadow, below, is a brick terrace. Variations on a theme.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
In all seasons, below, these gardens delight. Design your garden for February, and you've designed it for all year. No matter the style of your design.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Aside from natural affinities of placement, house to meadow, house to hedges, house to allees, which reign, I assess an odd secondary reigning power. Furniture. Where do you want to sit, where do you want to eat, where do you want to visit with friends, where do you want to nap, where do you want to read....?
.
Aside from the bonuses of complexity with gardening simply, these are the gardens going full measure, into age, theirs and yours, and into the Great Beyond*. "Three chords, and truth.", as they described early Country music.
.
If you aren't sure about a garden this 'simple' it's apparent, they allow you to fill in, to a greedy heart's content, with flowers/flowers/flowers. Begin with flowers/flowers/flowers, please do. It's how I get the majority of my clients.
.
Simplicity of these gardens is a liturgy of Nature, if you see their complexity. Nothing we have to do, everything done by Nature, for us.
.
"Nothing is ever solved. Solving is an illusion. There are moments of spontaneous brightness, when the mind appears emancipated, but that is mere epiphany." Patti Smith
.
And I've been the epiphany hunter, for decades, in my garden.
.
"There’s no hierarchy. That’s the miracle of a triangle. No top, no bottom, no taking sides. Take away the tags of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and replace each with love. See what I mean? Love. Love. Love. Equal weight encompassing the whole of so called spiritual existence." Patti Smith
.
And I've broken layers of Garden Design into trinities, for decades.
.
"Just negotiating zones. No rules. No change. But then everything eventually changes. It’s the way of the world. Cycles of death and resurrection, but not always in the way we imagine." Patti Smith
.
And I've had decades with little change. Saturday, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, a World Heritage Site, coming back, Beloved asked which way I wanted to go. Another highway or the Blue Ridge Parkway again. Depths within answered, "What is first will be last, and what is last will be first." Oddly, Beloved got it & he's not normally Metaphor Man.
.
Benediction, returning, along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
.
“The grounds for hope are in the shadows, in the people who are inventing the world while no one looks, who themselves don’t know yet whether they will have any effect…” Rebecca Solnit
.
Hope is like joy, it's always there, if we take.
“You too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” Mary Oliver
.
We have great help along the way, with unseen partners, heroes, liberators, teachers, lovers, and none must necessarily be human. Gardens do this. Whether you think so or not.
.
For better and worse, growing up, my dad was an engineer, part of a team of 50 great engineers first to put man on the moon. Will never forget something he said about electricity, "We know how to use electricity, but we don't know what it is."
.
His lone sentence, about electricity, informs beyond its basics, if you take it to.
.
Recently, discovering trees use electrical current, no different than we have pulsing in our brain or heart, to communicate, I knew, finally, my communicating with gardens wasn't merely feel-good-mumbo-jumbo, nor one-way. Science caught up, to what Garden Whisperers have understood from birth.
.
"Yes, trees are the foundation of forests, but a forest is much more than what you see… Underground there is this other world — a world of infinite biological pathways that connect trees and allow them to communicate and allow the forest to behave as though it’s a single organism. It might remind you of a sort of intelligence." Suzanne Simard
.
.
A hoot, thinking back in college Horticulture would be rather safe from new discoveries. Dunce hat thinking.
.
Earlier this month Beloved & I went to Brasstown Bald, highest elevation in Georgia. After touring the museum, I debated speaking to the Ranger about the museum's outdated 'science' of flora in the region.
.
You know I did.
.
Ranger's face was frozen at 90 mph wind force. And I had mentally prearranged my delivery manner to him in advance. So. You watch the TED film about how Trees Communicate, tell me how it goes ............................................................................................................
My little story about driving the Blue Ridge Parkway earlier? First time to be in a true forest, after seeing this TED talk, above. Changes everything. How clueless we must be about so much more upon this Earth.
.
Thank you to everyone keeping up with Beloved. His procedure with chemo beads into the liver cancer zone went well. His liver transplant was delayed a year due to the prostate cancer. He must be clear of prostate cancer recurrence for a year due to immunosuppressants given after transplant. Those drugs make any cancer grow minimum 10x faster.
.
We're considering this year a sweet spot of time. And it already is.
........................................................................................................................................
* Leonard Cohen.....and the Great Beyond, below.
.
Take Joy.
.
Did you get it? Had you already had the epiphany?
.
Doesn't seem possible. Yet it's true. Joy is always present. 'Take', is up to you.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Green Meatballs have irritated me for decades, then this, above. How could I not laugh? Apparently I adore green boxes and wedges.
.
