Bringing the Garden Inside

Totally had the garden I wanted in my 30 year previous home.  Excepting it was too small to cut for the house.  Now, in our historic 1900 American farmhouse, space allows plantings, specifically for cutting.
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Yesterday in the car there was time for a conversation I've waited all my adult life to have.  Told Beloved I wanted 2-3 forsythia, specifically for cutting.  Quince too.  Those are the no brainers.  Space to plant them, and cut on them, yet siting them as-if-natural.  Where we buy them, will hunt/gather for other plantings specifically for cutting, groundcovers, trees, deciduous/evergreen shrubs, all are fair game for cutting.    
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Pic, above, here.

Bulbs, below, I'll force in pots.  Using plastic pots, for ease, and slipping them into terra cotta for the house.  When I worked as a professional grower, bulbs that did not sell by the end of fall, we potted up, setting them outside in the woodland, in a cold frame with asbestos sides.  Will use old windows for my cold frame, already gathered.



Pic, above, here.

 

Pic, above, here.



Pic, above, here.

Containers, above/below, fascinate me.  Would never have thought to use either in this manner, yet both are perfect.  Designing gardens, yes.  Floral arranging?  Not so much.  A skill set I don't have. Delightful lying to myself, you-can-do-this.  If it's really important to get the cut flowers arranged, I have a back up plan.  Take a picture, send to my friend Susanne Hudson, she can tell me what to do to fix it.

 

Pic, above, here.

I'm not naive enough to think the cut stems, above/below, just 'happened'.  Skill.  Pure skill.

 

Pic, above, here.

 

Pic, above, here.

Our potager is getting more/more 'done' and will be ready for zinna seeds next spring, above.  Have been collecting wide range of buckets, containers for flowers, stems, bulbs.  For decades.  Muse must have known I would move.  



Pic, above, here.

Studying historic gardens across Europe for decades I especially liked the mixed garden arrangement, above.  Tours usually included tea/scones, and the owner typically made the mixed garden arrangement that morning.  I was moth to a flame with them.  And, the flower arranging room where they were created as desirable as the flowers.
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Cecil Beaton's flower arranging room, below.  Our old farmhouse has 2 kitchens, with the lesser kitchen at the back of the house.  We've already turned it into a large laundry room, with plenty of space left, for my flower arranging.  


 

Pic, above, here.

 

Pic, above, here.

I like a bit of a pitiful touch, above, to flowers for the house.  If Susanne had done the flowers, below, for me, I would say, "Make them a bit more pitiful."  She'd do it to perfection, then we'd oooooh/aaaaah about how perfectly beautifully pitiful they are.  It's important to know, and revel, in your oeuvre no matter what others may think.  A touch pitiful, my oeuvre for cut flowers.  Not to be confused with the wonk factor.

 

Pic, above, here.

A bit pitiful, below.  Aren't they perfect?

 

Pic, above, here.

 

Pic, above, here.

Been buying old white cracked chipped ironstone for eons.  Pic, above, a tutorial about planting bulbs 'pitifully'.
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Cuttings from the garden & forced bulbs, put together a touch pitifully.  Odd what makes a person feel rich.
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Garden & Be Well,    XOT

Why Exterior Color Doesn't Always Travel

A past client moved from their much loved family home, not by their own choosing.  Circumstances beyond their control, poof, they're in a new city, new home.  Off I went, creating a new garden for them, garden #2.
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It was good being with them again, though this time, there was the gift of simply bearing witness, in memory of their previous home, turning the page, in joy, creating their new garden. Counterintuitively, home #2, regardless of circumstance, absolutely one of the happiest houses I've been in.  Partly, I think, from her use of the color salmon in many of their antique rugs, and on the walls.
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First garden I designed for them landed on the cover of a magazine, This Old House, here.
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Enough 'happy', remembering her salmon, and how it made me feel, I called her recently asking for the paint color.  The house we've moved into is about the same age as theirs, ca. 1900.  Our dining room similar in scale to, below.  Alas, it is a deep red, nice/good, but not for us.  I'm thinking her happy salmon, for our dining room.  A north facing room, it can do with brightening.




Another good salmon, below.  Salmon is a hard color to get right.  Which continent and where on the continent you live affects salmon.  A client outside Chicago loves salmon, alas it's not for her front door, the bricks won't work with it.



