Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Design. Show all posts

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Design: Cones & Balls

Cones & lollipops.  


A garden contrast working hard since before Christ's era.
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Every garden must have a cone shape.
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Cone shapes draw the eye.
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Serious gardener?  Every garden room must have a cone shape.
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Cone shapes in Italy live by a different law than the rest of the world.
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara
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Ignore garden design rules at your own peril !  I adore garden design rules, breaking them with intelligence creates magic.  Stringently following garden design rules creates magic.  Go it alone, you create a feckless mush.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Enlarging Corners

Hired for the Garden Design I could not ignore the pool decking.
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Pool is Olympic in scale yet the decking was Liliputian.


The mortar isn't even dry, above.
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Will go back this spring for full photo shoot with more enlarged corners, rims and furnishings styled.
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Have enlarged corners for driveways too.  Perfecto!
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pic in client garden.  Love pics full of narrative or, like this one, a 'see it & do it', no explanation needed.  
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Trinity: Stewardship, Wendell Berry, Chickens

The chickens will bring eggs, I thought.  

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Instead, they've given stewardship.
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8 heirloom chics, 4 breeds.  Some cats others livestock in personality.
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Nothing from the kitchen is wasted, every restaurant meal ends with asking for a left-over container.  Girls go wild for pizza.
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Almost 3 decades in my garden, What would it be now with their poop the entire time?
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More, What would I be like?  Yes, the girls have taught that much.
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Ironically, seeing several clients over a spread of years showed how easy chics are to caretake.
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Sadly, the Stewardship was invisible.
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America was founded upon this Stewardship.  Culture bypassed its tenants.
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  A particular client educates me with every third sentence and every hour starts a sentence, Wendell Berry says.  How can I not pass Wendell Berry along to you?
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Founding Gardeners, is the resource for Stewardship.
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I found what I wasn't looking for, one of life's deepest veins of gold.  From chickens?
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Monday, February 24, 2014

Garage/Atalier: Leverage Life & Garden

 Aside from the ubiquitously expected, your garage must leverage your life.  Beautifully.
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In my garage, below.


 Adore loading my so-ugly-it's-cute van for work, below.


Tools, chandeliers, speaking props & etc all awaiting to make life easier.


Vintage French garden chair made the move to the chicken coop.  And the ca. 1918 door is now a table in the office.

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How well does your garage leverage the caretaking of your garden?  Your life?
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Did you know this is an element of Garden Design?
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I didn't, until I went to Europe to study history's best gardens.  
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara
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Pics in my atalier, aka garage.  
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Edna St. Vincent Millay: Burn Your Light

Light from the garden, below.


Interesting legs, garden light a few of my favorite things.
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Oh my the criticisms, for decades, for leaning inward, to seemingly insignificant small joys.
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Edna St. Vincent Millay, "My candle burns at both ends; / It will not last the night; / But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends — / It gives a lovely light!"
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I met Peter Pan yesterday, and he wasn't lost.  With a bigger life I doubt I would have known.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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My bedroom, above, renovation still needs yellow/white French check draperies a la Charles Faudree.   Walls, Benjamin Moore - Sundress.  Hence you won't see more till then!  Painting by, Christine Gholson.  Truly, the light in my home is enriched by the garden.
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A quote in NYTimes long ago, "The more you go inward the more you outwardly connect." Pure permission, be-who-you-are.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon
  

Friday, February 21, 2014

Overdose your Theme: Wicker Weakness




Overflow wicker, above, yet they're used at least 1/month.


Vintage wicker, above/below, glass topper for the sagging table top, below.  Adore the chipping paint.


Small wicker baskets, below, perfect for quick trips with keys, sunglasses, cell phone.


White willow English wicker basket, above, for Laskett.  Yes, he is moody.  What can I do, we're in love.


Tucked in the bedroom, above.  Mahogany Sheraton buffet arrived this color, & marked down 2x at the antique shop.
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Tool Bouquet over my fireplace.....
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Overdose Your Theme is merely an excuse for,  Wicker Weakness.
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At Lowe's this week the cashier asked, "Can I feel your basket?".  Girlfriend has Wicker Weakness too.  Along with great taste, it was a handmade Amish basket that day.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Most of the wicker came from Thift Stores or yard sales.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Little Input, Big Impact

A bit of meadow, stretch of wild wood, bench.  Done.


