Pruning: When Formal IS Naturalistic

This is the pruning era, below, capturing my heart, and centuries of other hearts too.  Ironically, decades passed before understanding this type of pruning. 

Pic, above, here.

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Pruning styles, above/below, polar opposites, formal/naturalistic, yet both historic for centuries.  With garden, above, having far more centuries of existence.  Garden, below, though centuries old in style, equates quite easily to commodified landscapes ca. 1980-present.

Pic, above, here.

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Having fun with the Garden Design, above, in the Garden Design, below.  Clipped doesn't have to mean 'formal'.  

Pic, above, here.

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Clipped Garden Design, below, yet far more 'natural' than, above.  Would love to see the garden, below, during all its months/weeks/days/hours as it approaches needing another pruning.  

 

Pic, above, here.

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For centuries gardeners have purchased plants already framed with proper pruning, below.  Why is this fact so rare now?

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Pic, above, here.

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Before USA levied income taxes, private gardeners were not uncommon, below.  Private gardeners, in Europe, mostly ended with WWI.  Men went to war, no more proper pruning or caretaking conservatories & potagers properly, and certainly not repointing stone terraces on schedule.  A threadbare history, but you understand the threads.  

 

Pic, above, here.

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Few have the man, below, but we can easily have his method for pruning.  

 

Pic, above, here.

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Naturalistic pruning is the prized pruning Nature thrives upon.  Not merely me.  Naturalistic pruning attracts pollinators, increasing crop yields by up to 80%.  Combine naturalistic pruning with naturalistic planting methods, natural soil enrichments, and you've created maximum habitat for your health and myriad microbiomes needed for survival.  In addition to less maintenance and not poisoning groundwater with fertilizers or other chemicals.

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Beyond the wisdom of using Nature, instead of killing Nature, there is the metaphor of what you want attracted into your Garden, and life, below.  Perhaps, build-it-and-they-will-come, Field of Dreams, is more relevant.   

 

Pic, above, here.

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Pic, above, shot in my garden.

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Towards the end of the season, above, in my Naturalistic garden, doesn't look clipped/pruned in the least, does it?  It is.  But you're seeing the fullness of its decadence.  Change thru the seasons, with good pruning.  Once a year pruning, above.  

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In addition to good Garden Design, above, contrasting textures, focal point, flow, walls, ceiling, floor, color, you're seeing good pruning.

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If the first rule of Garden Design is to copy, know what you are copying.  If you're copying a good garden, I know it has good pruning.  You must copy that layer/element into your finished product.   

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Formal is Naturalistic, with historic Garden Design.  

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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

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Go deep with me a moment, into, historic Garden Design.  Merely using the pics, above, it's obvious historic Garden Design is Modern Garden Design.  Again, thread bare, but you understand these threads too.    

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Another deep dive, imagine your garden with you having no income tax, skilled gardeners are available affordably.....  What does that garden look like?  

Planting Bulbs: A New Method

Back from a trip to visit mom on Galveston Bay, in the home I was raised.  Visits, now, always include gardening.  Oddly, because I don't remember it happening, ever, growing up, nor until the past few years, green scum grows on the outside of her windows.  Whatever, it's on the list with pruning and weeding.  What's more filth while gardening, aside from pure joy ! 
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This morning, unexpectedly, huge garden day.  Last time I had a day this big, was over a decade ago, reading Graham Stuart Thomas.     