Recognize the stone path, above ? Variation of the centuries old stone wheelbarrow paths.
.
Hint of Tara Turf, above, too. Meadows of Tara Turf, pure pollinator habitat. Tara Turf under fruit trees historically named, guilds.
Pic, above, here.
.
Evergreens/trees, meadow, home, above/below. Relationships. Core connections. House to garden, garden to Nature, us to garden, Nature to us.
.
At the front end, decades ago, I could not be this simple, above/below. Not for me, I was still too special, knew so little, thought I knew something. Now, the garden, above, reeks of sacred & scientific wisdom. A gift from centuries of the best minds. In conversation with us, if we'll listen.
.
Simple? I see layers of complexity, above. At the front end, for years, I saw none of the complexity. Complexity? Aka, layers of riches.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Squished smaller, the meadow, below, is a brick terrace. Variations on a theme.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
In all seasons, below, these gardens delight. Design your garden for February, and you've designed it for all year. No matter the style of your design.
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Aside from natural affinities of placement, house to meadow, house to hedges, house to allees, which reign, I assess an odd secondary reigning power. Furniture. Where do you want to sit, where do you want to eat, where do you want to visit with friends, where do you want to nap, where do you want to read....?
.
Aside from the bonuses of complexity with gardening simply, these are the gardens going full measure, into age, theirs and yours, and into the Great Beyond*. "Three chords, and truth.", as they described early Country music.
.
If you aren't sure about a garden this 'simple' it's apparent, they allow you to fill in, to a greedy heart's content, with flowers/flowers/flowers. Begin with flowers/flowers/flowers, please do. It's how I get the majority of my clients.
.
Simplicity of these gardens is a liturgy of Nature, if you see their complexity. Nothing we have to do, everything done by Nature, for us.
.
"Nothing is ever solved. Solving is an illusion. There are moments of spontaneous brightness, when the mind appears emancipated, but that is mere epiphany." Patti Smith
.
And I've been the epiphany hunter, for decades, in my garden.
.
"There’s no hierarchy. That’s the miracle of a triangle. No top, no bottom, no taking sides. Take away the tags of the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and replace each with love. See what I mean? Love. Love. Love. Equal weight encompassing the whole of so called spiritual existence." Patti Smith
.
And I've broken layers of Garden Design into trinities, for decades.
.
"Just negotiating zones. No rules. No change. But then everything eventually changes. It’s the way of the world. Cycles of death and resurrection, but not always in the way we imagine." Patti Smith
.
And I've had decades with little change. Saturday, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, a World Heritage Site, coming back, Beloved asked which way I wanted to go. Another highway or the Blue Ridge Parkway again. Depths within answered, "What is first will be last, and what is last will be first." Oddly, Beloved got it & he's not normally Metaphor Man.
.
Benediction, returning, along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
.
“The grounds for hope are in the shadows, in the people who are inventing the world while no one looks, who themselves don’t know yet whether they will have any effect…” Rebecca Solnit
.
Hope is like joy, it's always there, if we take.
“You too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” Mary Oliver
.
We have great help along the way, with unseen partners, heroes, liberators, teachers, lovers, and none must necessarily be human. Gardens do this. Whether you think so or not.
.
For better and worse, growing up, my dad was an engineer, part of a team of 50 great engineers first to put man on the moon. Will never forget something he said about electricity, "We know how to use electricity, but we don't know what it is."
.
His lone sentence, about electricity, informs beyond its basics, if you take it to.
.
Recently, discovering trees use electrical current, no different than we have pulsing in our brain or heart, to communicate, I knew, finally, my communicating with gardens wasn't merely feel-good-mumbo-jumbo, nor one-way. Science caught up, to what Garden Whisperers have understood from birth.
.
"Yes, trees are the foundation of forests, but a forest is much more than what you see… Underground there is this other world — a world of infinite biological pathways that connect trees and allow them to communicate and allow the forest to behave as though it’s a single organism. It might remind you of a sort of intelligence." Suzanne Simard
.
From Brain Pickings, "Simard, whose research was foundational to German forester Peter Wohlleben’s wildly popular book The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, discusses her work and the improbable path that led her to it in her wonderful full-length TED talk: "
If you have no time now, mental mark to watch later. Stunning.Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
A hoot, thinking back in college Horticulture would be rather safe from new discoveries. Dunce hat thinking.
.
Earlier this month Beloved & I went to Brasstown Bald, highest elevation in Georgia. After touring the museum, I debated speaking to the Ranger about the museum's outdated 'science' of flora in the region.
.
You know I did.
.