Pics, above, here.
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Notice the drip irrigation tubing, above?  Subtle, well done.  From the front door, I must know who you are.  Yes, I want to go inside, above.  Salmon in both pics, above, are not the same.
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Client, when I called her, said she needed me to come back, late this fall.  I will arrange for Beloved to tag along.  Their home is about equally west in Georgia, as ours is east, just below an imaginary middle Georgia line.  Important to note because our sky & sun & red clay are equal in their impact on salmon.  Studying historic landscapes across Europe for so many years, it's another thing I learned, sideways, exact colors don't always translate well to new locales.  Allowances must be made.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO T

Anna Wintour has Tara Turf?

Age 8, saw my 1st garden like this, below, in Augusta, GA.  The adults were content to stay inside & chat.  I did the rude child thing, and begged to go outside.  They were glad to get rid of me.  Had to be, I was more than glad to be gone from them.  Not until I saw the movie, Beetlejuice, did anything describe how I felt, going outside that house, that day, into the garden.  Another world.
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The garden was entirely green, wild, mischievously wild.  Looking ahead, left, right, the garden was telling me to go everywhere, all a fabulous mystery, yet speaking to me in a language I knew.  And, that feeling of being alone, in this adventure, perhaps explains more fully, in adulthood, studying historic landscapes across Europe for decades.  And creating the garden for myself.
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Few ask for. or understand, this type garden, up front, in USA.  I design as much of them into the ubiquitous requests, as I can.  A tiny handful, across 3 decades, have asked for the full monty.
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I was caught by this garden, below, being presumptuous.  It's owner, in the public eye for decades with an international successful career, and public persona so Cruella Deville, Meryl Streep played her in a movie.  The garden, below, takes her mask off.  Anna Wintour's garden, below.    












Pics, above, here.
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Full article from NYTimes, here.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT

Hollyhock: Hunt is On

Over 20 years ago a student, I taught horticulture at the local college, gave me seeds for the single petaled pink French hollyhock, below.
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They are biennials & self-seed.  Aside from their gorgeousness & ease, randomness in where they will grow 'next year' is a joy.  Somehow, they know better where to self-seed, than me, the 'expert'.
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These hollyhocks are on my side, making me look like a better Garden Designer.  Perhaps that's the secret, trusting the plants.  Of course it helps knowing which plants to trust.



Pic, above, here.
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Moved away from my hollyhocks a year ago.  Must get my friend back, in my new garden.  I'm on the hunt.  Feels good.  Cannot wait for the 2nd year, having hollyhocks again.  Seeing where they come up.  Knowing those moments are small life victories.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Siting the Chicken Coop

Only yesterday, did I decide exactly where to build the Chicken Coop.  Chics are in temporary quarters since we moved in a year ago.
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It's style is predestined with our ca. 1900 American farmhouse.  Two existing sheds, about as old as the house will be copied.  Strong consistent winds dictate which wall will be solid, I want a door to the run, and a door at the front.  Inside the coop I want a small 'keeping' room for supplies and a couple of chairs, and another door into the coop.
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I could say the Keeping room is for ease of caretaking, true, but it's also for me, in winter, perhaps to have lunch with my girls.  Chickens never bore me, they are too funny.  I enjoy their company.



Pic, above, here.

Told Beloved the new Chicken Coop finally had a site.  Got that rooster look from him.  Walked him to the grand allee, for the new Chicken Coop.  Poor Rooster, he had to agree, beyond perfect.  The site is shaded, close'ish to the house, not directly under pecan tree branches, doesn't flood or retain muddy soil.

 

Pic, above, here.

I knew nothing about chickens, until Beloved gave me 8 heirloom chicks less than a week old, along with a coop/run, for my birthday 4 years ago.  Several clients had chickens, and I adored being around their chickens.  Enough 2nd hand enjoyment I knew I wanted my own.  Oddly, once I had my chics, it was totally moth to a flame.
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My collection of vintage garden books is extensive.  Finally, having chickens, I went back through them for any mention of chics, none.  How odd.  Chickens are so good for a landscape.  Mine are not free range, I scoop the poop in the coop, tossing it new somewhere each day.
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Chickens are calming, the way they walk, move their head, and their sounds.  That's their allure, to me, they are so funny, and calming.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO T
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When I realized where the new chicken coup must be sited, I thought, Duh !  When I showed Beloved, it was hilarious, he had that same look, Duh !

