The Best Way to Create a Beautiful Unique Landscape

Completely formulaic, below, and completely enchanting.  A miniature of what survives in a garden after several centuries, meadow-wild wood-stone focal point.  A balanced mix of ornamental horticulture & agriculture.
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The rule about focal points, 1-focal-point-per-area, below, head-on beautiful.  Then the other rule, the rule I observed after decades studying historic gardens, entry ways in a garden are focal points, and, you can never have too many entry ways in a garden.  You're looking at 4 entry ways, below.  Do you see them?  All 4?   There are no exits in a garden, only entry ways.
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"So simple it doesn't need instructions"

"Eager (and less-talented) designers often get confused about this instruction, turning it into: "It doesn't have instructions, therefore it's simple."

Seth godin

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Seeing gardens, below, as a beginner, I thought I knew how to design them.  Discovering, over decades, the layers of design narrative about gardens, below, I can design them in myriad permutations, keeping every important layer, understanding the difference between agricultural/ornamental, and more.  There is both total simplicity, below, and rich complexity.  It wasn't work, learning the complexity, more, it is taking in air to breath, a life necessity.  And, blessedly, I'm still learning.  Loved Seth's quote, above, seeing myself at the front end.
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Hope you will take the link to this garden, below.  A team of gardeners, a team of brains, are responsible.  This garden pic, below, is an entire garden design course.



Pic, above, Wollerton Old Hall.
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"If you want to change people's minds, you need more than evidence. You need persistence. And empathy. And mostly, you need the resources to keep showing up, peeling off one person after another, surrounding a cultural problem with a cultural solution."  Seth godin

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Seth's quote, above, would be incredibly mundane, without his knowing to add, empathy.  Thought of Wendell Berry reading the quote.  He's made his entire life, in empathy, no judgment, about cultural problems and cultural solutions.  Stewardship.  The garden, above, is a text book to Seth's quote, above.
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"Organized bureaucracies thrive on compliance. It makes it easier to tell people what to do.

But contribution is the only way that tribes thrive, the best way to make change happen and the essence of being part of a community.

It's a shame that we spend so much time teaching our children (and our employees) to comply. Far better to seek out contribution instead."

Seth godin

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Getting my 2nd college degree, Horticulture, I knew I couldn't design a garden a donkey would approve of.  Why?  Seth put words to it, above.  College taught me to be compliant with the USA manner of garden design.  Foundation plantings, lawn, a tree or 2, best managed with a maintenance crew, mowing, replacing mulch-annuals on schedule, pruning, etc, all on contract.  Monetize the landscape to fit the monetized contract.  Outsource the stewardship.  Live life complying to the norm, never seek to make a contribution.  Seems simple, that simplicity thing again.  Not understanding the riches gained, in making a contribution.
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"Shannon Weber decided that there wasn't enough love, recognition or connection in her world, so she did something about it. When she finds an unsung (don't say 'ordinary' hero) she makes them a cape.

Caping people, catching them doing something right, shining a light on a familiar hero. 

It turns out that this is way more difficult than being cynical, or ironic, or bitter. Being closed is a lot easier than being connected. It takes guts.

What kind of impact does one act of kindness make? It can last for years.

Go, cape someone."  Seth godin

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Having a garden, learning about the layers of narrative in the photo, above, put me thru the side door of caping someone.  A lot of someones.  In return, my life was built.  Living in a new town/home after 30 years, I knew I would meet incredible people, be able to have a personal life filled with great characters.  Often, caping someone, is being aware, seeing the full picture of someone, and letting them know you see.  Especially when it is good news in their life.  Seems intuitive, honoring good news.  Most often, when I've called or written a note, congratulating someone, their response is so sad, "Tara, you're the only one who's said anything."  G*d bless gardens for teaching me so much.  And I thought I was after learning how to design a garden!
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"Tracy Chapman was outsold by the Doobie Brothers by 40:1. But the Doobie's aren't 40 times as singular an artist as she is.

Lou Reed was outsold by Van Morrison at least 40:1. But again, our image and memory of Lou compares to Van's, it's not a tiny fraction of his.

Singular is the one that we can tell apart, the one we remember, the one we will miss when it's gone.

It's entirely possible that creators with scale are also singular (like Van, or Miranda), but it's not required. Many of the artists, leaders and teachers that have had an impact on you and on me have done so with very little popular acclaim.

It doesn't pay to trade your singular-ness for scale.

Singular might lead to scale, but popular is not enough."  Seth godin

Garden Design rules were anathema to me at the front end of learning Garden Design.  Don't tell me what to do !  My gardens will be fabulous & unique.  How well did that work?  Works now, making me laugh at myself.  Worse than not being fabulous, not being unique, not following Garden Design rules, was the time wasted.  More money can be earned, more time cannot.  Garden Design rules were figured out by wise/brilliant brains centuries ago, best, they are unique each time used, no 2 sites are the same.  Knowing the rules, deeply, you'll understand where best to break them.  Following the rules in Garden Design, you create a garden MORE you.  You are singular, and so your garden will be too.  This fact, following Garden Design rules, is like most of gardening, counterintuitive.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Seth Godin, here.