In the depths of winter, still, one of the best invitations.
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Pictorial definition, LITTLE INPUT, BIG IMPACT.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Front Porch: Color Choices for Views & Guests

Built in the late 50's for the Queen's sister, Mount Corbett has a few original pieces remaining, below.
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This table wasn't designed for meals, propping feet, or bridge.
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This table leveraged conversation, cocktails, cigarettes (I can hear, & smell, the Zippo lighters shutting), & considering the era, 'stuff'.
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More than views, colors were mutedly chosen to show case people.
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How I would love to go back to the early years and see the clothes, hair, jewels.



Instead,


alone on the veranda, I was the color.
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My Ken Doll did  construction & landscaping at Mount Corbett a few years ago, hence my afternoon lolling in the pool & enjoying views while he gabbed with friends at the estate.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pics taken this month in Jamaica.  We both wanted to prune the hedge blocking the views.  Alas, or maybe good for you, Mount Corbett is for sale.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Ackee Tree: Fruit in Design

We are provisioned for as well as birds of the field.


This ackee tree made her message known.


I've gained a primal sense of gratitude to Providence, in a rich new vein.
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And, wonder why my horticulture degree did not teach inclusion of fruit bearing trees/bushes as a fundamental.
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If not for pollinators alone, or enjoyment of the crop, then at the minimum a nod of thanks from our spirit to the spirit of Nature which is beyond measure.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics from Jamaica last week, this ackee tree was just-in-a-dirt-parking-lot.  Remember, when trees drop their leaves they are enriched by what they let go of.  Yes, trees pack the epiphanies.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Focal Point: Don't Compete

If you have an eyesore place a focal point nearby.


If Providence gives you a focal point, don't compete.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic taken at lunch yesterday.  Jamaica.
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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.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

John Dickinson: Design

John Dickinson said, 



"Taste is a word I avoid. Good or bad, it's all so nebulous. The more you're dealing with taste, the more you're on shaky ground. Vulgarity to me is another matter. Vulgarity has great vitality."

"There's no cop-out in using pairs of things in a room. Matching chairs, sofas, lamps or tables can bring discipline, strength and balance to a scheme."

"You cannot do a lasting room design based on a current fad or novelty. There's a fine line between being amusing and being eccentric. A whole room based on amusing things would not be a laugh."

"There are many places in a house that do not warrant expensive furnishings. It's really not essential to spend everywhere. Muslin curtains can be the prettiest things in the world if they're sewn beautifully. You just don't have to make a big production of everything in a room."

"Some of the easiest things to use as inexpensive accessories are natural objects. Seashells are heaven. The bigger the better. Coral's marvellous if you can get big pieces of it. It must be large—little pieces don't mean anything."

"I have long thought that if one has a fireplace, to feel one must out of necessity and total obligation hang something over it is absolute nonsense. I think a blank space over a mantel is very interesting. "

"I don't like viewing my designs as sculpture. It's too pretentious. This is not art, it's decorating. It's not fine art, it's decorative art and there's a world of difference."

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Garden Design writing is traditionally, as Anne of Green Gables said, "A perfect graveyard of buried hope."  Instead, I mine ALL the arts and apply to Garden Design.
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The Style Saloniste has  pics with the quotes above.  I remember most of the pics when they first appeared in magazines.  
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Dickinson's last quote, above is not applicable to Garden Design.  When working with Nature it would be the greatest failure not to apply the elements of pollinator habitat.  And the work of Nature is the purest ART.
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Pic above lost provenance.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Elements of a Focal Point: Sandra Jonas

Focal point, double plinthed, on axis, Tara Turf, contrasting colors. contrasting textures, contrasting formal/informal, high density/low density, pollinator habitat, Getrude Jekyll delightful, Jane Austen narrative, and best of all 


this is my beloved friend's garden, Sandra Jonas.  We've been across Europe & USA together studying Garden Design.
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Wonder what she thinks I see here?
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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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, February 4, 2014

Design Elements: Macro, Micro

Freshman year of college an elective course in economics gave me macro/micro.
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Garden design elements fall into those 2 realms.
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Both equally important.
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Both waltzing thru time.