Pure Delight: Garden Tunnel

When I was in elementary school, we had dinner at a co-worker's of dad's several times, another NASA engineer.  Their daughter's about the ages of my sister & me.
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I adored being at their home.  In an upstairs bedroom their dad had made a small opening in the wall near the floor, with a slide-away panel.  Moving the panel, and crawling in on all 4's, an attic tunnel led to a larger opening.  No lighting, we had to carry flashlights, and crawl this way/that to get to the 'secret' room.  Everything we did immensely exciting in our attic hideout.
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Hope you adore this tree tunnel, below.  It's a subliminal part of childhood, pure delight.
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Pure Delight, a layer of garden design.



Pic, above, Mark Bolton Photography.

Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Family with the secret tunnel & room in their attic moved away decades ago.  Visiting home, driving NASA Road 1, toward Kemah, I pass their old house.  It doesn't seem to have been remodeled, and I wonder, Is that secret tunnel & room still in the attic?
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When I was a little girl, NASA Road 1 was a 2 lane road, few red lights.  Now, 6 lanes, red lights almost every side street.
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When I pump gas for mom during my visits home there is a visual slice, while pumping, unchanged since childhood, NASA Building 1, below ca. 1964, excepting the trees, oaks, pecans, palms, now, huge/gorgeous.  In 1964 we had only 1 car, mom would drive to the curb at the front door, below, sister/me, in the back seat, oh so bored, waiting for dad to walk out.  There he is, no, there he is, no, that one, that's dad, more waiting, finally, dad would be almost to the car.  In those days, all the dads were thin, wore pocket protectors with their shirts, same pants, shoes, short haircuts.  We literally couldn't pic our dad out of the crowd, they were so similar.
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Pic, above, here.
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You know our family loved getting that 2nd car.

Table: Square/Rectangle vs. Round

It's rare I design a garden including a round dining table.  Happens, but rarely.
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Why?  Round tables are selfish in the space they take.  Little flexibility.  Squares & rectangles have significant advantages.
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Look closely, below.
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A pair of rectangular tables, below, pushed together.
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Squares/rectangles can be pushed next to a rail, the house, each other.



Pic, above, here.
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I still haven't brought my new harvest table home, need a truck, bought months ago.  Will arrange to use Beloved's extended cab, he's finally home from his 4 mos Virginia job.  The harvest table is waiting in Susanne Hudson's garden, of course I will call my local pack of gals, they've never been in her garden, to go with me, tour Susanne's garden, Jeri Farmer's garden around the corner, both have been in several magazines, and then we all do lunch, and the huge Antique barn nearby, too.  Road trip!
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Leaning against a tree, I need to shoot it, is the door to an old shed Beloved moved/renovated.  The door is over a century old, contemporaneous with our home.  Hopefully, before the end of the year, it is my 2nd harvest table.  Depending on its 'character', once turned into a table, it might be my new desk for the shed.
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Anticipation.  Pure gold.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT

Consider: Arc of the Sun & Prevailing Winds

Consider your prevailing winds.  A buffer against prevailing winds lowers HVAC bills.  

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Consider the arc of the sun.  A deciduous buffer against the sun for summer shade, lets the sun shine through in winter.  Reducing HVAC bills.

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Pic, above, here. 

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More than lowering bills, designing your garden with these considerations is stewardship.  More than sustainable, designing your garden with these considerations is regenerative.  More than selfish in lowering bills, your footprint is reduced in what you take from our Earth, grace.