Ranger's face was frozen at 90 mph wind force. And I had mentally prearranged my delivery manner to him in advance. So. You watch the TED film about how Trees Communicate, tell me how it goes ............................................................................................................
My little story about driving the Blue Ridge Parkway earlier? First time to be in a true forest, after seeing this TED talk, above. Changes everything. How clueless we must be about so much more upon this Earth.
.
Thank you to everyone keeping up with Beloved. His procedure with chemo beads into the liver cancer zone went well. His liver transplant was delayed a year due to the prostate cancer. He must be clear of prostate cancer recurrence for a year due to immunosuppressants given after transplant. Those drugs make any cancer grow minimum 10x faster.
.
We're considering this year a sweet spot of time. And it already is.
........................................................................................................................................
* Leonard Cohen.....and the Great Beyond, below.
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
More Than You Want to Know About Starting Your Garden Design
What type Garden Design survives, centuries, in gardens?
.
Easy trinity, with limitless permutations; Wild Wood, Meadow, Stone Focal Point.
.
Meadow, Urn, Hedge, below. Classical trivium of Garden Design. A structure for adding more layers, if desired.
.
Used at the front end of Garden Design it is a manner of thought toward your personal lifestyle, preferably, one you've chosen to make you a better person, at a minimum, a happier person. Within the larger context of stewardship toward Nature.
.
Your choice.
.
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust survivor.
Pic, above, here.
.
Once I discovered what type of gardens survive for centuries, after studying historic gardens across Europe, it became obvious how to start a garden. Start a garden with how it will end. 'It matters how we arrive at our ideas.'
.
The classical trivium turned thought & writing into logic, grammar, rhetoric. This isn't too small, for garden design, you can add more later. With the classical trivium you are 'imparted the 7 liberal arts of classical antiquity.'
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Going beyond the classical trivium, above. Easy to see, removing flowers, the garden becomes its end state quickly, meadow, hedge/wildwood, stone focal point. (Labeling the garden in design terms, above, canopy, understory, walls, floors, focal point.)
.
It's important to have the language for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the history for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the logic for a garden, to create one. You realize this isn't about your garden. It's choices about your life. God almighty first created a garden. We all ate that apple. No choice in the matter, I want back in the garden.
.
Having the vocabulary to design a garden lets your mind "...collect and analyze information and to draw conclusions based on that information; it demands self-discipline and instills virtue (the ability to do what is right despite one's baser inclinations); it produces.........think, understand, solve problems and follow through on a wide range of interests. It requires a student to examine moral and ethical issues. A classical education is multi-cultural in the best sense of the word. Because it takes history as its organizing principle, students learn the place of their lives, families, and communities in the broad landscape of human existence and achievement. It imparts skills and passion for thinking and learning that allow a person to teach herself for the rest of her life. Classical education is systematic and rigorous; it has purpose, goals, and a method to reach those goals." Noval Classical, from here.
.
This is more than you wanted, but have included it, aside from living it, because it is how George Washington gardened, and garden designed. More than agricultural, more than elegance, he gardened to show his political, educational, and religious beliefs. Born into a slave holding family, what was the impetus George Washington had, to free all his slaves?
.
Slaves in America are part of historic garden study. In Europe, for too many eras they had subsistence workers. Ignorant, I had to ask a head-gardener what that meant, "They worked for food. No pay, no housing, no clothing given. At the end of the day they return into the woods." Serfs were another layer of garden labor, not technically slaves, they worked for the manor house, were given a plot of land for their own to work, and could take those earnings, yet were not free to move about, they had to be granted permission to leave a manor's employ, which was not a given.
.
End of serfdom coincided with the bubonic plague. So many were killed, there were few left to work the fields. Finally, after the plague, workers were paid for their labor. And, allowed freedom to move about.
.
Historic gardens, which truly flourished after the plague, ca. 1400, took another turn after WWI, so many were killed the grand estates did not have enough laborers to keep their properties up to prior WWI standards. This is when 'my' trinity of historic gardens appeared. WWII was the macro end of agrarian gardens, and beginning of industrialized landscapes we have today.
.
Industrialized landscaping parallels, unfortunately, global factory farming of livestock. Won't go further into that realm here beyond noting George Washington's gardening choices, and life choices.
.
In the garden, beyond making design choices based upon a trivium, choosing to engage the brain in addition to body, spirit & community, there is the garden itself, with some life forces equal to ours. At times, appearing sentient, perhaps behaving with sentience.
.
Does the neo-sentience of a garden affect our thought processes when in our garden, or woodland, or fields & streams?
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
How do you like History, thru my Garden prism?
.
From the Mount Vernon website, below.