Reading Pentreath & Hall Inspiration, typically posted Monday mornings, I've known for awhile to enjoy the anticipation of its arrival.   
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Remember well, reading in bed, learning from Graham Stuart Thomas, where the bed was, what color the walls were, the carpet hadn't been replaced with heart-of-pine yet, and which lamp was on the bedside table. 
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Amusing, today I'm in my favorite antique wicker chair, window facing the morning sun, cow pastures beyond, a few of our century old pecan trees, with a light skim of condensation on the windows, wanting badly to be frost. 
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Yes, today I will remember, long after its gone.  Planting bulbs, below, this part I knew.  Somehow I've always known, always, not to use a bulb planter.  If you can count the number of flowers, you don't have enough.  Dinky is stinky.  When ordering bulbs, scare yourself, buy far more than you can afford.   
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Beyond thrilling, below.  How to properly plant a bulb bed.  Never, would I have figured out using those boards.  Never.
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Moving along the bulb bed, below. 
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Made a mistake gardening at mom's.  Should have put a beanie hat on, above.  My hairdresser had open heart surgery this summer, hair has not been trimmed since & is much too long.  Pruning the small tree outside my childhood bedroom window, my hair got caught in the tightly packed branches/stems/foliage.  You haven't lived until you've been stuck to a tree, by your hair.  Had to drop the long handled pruners, and somehow unweave my hair, arms/hands, reaching well above my head. 
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Working at the side of the house, neighbors weren't home, no one drove by, I don't think anyone saw, this gardening fail.  Last time I was stuck to my garden by my hair, almost 2 decades ago, I was on my stomach underneath a long hedge.  That hair/foliage knot was worse.  Now you know, not my first rodeo with this type garden fail. 
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Still learning major new garden skills, still making ridiculous mistakes.
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Life is good.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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Pics, above, Pentreath & Hall.

Keep it Small Sweetie

I wake before dawn a few days ago, thinking how the potager beds can be made larger.
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Planned since moving in 1.5 years ago, the potager has its location, and mission statement, easy to maintain, gorgeous to look at when I'm 80+.    Nothing drawn.  Nothing flagged.  Aka, the cheapest form of gardening or a highway to hell.  Me, the expert, still fighting Garden Ego.
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Wisdom thinks, How will I cover the ground during down time, pull weeds during the high season.  Keep deer, armadillo, possum, birds, away from my harvest?  Shrink, the potager went, properly sized.  Keep it small sweetie.  Already knew, Keep it simple sweetie.  How many more of those are there to learn?


Pic, above, here.
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No wood edging for us.  Cobblestone.  I don't want to replace the wood.  Once & done, cobblestone.

 
Pic, above, here.
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Single layer of cobblestone, not my budget, above.

 
Pic, above, here.
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Wise.  Incredibly wise, above.  Every inch easy to work.

 
Pic, above, here.
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Have seen my price point version of cages, above, lovely.  A delight seeing these, fully broughamed.

 
Pic, above, here.
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Cloches have been waiting since moving in.  A few are atop a bookcase in my office.  Their sound, fingertips trilling atop a table.

 
Pic, above, here.
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Hope I don't have to resort to this, above.  A friend has 2, both made by her son, they're gorgeous,  shaped like a traditional single room school house/church.  And, made of rebar.  Love it when girlfriend don't play !
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Who was that person thinking of a large potager?  Keep it small sweetie.  A first, thinking that.  Won't be the last.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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"To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden."  Seneca, Hercules Oetaeus, 231-232.
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Bless that wiser voice.  When a client goes big, Beloved is not afraid to say, Build your own prison.  They don't get it at first.  Time passes, they all mention it to him later.  They understand.
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Designing landscapes, my job is more about what to say 'No' to.  Realized that decades ago.
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Most homes have a builder installed landscape, with rare exception, that misfortune is kept for decades thru myriad owners.    

Bad Things in the Apple Orchard

"   Bad things have been happening in parts of the garden too, below, where a beautiful ancient apple orchard has made way to a rather strange and curiously alien "Tudor" garden. Someone is trying too hard here.",  Ben Pentreath.



Context, for quote, above, and pics, here.