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Garden & Be Well,    XO T

Woodland Path

Totally designed, below.  Obvious pruning is at front left near'ish the top.  A mini-cathedral design.  Not so obvious are layers chosen NOT to be in the design.  Just as much thought goes into Le Jardin Rustique design as a more obvious potager.
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No, this is not a woodland walk that just 'happened'.  But you knew that.
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Tapestry hedge, below, not a mono hedge.
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If you have the good fortune for a tree such as this, magnificent tree, and can create a path, copying this, in a brand new USA subdivision, about 98% of your neighbors will complain.  Knowing you need to clear the brush away.  More, none of those neighbors will be inclined to speak to you.  Nope, the HOA nasty gram will land in your maibox.  They aren't bad people, but they are people who cannot 'see'.  By extension, not liking this patch of your landscape, they won't like you.
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Personally, I think it's wonderful how a garden can push people away, or draw them in.
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If you've been reading for awhile, you know what's next in the design for this garden room, below.  Correct, a garden room with more formality.  Preferably with a meadow too.  Gardens are all about contrasts.
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Often, thru history, homes/gardens that are left as a museum, lose the Le Jardin Rustique portion rather fast, about a decade.  Why?  As wise as the new stewards are, they don't 'get' the Le Garden Rustique, at all, in the least.  It goes back to Nature.  Finally, someone steps in, the teacher, in reality a garden shaman.  The 'Foundation' sees what the benefactor created, and now must be created anew.  .
Winterthur is a good example of this phenomenon.  Hmm.  Seems a new naming opportunity has arisen.
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Are you here yet, in your garden passion?  Hungering for Le Jardin Rustique?
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Ironically, it is the Le Jardin Rustique maximizing pollinator habitat and increasing crop yields nearby.  Only 'Man' would educate, in 2 different schools, agriculture/horticulture.  In America the schooling dividing agriculture/horticulture begins early, if there is schooling at all.  Someone decides to volunteer a school vegetable garden.  Go team.  Alas, that school vegetable garden disregards, completely, ornamental horticulture increasing crop yields by 80%.  When you know this, you are a garden shaman, indeed.
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Thomasina, has this character, a 'nature' shaman, she's the character of the witch, 'Mad Lori', in the woods.
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Same story line, in metaphor, of Babette's Feast.  The majority wanting what they know, not accepting something different from what they know, aka HOA nasty gram.  Yet, when the abstainers, through happenstance, gain entry into the unknown, they are changed, they understand what the shaman knew all along, and want it too.
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When is a little woodland garden path, more than a little woodland garden path?  Today.  Here.  And, always.



Pic, above, here.

Garden & Be Well,    XO T

A Man of Fairies & Unicorns

I watched an early mentor pile layers of seemingly weird into his repertoire of living.  Bits of gleanings, taken from this century or that, this character or that, this art form or that, incarnations of old worn new, for starters.   Adoring each layer, paying attention, I was not a lone audience, he mentored many, performed for all.  Time passed.  Finally, it happened.  He became every bit of those gleanings, and more.
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You have no idea the good fortune for those of us in Atlanta, partaking the welcome he gave, into his realm.  As time passed, his realm became international.  Of course it did.
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Understand, he gave full access to his unicorns and fairies.  His abundance overflowed, a few of us were bold enough to say, Yes. Thank You, I accept.
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How many times, in metaphor, has someone said, below, to me?  I cannot count.  Each time, I trust the unicorns and fairies more deeply, appreciating greater, if that's possible, a mentor's gifts.
  



Pic, above, here.

Last week this man, died.  Cooking dinner, his house caught fire.  He went outside for a garden hose, went back into the house to save his dogs.  All perished.
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A week of phone calls, stories, connecting with others who accepted his fairies & unicorns.  So much laughter, so many stories that cannot be written.  
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This man so changed the gardening landscape, in Atlanta, and beyond, I was able to make a career in Garden Design.  More than a career, and income, my life.
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When I found out this man passed, I leaned forward and hugged my unicorn's neck.
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Will introduce you to this man next week.  I cannot do it today, need to ride my steed a bit more.

