"The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, Power and grace." Goethe
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"...which may possibly be my very favorite story of all time, is early and essential (Grace)Paley. It is a story of love, and of mistakes and missteps that take years to correct themselves, and the story itself is, like the love affair, ardent, charming, wise, knowing. The story requires that the reader bear heartbreak, without ever renouncing either love or the world. I think that is what grace is, and I think that is what Grace means: Bear the world, without giving in, and love the people in it, without hesitation." Amy Bloom
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This garden, above/below, made me laugh at its rich depth, using centuries old technique, and piling on simplicity. Pure drama, with balls, sticks, hedges. Who knew simplicity could do this?
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A Garden Design Trinity: Stick Trees, Hedges, Balls.
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Within the trinity, Stick Trees/Hedges/Balls, the agrarian ode to Providence, pollinators, & self are present.
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"One way to isolate a good design from fashion or fad is to evaluate an object as you would a person. Is it interesting and exciting? Is it honest and sincere? Or is it banal, insipid, cute, stupid, or even silly? Or just dull and boring, destined to be forgotten?" Walter Hoving, Chairman Tiffany & Co., 1973
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February 2020 began my personal hunt for 'the' stick tree, need an allee. Type of tree chosen must be deciduous, easily pollarded, fast growing, affordable at decent size wholesale, thrives in sun, preferably native, available. Since 2008 wholesale landscape growers have little diversity.
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Phoned my Tree Man, in the business for decades. Told him constraints, first thing he said, "You need a WEED tree." Great answer. Which ones are you thinking?, I asked. Native Catalpa, he replied.
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Never had a Catalpa. Interesting. Something new to get to know, learn, love. No matter, a different tree may be chosen do to size, cost, availability, and meeting other constraints.
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After talking with him, the first garden I saw online, below. The pollarded trees? Catalpa. Wish photo had been taken later in the season when the Catalpa had grown a bit more, the silhouette, then, perfect.
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Pic, above,
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"The success of a room depends largely on what it does not contain." House Beautiful, 1905.
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If your elevation is the same, pic below, no worries your home is a 3 bedroom lapboard on small lot, or a mid-century brick ranch on an acre, this style garden design, meant for all architecture, and price ranges.
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Taller grasses in the distance, pic below, canopy trees beyond, balls and stick trees in low meadow. Easy to maintain, and, maximum pollinator habitat.
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God's Word is written in the Bible. In the Garden you "feel that you have overheard it rather than read it."
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Once the Stick Trees, Balls, Hedges are decided, and planted, it's time for your life to take over. Roux of Design: Stick Trees, Hedges, Balls are your stage. Your life, becomes the magic, joy, grace of home & garden, flowing into each other.
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Your dog, children, friends, seasons, and etc, are the focal point.
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"John Ruskin, the elegant writer on art & ethics told the teachers of humanity -- "all other efforts in education are futile till you have taught your people to love fields, birds, and flowers." George West, Hereford Rocks.
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Great table placement, color, shape, pic above. Depending on life, the table is for lunch, staging a potted plant, a place to bring a letter from the mailbox, a glass of wine before dinner, a place to set basket and clippings when gathering for the house.
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"Mr. Head awakened to discover that the room was full of moonlight. He sat up and stared at the floor boards -- the color of silver -- and then at the ticking on his pillow; which might have been brocade, and after a second, he saw half of the moon five feet away in his shaving mirror, paused as if it were waiting for his permission to enter. It rolled forward and cast a dignifying light on everything. The straight chair against the wall looked still and attentive as if it were awaiting an order and Mr. Head's trousers, hanging to the back of it, had an almost noble air, like the garment some great man had just flung to his servant..." Flannery O'Connor
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"The above opening to a short story, by Flannery O'Connor is, to readers content with grasping information, straight forward enough. It introduces a character, Mr. Head, waking up at night and noticing moonlight. To readers who enjoy the practice of reading, the opening is much, much more.
Two approaches seem to me the difference between reading as a skill and reading as an art. The first is quite enough. From knowing what STOP means through understanding a scholarly essay or a legal brief, the necessary skill varies greatly, can always be refined, and lets us negotiate life with some measure of control. Reading as art, not ART (Once depressingly called "critical" reading) is another matter. Like the avid devotion to other arts, it develops over time in any number of ways takes all sorts of routes, and has many origins." Toni Morrison.
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'The plants in your garden are only half the story. The rest is what you bring to the party.' , paraphrasing Toni Morrison.
