Showing posts with label Curb Appeal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curb Appeal. Show all posts

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Design: Hired to Solve Problems

A current job with incredible modern ca. 1970 architecture, revived with a superior architect ca. 2014, has major challenges.
.
Garbage cans, 4 of the hurly-burly-honkers, in front of the house.  
.
And.
.
Minimal parking trying to shoot you & your car off a cliff.
.
Welcome home. 


Have never dealt with this parking problem.
.
Solution?
.
Balls or low flat planters.
.


.
Have gathered several resources for both and look forward to what the client chooses.
.
There is more than 1 right answer.
.
Better a car is dented than shot over the hill.
.
I adore problem gardens.
.
 I'm hired to solve problems.
.
Balls with plinths would be awful, want 3 balls, top pic, without plinths.
.
If they choose the low planter, I do like its plinth.  And want a round large ball of chicken-wire covered in small leaf ivy and drip irrigation.
.
Their lifestyle is more suited to the Balls.  Less maintenance.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning:
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Front Porch: Foundation Plantings or Steps?

Easy knowing they use their front porch, below.  Mosquito repellent sitting at the French doors on the right.
.
Their front yard is large & they have children.
.
Foundation plantings here are an interesting choice.
.
Of course, they have a fabulous large back yard too.


Privacy isn't needed otherwise the foundation plantings would be a bit taller.


Would you, if this were your home, keep the foundation plantings or move them & replace with steps?
.
Plant selection is perfecto.  Large house & garden, 2 careers, children, dogs, and a yard easy to maintain.
.
Always ask questions.  Makes you an instant garden designer.
.
If this were a town home front porch it's amazing how a bit of height on the foundation plantings provide a sitting area with privacy.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Pics at a soiree last weekend.  This house is close-in Atlanta.  A pocket of woodland in the city.    
.
For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning:
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Words: Use with Caution in Styling

With some people, years ago, I learned not to share joyous news.  They took delight in diminishing my joy.  Another epiphany, not too long after, 'I choose the plants in my garden, choose the people in my life.'  Within seconds eject button pushed on several persons.
.
Lightening life's load was instant.  No regrets decades later.  


Words in the garden, be wary of using them.  Words, most often, dominate any mood, any narrative, weather, ephemeral delicate beauties, etc.
.
Gardens speak, without words.  It is the human cheapening their language.
.
Instead of admonishing with a picture proving my 'words' I've chosen an exception.  Words in a garden providing pleasure.  If my garden needs a sign, 'Spring has Sprung', do not ever, in a lifetime galaxy of black holes, hire me.  My garden decadently overflows spring's bounty.  Front door, above, is not my home/garden, it belongs to a young woman.  Her mom renovated/styled the home, to perfection.  'Words', included !
.
Love exceptions, and breaking rules.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
For a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, become my client, local/on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me for your group, local/out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
.
Tara Dillard & Associates Design: farm to city pied-a-terre.
.
Construction by Award Winning:
Shaefer Heard Construction, licensed home-builder, renovation - new construction.  Heard's Landscaping a unit of SHC.  3 decades of service.

Friday, January 24, 2014

The Proper Direction of Stewardship in a Garden


"We discover G*d's presence inside whenever we override our ego's pride and courageously put aside all that we hide."  Rabbi David Aaron


From the mailbox & gravel drive, above, my best work begins.  
.
Getting here was decades.  Learning simplicity & the humility to let the site speak without reference to my 
skills.  Honestly, I wonder how Providence has time for anyone else, attention lavished upon my character defects never wains.
.
Nor must I 'own' this site.  My pride/ego is rooted in the work.  A walled orchard is built, a gravel drive spread, potager planted and more, and with each, they are taken by the owner's hands before my feet leave the site.
.
I'm in love with this site, and so is the owner.  It is very much the 3 of us.  That is how strongly we relate to these acres.  She is a good steward of her acres and in return I get to watch her acres in stewardship of her.
.
Gifts of loving these acres arrive in many forms & layers.  Telling us we are doing the right thing/s.
.
Tasha Tudor's favorite line of poetry, 'take joy', in action.  Joy is always there, but it must be taken.
.
What does any of this have to do with you?  Stewardship.  Not your stewardship of the garden.  But the stewardship your garden has for you.  Do you have that in your life?  Are you in relationship with your garden?  Does it fill you with joy, enrich your spirit, give you energy just seeing it from the windows of your home?  Good news, it's not about acres & money.  It's putting the garden into relationship with your home & life with historic templates.
.
This reads a bit like an altar call.  Ironic, she says her deep feeling with her garden is 'abiding', I feel 'atonement' in mine.
.
Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
.
Pic at jobsite this month.  Silent Partner, I can see your face reading this and know you understand the metaphorical use of filthy lucre.
.
My garden is one of my best friends, unconditionally loving, rich in narrative.  A language I can understand.  People?  No, easier to understand my garden.  
.
  1.  If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
    .
    Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                     .
    Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.
 