Building a Conservatory

I am without a Conservatory for a year, after 'the move'.  Built not long before the move, how could I possible have known how deeply woven into my life, and DNA, it had become?
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Missed as a friend, beacon, nurturer, metaphor.
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Not a woman of means, my conservatory was made from old windows, parts, & furnishings, I had been hunting/gathering for a decade, and storing in the garage.  Finally, enough parts rescued, and money saved for labor & materials to build it.  Just because I was without great means did not include doing without a fireplace, chandelier, lamps, electricity and sockets everywhere.  Poverty of spirit has never been an issue, a real woman has priorities with scarce funds.  Talking a good game is lame, living it is life.
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A shed at our farm has already been moved and renovated.  Alas, it is storing tools, and my boxed up library, until the barn is built.  Two roofs, front & back, were built onto the shed, the old Kubota tractor, and golf cart, sometimes Tess, my beloved little ugly van, are parked under the shade of the shed roofs, and a, now, motley collection of chairs from my previous 30 year garden.  Those chairs, in the shade, and overlooking woodland, chicken coop, pasture, lake, meadow, are my only spot in the garden to 'be', simply be.  Scope for the imagination, as Anne would say.
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Creating my new Conservatory, from a shed, has more constraints at our ca. 1900 farmhouse.  It must be of its era.  Constraints for design, I adore, they push creativity.
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It's interesting looking at Conservatory pics, again, but for a different type of Conservatory.  Pulling new elements forward, dropping others entirely.  Life is rich, a 2nd Conservatory to create.



Pic, above, here.

Clusters of cloches & terra cotta pots, above, are awaiting their farm debut.  At present they are under the house stored on shelves.

 

Pic, above, here.

A black iron table base similar to, above, is stored in our materials yard.  Saw this and knew immediately, paint it white, put a small round top on it.  Chandeliers are stored under the house, awaiting.

 

Pic, above, here.

Tools, I have tools, and baskets.  Only the very best old tools/baskets will go into my new Conservatory.  Not for show, to use.  Literally.  Beloved has his own tools, somehow my tools are taken/used/not put back.  Harry Potter must have a horrid incantation against the not-put-back.

 

Pic, above, here.

What is a Conservatory without a drop leaf table?  Drop leaf table from my previous Conservatory is in my office now.  Enjoying the anticipation, Which drop leaf table will be chosen for this new Conservatory?

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Pic, above, here.

Have adored Belgian Pearls, above, Conservatory, small, functional, aesthetic.  Harvest table I've bought, hasn't been delivered yet, will be tucked under the shed roof, just like, above.  Sensing the problem?  I will need another harvest table to put under the great open sky.  Stars are too amazing, living rural.  

 

Pic, above, mine, conservatory at my 30 year garden.

Lamp in my previous Conservatory, above, is now in the front parlor on an antique chest.  Cannot wait for the Lamp Layer to arrive, furnishing my new Conservatory.



Pic, above, mine, conservatory in my 30 year garden.

Pair of blue chairs, above, are flanking the door to my new Conservatory.  Now green.



Pic, above, here.

A client's Conservatory, above.  A conservatory must be minimum 12' x 18', and have doors on 2 walls.  They did well, yes?  More, their conservatory made it to the cover of This Old House magazine.  Posted somewhere on my blog.

 

Pic, above, I shot in Susanne Hudson's garden.
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Once the old Kubota tractor & golf cart, now at the shed, leave for their new home, a long desk with lamps, above, is their replacement.  For expedience Beloved used large gravel at the shed during renovation, it will have to be scraped away, used elsewhere, and replaced with #89 granite gravel.



Pic, above, I shot in my 30 year garden.

Lamps, and the chandelier on a dimmer, were left on, 24/7 in my previous Conservatory, above.  Oddly, it's one of the things I miss most, now, living without a Conservatory.  



Pic, above, here.

There is great metaphor in my Conservatory lit at nite, all nite, every nite.  Hope you've watched, Oscar & Lucinda, above.  Jenny, my mother-in-law introduced me to bleak chic, and Oscar/Lucinda delivers.  Not a movie for a soft soul.

 

Pic, above, I shot in a client's garden.
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My client, above, moved away from his Conservatory also.  And is slowly building a new one too.



Pic, above, I shot of my conservatory with Susanne Hudson for the Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival.

A few salvaged Conservatory parts, above/below.  Great example of how little can you have, and still have great decadence.  Susanne Hudson & I built this conservatory.  Thought you would like to see a comparison of styling.  Our styling, above, with my photography.  Better Homes & Gardens magazine styling & photography, below, of the same conservatory.



Pic, above, same conservatory as 2nd pic, above, shot by & in Better Homes & Gardens magazine, here.
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Sink & water trough, above, are under my house, awaiting their new debut.
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Noticed how loosely I use the word Conservatory !