Washington was not the only Virginian to make provisions to free his slaves during this period. In 1782, toward the end of the American Revolution, the Virginia legislature made it legal for slave holders to manumit their slaves, without a special action of the governor and council.
.
Easy trinity, with limitless permutations; Wild Wood, Meadow, Stone Focal Point.
.
Meadow, Urn, Hedge, below. Classical trivium of Garden Design. A structure for adding more layers, if desired.
.
Used at the front end of Garden Design it is a manner of thought toward your personal lifestyle, preferably, one you've chosen to make you a better person, at a minimum, a happier person. Within the larger context of stewardship toward Nature.
.
Your choice.
.
"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." Viktor E. Frankl, Holocaust survivor.
Pic, above, here.
.
Once I discovered what type of gardens survive for centuries, after studying historic gardens across Europe, it became obvious how to start a garden. Start a garden with how it will end. 'It matters how we arrive at our ideas.'
.
The classical trivium turned thought & writing into logic, grammar, rhetoric. This isn't too small, for garden design, you can add more later. With the classical trivium you are 'imparted the 7 liberal arts of classical antiquity.'
.
Pic, above, here.
.
Going beyond the classical trivium, above. Easy to see, removing flowers, the garden becomes its end state quickly, meadow, hedge/wildwood, stone focal point. (Labeling the garden in design terms, above, canopy, understory, walls, floors, focal point.)
.
It's important to have the language for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the history for a garden, to create one. It's important to have the logic for a garden, to create one. You realize this isn't about your garden. It's choices about your life. God almighty first created a garden. We all ate that apple. No choice in the matter, I want back in the garden.
.
Having the vocabulary to design a garden lets your mind "...collect and analyze information and to draw conclusions based on that information; it demands self-discipline and instills virtue (the ability to do what is right despite one's baser inclinations); it produces.........think, understand, solve problems and follow through on a wide range of interests. It requires a student to examine moral and ethical issues. A classical education is multi-cultural in the best sense of the word. Because it takes history as its organizing principle, students learn the place of their lives, families, and communities in the broad landscape of human existence and achievement. It imparts skills and passion for thinking and learning that allow a person to teach herself for the rest of her life. Classical education is systematic and rigorous; it has purpose, goals, and a method to reach those goals." Noval Classical, from here.
.
This is more than you wanted, but have included it, aside from living it, because it is how George Washington gardened, and garden designed. More than agricultural, more than elegance, he gardened to show his political, educational, and religious beliefs. Born into a slave holding family, what was the impetus George Washington had, to free all his slaves?
.
Slaves in America are part of historic garden study. In Europe, for too many eras they had subsistence workers. Ignorant, I had to ask a head-gardener what that meant, "They worked for food. No pay, no housing, no clothing given. At the end of the day they return into the woods." Serfs were another layer of garden labor, not technically slaves, they worked for the manor house, were given a plot of land for their own to work, and could take those earnings, yet were not free to move about, they had to be granted permission to leave a manor's employ, which was not a given.
.
End of serfdom coincided with the bubonic plague. So many were killed, there were few left to work the fields. Finally, after the plague, workers were paid for their labor. And, allowed freedom to move about.
.
Historic gardens, which truly flourished after the plague, ca. 1400, took another turn after WWI, so many were killed the grand estates did not have enough laborers to keep their properties up to prior WWI standards. This is when 'my' trinity of historic gardens appeared. WWII was the macro end of agrarian gardens, and beginning of industrialized landscapes we have today.
.
Industrialized landscaping parallels, unfortunately, global factory farming of livestock. Won't go further into that realm here beyond noting George Washington's gardening choices, and life choices.
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In the garden, beyond making design choices based upon a trivium, choosing to engage the brain in addition to body, spirit & community, there is the garden itself, with some life forces equal to ours. At times, appearing sentient, perhaps behaving with sentience.
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Does the neo-sentience of a garden affect our thought processes when in our garden, or woodland, or fields & streams?
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Garden & Be Well, XO T
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How do you like History, thru my Garden prism?
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From the Mount Vernon website, below.
In his will, written several months before his death in December 1799, George Washington left directions for the emancipation of all the slaves that he owned, after the death of Martha Washington.
Of the 317 slaves at Mount Vernon in 1799, 123 individuals were owned by George Washington and were stipulated in Washington's will to be freed upon his wife's death. However, these conditions did not apply to all slaves at Mount Vernon. When Martha Washington's first husband Daniel Parke Custis died without a will, she received a life interest in one-third of his estate, including his slaves. The other two-thirds of the estate went to their children.