Friday, January 17, 2014

Daffodils: Ordering, Siting, Planting

Abiding in the Rustic Barn until the coyote roundup is complete, Jefferson, below, was totally enthralled with our entry for the daffodil bulbs.  


Thousands of bulbs, below.


Once sited thousands seemed like two, maybe three.


A century old the home had no daffodils.  I'm siting them to look as if they have been there longer than a century.  Great billowy drifts.
.
These daffodil bulbs, above, will drift thru the fence as if the fence came later.
.
Humbling to watch my team plant the bulbs.  On their knees, each bulb hand planted with a small miner's pick.


They start planting at the middle of the drifts, facing each other, on their knees, then moving outward.  All the while bantering amongst themselves.  Teamwork.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
.
Bulbs ordered from Brent & Becky's Bulbs.  Mostly 'Carlton' daffodils.
.
Pics this week at jobsite.  Isn't the top pic purrfectly catalicious?  Jefferson was not about to admit interest in our activities.
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Copy from those at the Peak of their Game

You do a thing in the garden with your full IQ, passion, energy, wallet, time.  Influenced by era.

.
At my front door, above, if you know the 80's, you're seeing Horticulture magazine, covers of Smith & Hawken catalog, and articles, pages long, from House & Garden magazine.
.
So, where do you think I'm going with this?
.
History.
.
That trinity of resources, above, was from the best brains at the peak of their game.
  Drenched in the poverty cycle of the Great Depression & rusticities of turn-of-the-century Lutyens/Jekyll with generous splashes remaining of the Belle Epoque.
.
So, when asked what plant should go in a certain spot or what is wrong with their lawn.  I pause, long.
.
Themistocles comes to mind, " "I cannot fiddle, but I can make a great state from a little city."
.
So, when I'm told, "I want a garden but I don't have a lot of money."
.
Winston Churchill comes to mind, "....when he was asked to cut arts funding in favor of the war effort, he simply replied, "Then what are we fighting for?"
.
The best thing I've ever done in my life was to say, Yes, when my soul told me to have a garden. 
.
Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Element of Ranchburger Vile

Iron panels grace ranchburgers across USA.


Reading the English  Telegraph I see, above.
.
And I think, Come on USA you can do so much better.  We have the same iron panels to work with yet they are vile.
.
Adore getting every new ranchburger client.  Too easy to create charm from vile.  Toss in the builder's ranchburger landscaping & I can barely drive without carefully wearing my imaginary Ranchburger Blinders.
.
Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
.
Ranchburger?  Me?  I live in a Guppy ca. 1985.  You know, gaping garage + drive facing the street with a teensy front door.  So bad, some neighborhoods were built with deed restrictions against them.  Go team !
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
                                               Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Garden Design Lesson: In a Single Pic

Come this way, enter, welcome.


Miraculously, from the opposite direction the columns say the same thing.
.
No matter the size or budget of a garden, there are no exits.  Only entries.  And, the more entries a garden has the better the garden.  With one of the most potent garden design tools in your quiver, contrasting formal-informal.   Ceiling-walls-floors are also beautifully done, above, with great drama at the enfilade.
.
No, this is not a simple entry.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
.
Of course I want the dimensions of how far apart the columns are,  heights, etc....
.
Pic I Love Your Style.
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
.
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Simple Complexities


More than pretty, easy to maintain.


This is great pollinator habitat.  High density mixed with low density.
.
Focal point on axis with the front door is also on view from every front window of the home.
.
The more axis a focal point has the better the design.
.
 Sir Roy Strong says gardens must have a sky mirror.
.
Of course there is more detail, it's almost a Landscape Design course in a single pic.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Pic I Love Your Style.
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
.
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Double Axis: Consider Both Directions

Outside, at the tiered fountain looking into the window, I wonder if the wreath is double sided.


Double Axis, if a view is pretty in 1 direction it must be pretty in the opposite direction.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
,
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
.
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Layers of Green are Best in Garden Design

Layers of green always work.

.
Flowers.  Give-me-flowers-or-give-me-ugly seems to be the starter gardener mindset.
.
Layers of green are pretty all year vs. a season.  Layers of green emit ion exchanges of serenity.
.
I can assure you choosing layers of green vs. flowers is, "The spreading wide of narrow Hands To gather Paradise—", "I dwell in Possibility..." by Emily Dickinson.
.
Odd how most of Garden Design is counterintuitive.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
How do I know these things?  Queen of the flower method of garden design 12-step program.  No, I will not enable you.  My goal is to help you get rid of those pink elephants in your landscape.
.
pic via Pinterest.
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
.
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Ridiculous Fun vs. Doing-the-Right-Thing

Tell me again why Americans are so wedded to green meatball foundation plantings.
.
Proof, below, you can still have those green meatballs at the foundation.


