Flannery O'Connor: Recognizing the Grotesque

     "When we look at a good deal of serious modern fiction, and particularly Southern fiction, we find this quality about it that is generally described, in a pejorative sense, as grotesque. Of course, I have found that anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic. [...] Whenever I'm asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one."  Flannery O'Connor
.
When did it happen, not recognizing the grotesque?  Growing up with the grotesque as the-way-to-do-it is no excuse, past, about, the age of 25.
.
From my Pinterest, 'Changes' board, below.  Very 'nice', 'acceptable', 'pretty', gardens.
.
Yet, each needing a change.  Most often slight, sometimes I cringe for the garden shown, its photographer, and the photo editor allowing it to be shown, worse, reader's seeing it as what's best in Garden Design.  'Copy', is not always the sincerest form of flattery.
.
What would you do, below, to make a few Garden Design changes?  Seriously, yes, I want to know.



Amazing home, above, pedestrian garden, obviously put in by the builder to meet zoning/construction demands.  Stone steps should go across entire front & side of the porch.  Zero foundation plantings.  Gravel or flagstone terrace from front of house, outward 10', with a pair of large urns/plinths at that point, for starters.....    Your turn.



Everything planted, above, is deciduous.  And, tasty appetizer for deer, plus high maintenance with great expense over time, along with being not eco.  Really, someone thinks this is a good Garden Design.  Your turn.



Flow.  Perhaps I can't see, from the pic above, the existing flow due to lighting/shadows.  There is no stone step from side of the front porch with flagstone path into the side terrace.  This is a harsh critique but demanded of any garden I'm hired to tweak before being put on a garden tour.



Would buy this garden/home, above, with lottery winnings, for sure.  And the first thing I would do, because it would take time to find the perfectly scaled pair, I would turn those lions to face each other.   Their scale is too small for the 'entire' space shown.  How fun, choosing another spot for this delicious pair of lions.
.
Recognizing the Grotesque.  Oddly, sometimes, it is the Grotesque in a beautiful setting, creating more beauty.  But not above.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara