Showing posts with label Contracting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Contracting. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Vision Quest: Landscape for a Barn

Vision questing a barn this month.  Construction was completed recently, and without intervention it is already perfect.  Anything done must appear not-done.
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Large, it will be used for family events, and professional.  Cars, people, caterers, ease of use for all, without hindrance to views..
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Maintenance must be insignificant.
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Knowns include, hiding hvac/septic/trash, gravel, stone, meadow, ease of flow for cars/walking, large groups/small groups, social events/educational events, exterior lighting, meals en plein air, an impromptu lair for the owners,

House in Blacksod Bay by  Tierney Haines Architects, Three sandstone wings protect an inner courtyard from fierce coastal winds at this seaside house in Ireland by Tierney Haines Architects.

An Irish landscape, above.  Stark, beautiful.

Historic Old Barn | Historic Barns

Simplicity, above, to the bone.  A bit of slope, perhaps add 'jewelry' with a stone wall, similar to the above using stones found on site.

Oxfordshire Barn Conversion by John Minshaw photo© Lucas Allen

At the doors, stone terraces, above, will keep most of the gravel off shoes, and interior vintage wood floors.
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Ina Garten uses hedges, below, at her barn.  I need to site the hedges to obscure the necessities, and allow 'flow'.  Must be deer proof & evergreen.



Need shade at the barn for outdoor meals.  Martha Stewart, used pin oaks at her barn, below.  Perhaps 2-4 oaks sited, just right, for a harvest table, and the tractor.


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Once the necessities are sited, gravel, stone, trees, hedge, flow, the barn is 'done'.  However, at that point, I'm open to adding a flourish, maybe a single espalier heirloom fruit tree, in the vein of Arne Maynard, below,
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 Image result for arne maynard
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Along with knowing lavender will be planted, and several types of self-seeding flowers into the meadows at the barn.
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This is the 1st salvo vision questing, next will be on site, alone for a couple of hours, then on site with the owner.  After that, we set it aside, let the left/right brain magic play.  Decisions made, then taken to the 'men' creating the literal landscape.  Their input, from a base of decades experience, filling out the full breadth of the team.  More changes.  Finally, a garden beyond measure, exceeding expectations.  Yes, exactly why I like working with a team.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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All pics from my Pinterest board, here.    

Monday, July 28, 2014

Taking Commercial Ideas for Residential

 My team is putting in landscaping at a new commercial site.  Had time to peak at the interior decorator's work.  This is the welcome zone, next 4 pics.  More than colors, lighting, flooring, textures etc.  Their work has to 'sell' the project and project a realm of comfort, fun, value, and safety.  This is college student housing 'today'.


The owners of the site have millions invested, they are not making any mistakes with their interior design team, or the landscaping.





Tile 'wood', above, in the large foyer.  Some 'wood' tile is exterior proof, not all.


Exterior block fascia, above.  Good solution for many stucco or lapboard homes in the South, update the cinder block 'foundation'.


Amenities area, above, look closely at the tanning shelf in that pool.


 Alas, typical soil for planting, above.  Great for buildings, bad for plants.


 Grading, above.  Get it wrong and decades of trouble ahead.  Rare the project affording a fix later.


Trees, above, cannot be planted by hand only.  Machines to move/site/dig, men to finish.


At the end of the day.  Several weeks to complete the project, the team will eat out but mostly take turns cooking.  
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Every commercial job teaches me something new for residential.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics on the job.
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Watched a new team member digging with the guys, he was handling the shovel letting his back do most of the work.  Mentioned to him, up front, to watch the guys and copy.  Of course they were all pushing the metal shovel head with their heals.
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Intuitive to the guys.  I had always pushed in with the arch of my foot until reading Graham Stewart Thomas.
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Small fact, big difference.  
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No excuse for wearing flips on the job.  Except my job was merely taking a few pics.  Another excuse?  Do you understand how hot/humid the South is in summer?  Wellies, Birkies & Justin snake boots nearby in the van.  Last excuse, much too old not to wear what I want !
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Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
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Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
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Construction by Award Winning
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.