Garden & Be Well,   XO T
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No, you're not seeing the mostly renovated shed.  I don't like doing before without after.  I have shots of the shed in its original location before renovation, moving it, acting as a work shed now, awaiting that last layer !  Life is good.

Moon Garden Lighting

A friend created a Moon Garden.  Circle of comfy chairs around a fire ring, open to wide expanse of sky.  Many moons we shared, in her Moon Garden.  Seasons didn't matter, we shared them all.  Time passed and more chairs added, they have 5 kids and a zillion grandchildren, everyone loves the Moon Garden.
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Having moved over a year ago, of course, have had no more Moon Garden with dear Mary.  We are missing our Moon Garden time.
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Rather silly, below, but how could Mary, or me, not like the idea?
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Once my garden rooms can finally be started, we are awaiting well digging, I will certainly lite our fire ring, in honor of many moons in Mary's Moon Garden.




Pic, above, here.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO T

Watering Cans: Leverage Time/Effort

Took me several years to acquire an interesting watering can collection.
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Interesting, and affordable.
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Once hunted/gathered/sited I learned they were more important as 'helpers', they leverage time/effort.
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2-4 months each summer are hot/drought.  I don't want, or like, a landscape that must be meticulously maintained, or watered.  However, there always seems to be plantings that are young/not established yet against extreme hot/dry.  Those plantings are never begrudged early nurturing.
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Having the watering can collections in prime dry positions, it's an easy pour & go.  Seeing something dry never happens when time is luxurious, dry plantings await my exodus meeting a tight timeline, then announce their thirst.  Every time, it seems.
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No worries.  The watering cans are full.
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Mosquitoes not an issue, the water never stays in long enough for breeding.  At leisure they are filled, in a rush poured.
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Along with Tess, my car, the watering cans are my top employees.



Pic, above, here.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara

Subsidiary Focal Points

Exactly why gardens should be simple, below.  Let Nature speak, play, sing, work, be in companionship to your life.

Pic, above, here.

 

Pic, above, here.

Did you know your garden is a proscenium for spectacle?  I love the small moments, the never imagined, unbidden.  Perfect.  Tear drops of laughter, amongst time & galaxies.  

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Creating these moments, name it to claim it.  Macro rule, 1 focal point per area.  Micro rule, subsidiary focal points allowed.

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Garden & Be Well,    XO T

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Will never forget the years of lunches in my previous garden, during summer, and hearing the hummingbirds zoom over my head.  Do you really think I knew to design my garden for that to happen?  My best Garden Design learning was finally understanding classical Garden Design rules, FINALLY copying them.  Once accomplished, Nature arrived.  Nature more like Tinker Bell than can be explained, excepting through letting Nature reign.

Duck Pond: Copy

At the back of our property is a pond with 2 damns.  Big in winter, small in summer.  Dug around the turn of the century, with oxen, the neighbor's dairy farm surrounding us, has an upper pond just beyond 1 damn, and a very nice lake just beyond the other damn.
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Beloved said he wanted a property with open, wooded and a lake.  I produced.  He should have been more specific, G*d not only laughs when we tell him our plans, he often provides exactly what we ask for, then laughs.  Beloved wanted to be on the lake, well, the lake belongs to our neighbor, but it's our view, they have no view of it.
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At most we plan a small dock, below, and recently Beloved mentioned a stone wall for our little pond.  
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Brooke & Steve Giannetti's pond, below.



Pic, above, here.

Several times late this spring, and summer, I've walked to our pond and rustled a pair of ducks.  No normal ducks.  The pair is entirely deep cobalt blue.  Grew up with a pond & creek behind our house, never, did I see blue ducks.
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Before the dock, before the stone edge, a well must be dug, pole barn built, coop built, etc.  But there is something for 'now'.  The floating duck house.



Pic, above, here.

Ponds, above, belong to a pair of California girls who met through their blogs.  Brooke Giannetti tells the story of meeting Penelope Bianchi, here.
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Penelope, I was drawn to, from her blog, with a style matching my dear mentor Mary Kistner.  Long after I had written Penelope a fan letter, and now we are friends because she wrote me back, and we still write each other, I came across one of my journals, several years old.  Penelope's house/garden had been in a magazine & I journaled it in the style of Mary Kistner who exposed me to the work of Kurt Schwitters.   Did not realize I had journaled Penelope's home/garden until years passed & I had moved, came across the journal, casually went through it, then pow.  Pow.  A Batman & Robin POW !!!
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Brooke was inspired by Penelope's pond.  And it shows.  Penelope & Brooke, below, at Penelope's home/garden.

