Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Banishing Frustration with the Design Process

There is nothing you will do in your garden, that has never been done before.
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Embrace the spirit of friends you didn't know you had.
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Their thoughts & choices are waiting for you to partake.
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Architecture, site, Nature, resources each play a role too.
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Resist any of the above, and I promise, you will not like the garden you create.
Some of the people I like to work with?  Russell Page, Christopher Lloyd, Rosemary Verey,  Harold Nicholson/Vita Sackville-West, Arne Maynard, Deborah Silver, Arabella Lennox Boyd, Julia Trevelyan Oman/Sir Roy Strong, Cecil Beaton, Beatrix Farrand, Sir Edward Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll, Alexander Pope, Jane Austen, Wendell Berry, Penelope Bianchi, William Morris, and more.


Especially endearing, and important, are gardens developed over time.  Perhaps a wheelbarrow path, above, evolved because the wheel of the wheelbarrow spoke !  Saw one in England, and have enjoyed designing several since then.


One impertinence I never commit, is to quickly, without thoughtful consideration & props, design any garden space.  None.  No matter how small or how many times I've done it before.
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The the left of the brick path, above, grass is dying due to shade,  In addition, with grown children & a flock of grandchildren, the entry to the path is too narrow.
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Flags were placed, then adjusted, looked at from myriad angles, adjusted again, conversation back/forth with client & stone mason, and lastly, agreed upon.
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Most often, an inch or two in a garden design will not matter.  Sometimes, an inch or two in a garden design is the difference between a beautiful functional delight or 'I can't stand this but it's paid for and I will put up with it for the next 2 decades.'
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Do not rush the process of designing/installing your garden.  Know that it is a process.  A pleasure to be partaken with your new friends, above.
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Don't want you to be frustrated trying to create your beautiful easy landscape.
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Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
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Pics taken yesterday on the job, top pic via Pinterest.
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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.
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NOTE to my gardening friends... look for changes to come. 
Knew before computers/cell phones, sitting in Atlanta traffic on way to a client, 'I must reach a larger audience with the same amount of effort.'   Soon after that epiphany I signed my CBS-TV, and, books contracts on the same day.
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Then I read an article in the NYTimes about something called 'blogging'.  Saved the article for a year before reading it.  Studied all the blogs they mentioned, hired a computer expert they quoted, and attended a blogging seminar.
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Blogging 2.0 has arrived, my knowledge is 1.0.  A believer in copying the best historic gardens across the globe it flows into every arena of life.  Watching Maria Killam grow her career/blog/life over the past 3 years made its impact.  Signed up  for a year's course with her blogging expert, Jon Morrow
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Changes will be slow, plodding is my adored method.  Pulling triggers here/there is spice in the mix.
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What do YOU want?
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Nothing is too small, too big, or too ego crushing to mention.
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Passion lies in sharing what has filled me to the depths of grace, joy & atonement, the best landscapes created over the last 2,000+ years.

Just so you know... 

 I  welcome your input.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with every word!

And I am beyond flattered to be included in that company of landscape geniuses!!

Thank you!

Desert Dweller said...

Not embracing those given elements like close friends, is like not accepting gravity. Great reminder.

debra @ 5th and state said...

so true.
more often than not, a potential new client will instantly ask for details. never ever will i start "designing at the onset of arrival" contemplation is always the best route
debra