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The snow that stopped Atlanta, above.
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Dots of poetry.  Ephemeral.
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Sure, the wall is a macro Garden Design element.
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But not for this moment.
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You're looking at the ephemeral micro element trumping the macro.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pic at jobsite last week.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.
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That economics course?  Tough.  The professor barely spoke English his accent so strong I heard, at most, every 12th word correctly.  One word in particular scared my IQ, could not figure out what the mar-ghaa-reene was.  Especially with his corresponding gesticulations and hi pitch solely upon that word.  Mar-ghaa-reene really got the sweet little man going.  Me too, what was it?  Finally asked my seat mate what he was saying.  She said, 'margin'.
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From that point I ignored the dear little man and solely learned from the book.  
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30+ years later I can still hear/see Mar-ghaa-reene being performed.
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Yes, macro/micro elements amuse me greatly.

Monday, February 3, 2014

How to Know it's the Muse Speaking

A client in an older subdivision in Athens, Ga has a bit of vintage woodland at the margin.
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Their home is Connecticut farmhouse vernacular ca. 1894.
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Not large, not small, not grand, pure elegant.


We will make a slight clearing in the vintage woods for a cabin.
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EXACTLY the cabin in imagination, above.
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A folly to be discovered.  A folly that can be used as many things thru the years.
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Let the rescue operation begin: windows, stone, brick, door, wood.....
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Hired to design the garden it's amazing what the Muse thinks of.  Perhaps your Muse speaks and you think you're having 'crazy thoughts'.  How to know it's the Muse speaking?  The idea scares you a bit, stretches you out of your comfort zone, yet from 1st thought the idea is thrilling, delightful in the way joy was when you were 8 years old.  Here lies your spirit.  Wabi sabi, feng shui.  Not listening is perilous.  Letting others steer you away from your Muse?  They are in your life why?  
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Too often it's the one we love saying, What?  Here's what to say if the one you love hinders the path to your Muse's bidding, "Your words are harmful to my spirit.", or simply, "It makes me happy."
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Over 50 and a woman?  Either statement could empty a stadium full of men spoken with the right tone/body language.  But you already know that.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pic via  Content in a Cottage.
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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.
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Award winning speaker, hire me to speak to your group, local or out-of-state.
                                                                                 .
Garden books by Tara Dillard, Amazon.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

A Wabi Sabi Plinth

If you find the perfect pair of urns do not worry about their height.
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Use a plinth if they must be higher.


Old urns, new to the site, with the perfect plinth, above.
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The Long Barn, above, was made of terra cotta squares decades ago.  A few were found.
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Sure, new plinths could have been bought or custom made for this site.  However, using the terra cotta squares is superior.  The best gardens have elements of the Poverty Cycle.  Put another way, wabi sabi must be included in every garden design.
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Then there is Mary Kistner's, "It's what we do with what we have.", life motto.  Whenever I include Mary I know I'm doing the right thing, and I'm getting a little visit from her.  Sometimes I go so far as to ask, "What would Mary do?"
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Garden & Be Well,  XO Tara
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Pic taken at jobsite last month.
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Mary, an artist,  was childless & died a widow in her 80's.  Her memorial service was at a museum in the main, huge, gallery.  Standing room only.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Every Garden Needs the Tall Cone Shape

Every garden needs a tall cone shape to draw eyes to the sky.


Can't remember which symposium lecturer said this but knew immediately it was true.  And, more, how do you know WHERE to put this tall cone shape?


For years I asked other garden designers how they knew where to put this piece of magic.
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None could put it into words.
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Ironically, I do know where to put tall cone shapes now.
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Yet have no words to describe the process.
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Intuitive.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics at jobsite this month.  Italian cypress framing the Long Barn and pastures.
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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 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.  
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Gifts of loving these acres arrive in many forms & layers.  Telling us we are doing the right thing/s.
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Tasha Tudor's favorite line of poetry, 'take joy', in action.  Joy is always there, but it must be taken.
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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.
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This reads a bit like an altar call.  Ironic, she says her deep feeling with her garden is 'abiding', I feel 'atonement' in mine.
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Garden & Be Well,   XO Tara
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Pic at jobsite this month.  Silent Partner, I can see your face reading this and know you understand the metaphorical use of filthy lucre.
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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.  
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  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.
 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Using Color Restraint with Intensity

Intense restraint and another example of the color trinity green-brown-white.


Restraint so intense the terrace has become a proscenium for guests.
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Subtlety so rich the bluestone & granite become focal points.
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Humbling execution.
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Garden & Be Well,     XO Tara
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Pic Wendy Posard and Associates.  Definite teamwork between architect & owners.
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2 Tara Dillard questions a patio must answer, 'Is this patio so fabulous I must see inside the house?', 'Is this patio so incredible I must see the garden?'.  Yes & yes.