 

Pic, above, here.
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You know what Garden Design rule this is?  It's the 1st Garden Design rule.  Copy.
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Garden & Be Well,    XOT
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Pic, above, here.

Furniture in the Garden

First seeing Agatha Christie murder mysteries on tv, ca. 1980, I was captivated with scenes of furniture on the lawn.  What motive could possibly force any sane person without a staff to move furniture to the lawn, whence it must be removed, to mow?  I wanted that life, the life not worried about later mowing.
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Fine tuning the desire for furniture in the garden, further, I adore furniture in the garden, after a soiree.  Even if it's merely for 2.
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Furniture, in the garden, after a soiree, cannot lie.  I like the stories furniture in a garden tell.
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Story, below, is a bit boring.  Staged for the photo.  Details extravagantly interesting, below, glad to be learning from the shot, but more interested in the 'after' story.  Hope there really were 4 people about to enjoy the cake and conversation.  If so, that's the picture I want to see, when they are done, when they are gone, and before anything has been cleared and all the furniture a tableau of their time.
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Why does this matter?  More than a beautiful garden, I want to live beautifully in & with my garden.  Beautiful gardens must be form and function.



Pic, above, here.
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Still awaiting the arrival of my harvest table for the garden.  Its first afternoon will probably see 2 cats atop it, leisurely bathing.  Bought a set of 6 vintage tumblers last week, not thinking of this pic.  Indeed, they will look good on my new harvest table.  6 for $10 and the antique booth was having a 40% off sale.  Would have paid $10 each they are so perfect for our ca. 1900 farmhouse.
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What does your garden furniture say?
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Garden & Be Well,    XOT

Lighting: Jewelry for the Landscape

Light fixtures are jewelry for the garden.



Pic, above, shot by Doug Hickok of Charleston, SC, here.
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Have not changed light fixture at front door since moving into our ca. 1900 American farmhouse last year.  On the list.  Previous owner chose wisely for pure function.  Variable timer, white to match white siding.  Alas, looks appropriate for a Holiday Inn exterior hall light ca. 1972.  Have spent too much time online looking for the 'right' light, and quit, either too elaborate or too farmhouse cliche.  Will have a light made, from historic lighting parts appropriate to 1900.  Jewelry for the house, remember !
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Garden & Be Well,   XOT
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Notice the depth of field Doug Hickok used?  Amazing.  Love his shot, framing, lighting, everything.
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How many husbands have I looked directly in the eye over this topic, on their own property?  Upfront their only worry was their wife hired a garden designer and there would be too much expense with the plantings.  How quickly I disabuse them of that notion.  My posture, my gaze, their wife silently standing still, watching, with a smile, while their husband receives my gaze.  The gaze.  Transferring 2 pieces of vital information, without words, I am right, I don't play.  Love those moments, another husband bagged.  They've joined the team, game on.    

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.

Mowing Heights Matter

What's your 1st thought about the mowing, below?
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Not fair, asking from a photo's view.  Best to ask in real life, being there.  Aside from that, what is your gut instinct about the mowing, below?
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First time in a garden with this mowing, England of course, almost 30 years ago, from my DNA, I knew the mowing was 'correct'.  American mowing, just a bill of goods being sold.  Amazingly, that was enough, I never ventured further intellectually about why to mow at mixed heights, aside from less maintenance.
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Recently, about 4 years ago, I realized 'why' the mowing was correct.
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It's all about stewardship.  Mowing low- medium- tall, allows Nature to 'work'.  Pollinator habitat, healthier ornamental plants, and higher agricultural production.  Less monoculture of lawn, insects, mammals, reptiles.  Stewardship of ground water, soil microbes, ourselves.
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Since first awareness, I've called it Tara Turf.  Unique to each zone/micro-climate.
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If it's good enough for the Queen, below, good enough for me.



Pic, above, Daily Mail.  Interesting story, I think you'll like it, history writ personal
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Garden & Be Well,  XOT