Came across a good quote recently, "If stupid could fly, you'd be a jet plane."  Of course it's funny.  Trouble is, as I'm flying, I'm like Toad of Toad Hall, Wind in the Willows, zero clue it's AC/DC's Highway to Hell.
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Scene from Victor/Victoria, writ large in the garden, above.  You know the scene, in the restaurant, the cockroach scene, the waiter finally says to Toddy & Victoria, "....It's better to be a moron than a horses ass."  What's the difference between the two?  A moron thinks it up, a horses ass plants it.  Which is Toad all over again.   And me, in my early 20's, 1st planting a landscape, the era between having an engineering degree, the horticulture degree & studying across Europe for decades still on the horizon.
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I remember asking my grandma, "What is this flower?", holding it in my hand, I had picked it from the backyard of her new home, "A hydrangea.", she said.  I was in college, when I asked her that question, not knowing, much later, I would be president of the American Hydrangea Society.
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That feeling of knowing I could still be Toad, or hearing the Waiter, in Victor/Victoria, never goes away, designing any garden.  Ever.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO T

Lunch: Spring Potager mix of Greens

Lunch preparations, below, at a jobsite yesterday.

Lettuces, violets, arugula, lemon balm, mint, 4 types of heirloom radishes, chives & vinaigrette.  Sour dough French batard bread with balsamic vinegar for dipping, cheese, finished off with tiny fresh mint infused sugar cookies.
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If I could bottle the fragrance of this fresh cut spring salad every bottle would sell.  More, the salad must be made into a sorbet.  A piquantly oddly fabulously perfect idea.
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Deeper, what did spring salads of centuries ago taste like with soil enriched from livestock not chemicals?  Her soil is 5 years organic, from when she bought her century old farm.

Chinese snowballs passing peak, top & above.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara
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Pics at jobsite yesterday.  We are finalizing the siting of a timber frame barn.
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For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.

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Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.

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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.

Apple Espalier In A Tiny Potager

Her potager is barely 3' deep, below.

 No problem planting a pair of espalier apple trees, above.  They require little space.

She offered some of her collards, above, but they were too pretty to pick.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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I espalier a lot of things.  Tried a hydrangea espalier?  Lushness without effort, sasanqua's too.  Sometimes, I espalier, truly due to tight space.

Butterflies, Gravel, Fresh Poop

Butterflies, oddly, adore gravel after a rain. Gathering nutrients & moisture.Butterflies adore fresh poop. Again, gathering moisture & minerals.

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Brooke at Velvet & Linen put a potager in her frontyard, above. She also acquired some chickens.

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Increased pollination, the circle of life.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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What good is increased pollination? Increased food production/acre.

Potager Pattern Ideas

Carpet, below, in my hotel room in Charleston, SC., last month.Parquet, below, in the foyer of the hotel room.
Choosing a pattern for a Potager wouldn't be difficult for this hotel.

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Vanishing Threshold.

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I must see interiors before designing landscapes.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Love a hotel room with a foyer !!

Double Axis

A view of the house, below, from the historic cabin. View of the historic cabin, below, from the house.

Views, above, across potager & into her acreage beyond. Soon there will be a FOLLY upon that acreage.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics taken late last month at Hedgerow Farm. Local gravel & field gathered stones used in the potager. Landscape Design is quite amazing. Before the potager was installed the historic cabin & home had no relationship to each other. Now? It's as if home-cabin-potager have simply always 'been'.

GARDEN SPECIALIST

Doctors, lawyers, engineers & more have specialties. ELLEN OGDEN is the KITCHEN GARDEN specialist.

Whether you have acreage or a tiny city apartment you can have a kitchen garden. Beautifully & easily.

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Ellen & I spoke at the same symposium in Vermont a couple of years ago. Wow. Author, speaker, gardener. She's been living a kitchen garden lifestyle for decades.

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No, dahlings, kitchen gardens aren't boring or ugly. Think potagere. The French concept of vegetables-herbs-fruits-flowers-flowering shrubs in lovely combination.

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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara

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Pics from Ellen's site, Kitchen Garden Designs.

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Note: You think a kitchen garden will be too much work? The work my garden does on me is more important than the work (playing*) I do in my garden.

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* We don't say, "I work tennis, I work football, I work golf." Ha, "I play tennis, I play football, I play golf." However, with thanks, my garden does, indeed, work on me.