Wednesday, March 25, 2015

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
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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.
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From my Pinterest, 'Changes' board, below.  Very 'nice', 'acceptable', 'pretty', gardens.
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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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.
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Recognizing the Grotesque.  Oddly, sometimes, it is the Grotesque in a beautiful setting, creating more beauty.  But not above.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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7 comments:

  1. KathyMarch 25, 2015 at 9:09 AM

    100% agreed...1st thing I'm doing, when I win the lottery, is hiring you...

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  2. MMMarch 25, 2015 at 2:38 PM

    You really are brilliant...and "see" so very clearly. A gift, for sure.

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  3. MerrilynMarch 25, 2015 at 7:43 PM

    Trying to be a good student: bench on the porch in photo 1 as well as contrasting color in your urns, thinking opposite the color wheel: blue, lavender, white (cool colors, foliage). #2: deer resistant green instead of hosta: boxwood, hydrangeas, daffodils, vinca, liriope? #3: COLOR! pots of annuals, table w/ umbrella, step into yard from patio? #4: again, COLOR! vines growing up the steps, lanterns lighting the steps.......1-800-HOW'M I DOING?

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  4. Maria KillamMarch 25, 2015 at 7:44 PM

    I'm curious why the row of hostas is high maintenance and why it's not eco? I have the same kind of spot beside my house and had to move my hostas because they didn't like how much sun that area received in the afternoon. Now I have a row of small Azaleas there and it's not nearly as pretty.
    Great post Tara,
    Maria

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  5. Jacinta ArnoldMarch 26, 2015 at 6:00 AM

    Beside the timber weatherboard house I would pull out the garden and make a gravel/ flagstone path as wide as the White gate. Perhaps pots along the wall. Maybe a focal point to the right of the gate, depending on the orientation of this part of the garden. Make the focal point visible from inside through the window.How would you deal with the transition from gravel to grass? Small garden strip or shovel edging?

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  6. Christine B.March 27, 2015 at 1:14 AM

    Before I even read about photo 1, I thought "it needs a tree." Plus who wants to mow grass so close to the front door? The depth of the garden seems way too short for the height of the house to me, but what do I know? They probably paid big bucks for that tiny garden.

    I had an identical issue in my last garden as the house with a skinny side yard of turf grass. Shazam! Ripped that stuff out and did a gravel walkway with shrubbery and some perennials. I have enough lawn mowing in my life, I'm in "reduce time spent on lawn care" mode these days.

    Christine in Alaska, anticipating spring

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  7. lisa douglasMarch 27, 2015 at 7:43 AM

    The photos reflect either amusement or stewardship in the garden. Plants providing no pollen source, annuals, and gardens without paths or places for conversation are the amusement. Stewardship looks more like the last photo, ancient trees (hopefully native), steps, and the wooden table and chairs that invite us to sit beneath branches rather than a patio umbrella (more amusement).

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