Neither George nor Martha Washington could free these dower slaves by law. Upon her death the slaves would revert to the Custis estate and be divided among her grandchildren. By 1799, 153 slaves at Mount Vernon were part of this dower property. Forty more slaves were rented from a neighbor, while another man, Peter Hardiman, was rented from the widow of Martha Washington's son. All these people would eventually return to their owners.
In accordance with state law, George Washington stipulated in his will that elderly slaves or those who were too sick to work were to be supported throughout their lives by his estate. Children without parents, or those whose families were unable to see to their education were to be bound out to masters and mistresses who would teach them reading, writing, and a useful trade, until they were ultimately freed at the age of twenty-five. Washington’s will stated that he took these charges to his executors very seriously: "And I do moreover most pointedly, and most solemnly enjoin it upon my Executors...to see that this clause respecting Slaves, and every part thereof be religiously fulfilled at the Epoch at which it is directed to take place; without evasion, neglect or delay, after the Crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, particularly as it respects the aged and infirm."
In December 1800, Martha Washington signed a deed of manumission for her deceased husband's slaves, a transaction that is recorded in the abstracts of the Fairfax County, Virginia, Court Records. They would finally become free on January 1, 1801.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Agrarian vs. Industrialized vs. You
Gardens begin inside your home. Looking out.
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Your home is the garden's backdrop.
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The Agrarian & Pastoral ideal. Idyll. For you. Now. No matter the global industrialized anthropocene stew driving markets, and life.
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Agrarian. More than sustainable. Regenerative.
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More than regenerative. Transcendent. "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Marcus Tullius Cicero, Jan. 3, 106 BC - Dec. 7, 43 BC.
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Why consider Agrarian? Why choose Agrarian? Why be Agrarian though industrialized? Sacred vs. profane, reality vs. grace. The shorthand of Agrarian is unspoken, mostly, but well spoken, from birth, within. "...the division between practical reason and aesthetic understanding is in fact untenable, and that until the relation between the two is re-established they must both remain impoverished." Sir Roger Scruton.
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His back isn't facing you, below, he's telling you there is a life of transcendence inside. Join us, please come inside.
Pic, above, here.
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"Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim thru the wood; aim for the chopping block." Annie Dillard.
Pic, above, here.
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"Hone & spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff." Annie Dillard
Pic, above, here.
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"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment." Annie Dillard
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"If you cultivate a healthy poverty & simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then since the world is in fact 'planted' in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days." Annie Dillard.
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Understand what the back of his robe is saying, top pic, this is Nature's gift, telling us the stories of life. Nothing less than your life, in all its fullness.
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Garden & Be Well, XO T
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I take no credit for this deep need for Agrarian gardens, it came unbidden. Since age 3, I knew. Didn't know what I knew, no words, adults certainly weren't talking about the things 'I knew'. More, I've always known I work for 'Tara', known I had a lane of my own. Thought everyone had the same. Amusing what we get right, what we get wrong, oblivious to both in error at times.
.
Your home is the garden's backdrop.
.
The Agrarian & Pastoral ideal. Idyll. For you. Now. No matter the global industrialized anthropocene stew driving markets, and life.
.
Agrarian. More than sustainable. Regenerative.
.
More than regenerative. Transcendent. "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." Marcus Tullius Cicero, Jan. 3, 106 BC - Dec. 7, 43 BC.
.
Why consider Agrarian? Why choose Agrarian? Why be Agrarian though industrialized? Sacred vs. profane, reality vs. grace. The shorthand of Agrarian is unspoken, mostly, but well spoken, from birth, within. "...the division between practical reason and aesthetic understanding is in fact untenable, and that until the relation between the two is re-established they must both remain impoverished." Sir Roger Scruton.
.
His back isn't facing you, below, he's telling you there is a life of transcendence inside. Join us, please come inside.
Pic, above, here.
.
"Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim thru the wood; aim for the chopping block." Annie Dillard.
Pic, above, here.
.
"Hone & spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff." Annie Dillard
Pic, above, here.
.
"You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment." Annie Dillard
.
"If you cultivate a healthy poverty & simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then since the world is in fact 'planted' in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days." Annie Dillard.
.
Understand what the back of his robe is saying, top pic, this is Nature's gift, telling us the stories of life. Nothing less than your life, in all its fullness.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO T
.
I take no credit for this deep need for Agrarian gardens, it came unbidden. Since age 3, I knew. Didn't know what I knew, no words, adults certainly weren't talking about the things 'I knew'. More, I've always known I work for 'Tara', known I had a lane of my own. Thought everyone had the same. Amusing what we get right, what we get wrong, oblivious to both in error at times.
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