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Live in a subdivision? Little changes using Stick Trees, Hedges, Balls. Past the balls, pic above, site an evergreen hedge, 4'-5', street views and neighbor's homes hidden, excepting their roofs.
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Inside your home, is where your Garden Design begins. You'll live both directions with your garden, and home.
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The harder I garden, literally or metaphorically, the more comfort I receive.
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Low meadow, pic below, and pair of old trees, with woodland in distance. Age. Time. More than content, time of year, time of day, weather, geography, are age and time.
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You may live to a nice 87 years old, the conifer tree, pic below, will live hundreds of years. Eating, drinking, growing, communicating thru its roots with the same electrical current we have in our bodies, to other trees, and plants, photosynthesizing, taking light from the sun, turning it into food, growing, exhaling oxygen. More than a bit humbling.
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Wish Walt Whitman could read about the science of trees now. He knew their lives, without the science, in the 19th century.
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Gardens are sacred mandalas, beauty & impermanence.
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Gate in the hedge, above. Flow, as needed.
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It is your life, and loves, putting perspective to garden & home. Suddenly, pic above, precious arrives, and owns the entire home/garden. As she should.
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"When viewed in deep time, things come alive that seemed inert.... The world becomes eerily various and vibrant again. Ice breaths. Rock has tides. Mountains ebb and flow. Stone pulses. We live on a restless Earth." Underland, Robert Macfarlane.
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The calm you design into your garden. Is not truly calm. It's a manner of choosing how you will live.
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At first, my mind knew to take charge in the garden, I did, that's when the garden spoke back and told me what it wanted. Once that dance finally began, I understood what the garden had been doing all along, feeding my soul.
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From the garden we're taught how to feed our soul. Meadows parched, then rains, growth, gracious & grateful. Trees, such courage, yet joy & purpose are their life force. Nurturing a spiritual life, gardens nurture ours.
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"How do you teach your soul? How do you put experiences of the sacred in your life? What are the layers you choose to be wrapped in the sacred?" Sandy Sasso, Rabbi
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We are descendant & ancestor to the garden. Have you learned responsibilities of ancestors? Are you legacy making now, to be an ancestor? Descendant & ancestor are a loop, nurturing their connection is grace.
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Wine & cell phone on the table, above. One should not be ubiquitous. I'm guilty.
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Instead of using several gardens with the simplicity of Stick Trees, Balls, Hedges, I chose one. Moving this garden thru seasons and their life. Metaphor for yours.
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This is Lesley Cooke's garden, pics above, on Instagram,
here. When you can, take time to peruse her home/garden in depth. She's able to travel a bit, entertain a bit, have a family, friends, cook, enjoy her dog, yet no stress over the garden, keeping it fabulous. Simple has rewards.
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Garden & Be Well, XO T
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Off Topic. Have been away for a bit. Had the flu flu, 2 weeks, hi fever, evil cough. My doctor, Beloved's doctor, hospital nurse, each said, Not Corona, at the front end. Reading a journalists story last Saturday, testing positive for Corona, symptoms were a blueprint for mine. What to think? Been a slow recovery. Will get tested for antibodies later this year at physical.
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I'm healthy, no underlying health conditions, take no medications. Biggest concern has been Beloved getting Corona, with his major health issues. He's fine, still working, Georgia considers landscaping to be Essential Services. But, there's a strategy if Beloved becomes ill, knowing I cannot visit/stay in hospital with him. Only mention this, in case it helps someone else.
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If Beloved does get Corona, he will go into hospital with Sharpie Marker written on his upper chest, 4 printed rows, with each major health issue, and the name/number of his primary care doctor, my name/number too.
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Thru the years I've spent many nites in hospitals with Beloved. Every time things do go wrong. No one specifically at fault. Wonderful staff at each layer, the mistakes are of the 'system'. Hence, the Sharpie Marker.
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Told Beloved my plan. He hates it. Told him if he gives me any trouble I'll Sharpie Marker his forehead too. He knew to choose his battle, done.
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So many friends are prevented from seeing their parent/s in the hospital or skilled nursing. Cannot imagine this life changing hardship, along with worries about survival.
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More sorrows, stresses, greater than this across continents. Hoping you find moments of transcendence every day, to take care of yourself, as you steward those around you.
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Oddly, it is my chicken coop, giving transcendence every time I walk in. Walking out, every time, it's, Oh....back to reality. My chickens turned 8 years old last week.
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Thank you to everyone on the front lines of any layer of Corona, reading. Hope my little stories of gardening, and how to get the garden in your head, into your life, take you away for a few minutes. Better, help you create your own action plan.