Today's assignment: In your mind, take away your foundation plantings, replace with furnishings-gravel-urns-plinths, from above, in any permutation that is ridiculous fun & fabulous.  Really, do this, complete the assignment.  You have the rest of the day.
.
Garden & Be Well,           XO Tara
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
.
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.
.
Pic via Pinterest.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Want Elegance? Espalier

No room for 'lawn'?  Little space to landscape?

.
Go vertical.
.
Woody shrubs with medium or slow growth are best.  No wires or trellis needed.
.
Merely espalier.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
.
Please add ESPALIER to your quiver of garden tools.
.
If you want a beautiful garden & home filling you with joy, and causes you to tap the brake pedal, as you look in the rear view mirror heading out, become my client, local or on-line.
.
Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
.
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.
.
pic via Tumblr

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Where to Site a Garden Focal Point

In the garden, your house is the main focal point.
.
For centuries, this, below, has worked.

.
If something has worked for centuries, there is a reason.
.
And, it will work for you.
.
Urn on plinth.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Never had a college instructor or seminar speaker say, In the garden your home is the focal point.
.
Why?
.
What did those 'experts' miss?  Paint colors on the home, lighting, hardware, views into windows, style choices, where to correctly site exterior focal points.  For starters.
.
Most common question I receive, Where should I put this plant?
.
If only that were the question.
.
Garden design is about where to put a plant?
.
Hardly.
.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Pot + Plinth: Making the New Timeless

From the 1st appointment earlier this year I KNEW a focal point should be on axis with the front door.


Earlier this week, above/below.


A few minutes old, above, this urn looks as if she's been reigning at least a century.
.
She's designed empty, with a floral designer brought in for catered events.  Remember, a pot must be so fabulous it can stay empty.
.
Found the pot/plinth resourcing materials at the Americas Mart with client.  A great 1/2 day.  Would have taken a decade, at least, to hunt/gather what we found !
.
Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
.
Pics taken earlier this week at jobsite.  Shovels, 5 men, a level, were involved getting this beauty 'right' !

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Port Cachere: Before + After

I was hired to 'refresh' the landscape.
.
Leaving the port cachere as-is was not an option.  This is their main family door.  
.

We went shopping at the Americas Mart in downtown Atlanta last month sourcing merchandise.  Not everything had arrived by this week but enough to get started, below.


This table is temporary, above-below, a very nice temporary.  Soon, once a vintage large French buffet is sourced I'll get you more pics.


I made do with the few pots/flowers she had last Monday, above/below.


Small moments of beauty, above.
.
As she gets into her car to leave, and then returns, her port cachere is embracing arms for going into the world & returning from the world.  A matriarch in every layer of her life, she has a lot going on and appreciates all Providence provides.  It's in the small moment thanks are deeply felt.
.
Garden & Be Well,    XO Tara
.
pics taken at jobsite last Monday.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Doorstep Gardening


A bit of vine & gravel to the house.


Repeated across continents for centuries.
.
Affordable to install, inexpensive to maintain.
.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Pic via A Bloomsbury Life.  After years of lust for gravel & vine I did it for myself.  Still curious why I waited so long.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Garden Design Begins Inside Your Home

No matter where I sit or walk-by and see into my garden, there is a beautiful view.
.
Anything less is not worth my intellect.  
.
Nor my joy.


Bay window view, above, is a huge satisfaction.  Several homes & the main street flagrantly try to appear & fail.



  Adore the fragrance of Nature, above.




I need many places inside my house, & garden, for the impromptu lunch, or reading a book.


Designing your garden from inside your home insures your life a moat of grace & beauty in defense of every thing life concocts.
.
Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara
.
Pics in my house.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Front Door: Create an Entry


Ceilings are not high, below.  A transom was over the door.  I removed it and added a taller door & sidelights.  Creating more height,
I chose 2 panels + the upward curve.  Love the doorknocker Miss Florida found.  We did a lot of back/forth online with knockers & paint color & hardware.   


Urns fabulous enough to be empty were designed & plinths  for height adjustment.  Ironically, Miss Florida, who always says, I don't know anything, has consistently put in seasonal arrangements from prunings in her garden.


I also took away the foundation plantings, aka green meatballs, and used espaliered fruit trees + groundcovers.
.
The white is too white on the house.  Alas, it had just been painted before I was hired.
.
Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
.
Pics taken at jobsite last week.  We are doing a new layer!  The drive, front woodland & upper arrival drive.  Cannot wait for the groundcovers to fill in, brown dead mulch, anywhere, has touched my last nerve.
.


Monday, October 28, 2013

Front Porch: Take that Rail Off

"Take the rail off", I said.  Friend, not client, we knew the obstacle, husband.  Years passed. Now, below.    Understand intuitively who took the rail off & built the new step?




Ahead of the curve, they sold their lakeside mcmansion, and moved here, her childhood 2B/1 bath cottage.  When it's full of their 5 children, 15 grandchildren, & friends (lucky me) the house does not feel small, only unlimited horizons of love & joy.
.
"Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now?"  William Stafford.  Gifting this lovely quote to my dear friend who lives in the cottage, above.  

.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
.
Pics taken last week.