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From the garden on August 28, 2008, 2:29 pm |
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THESE GARDEN WALLS ARE OLD SOULS
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A circa 1940"s Altanta home owned, for 4 years, harnesses the power of garden living. Owned by a petite, dark-haired woman with a ballerina"s body infused with Barbi"s knowing voluptuosity and Alexandra Stoddard"s gift for living a beautiful life.
In another era a gardener lived here. The backyard honors the past and expands the present. A slight slope hides old stone walls from the house. Deep in the back garden you experience the house in the embrace of old stone walls. How do stone walls become old souls? How can they embrace the garden, the house, me, the earth, all at once?
Their integrity holding the soil, slowing the rain and creating spots for sitting, reading, eating, laughing, crying, loving, walking, ruminating, gaining interior strength.
The walls are stone and broken concrete aged with dirt, moss, lichens. Garden beauty without money.
These walls are historical totems and they are friends. Old souls. |
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From the garden on August 18, 2008, 9:27 am |
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LANCE ARMSTRONG DOPING HIS LANDSCAPE
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A funny headline in the 8-15-08 NYTimes about Lance Armstrong using the most water in Austin, Texas last month. He qualified for Austin"s water-hog list since Jan. 2007.
Armstrong"s industry places doping in international headlines regularly. The landscape industry needs to do the same with watering. A landscape needing so much water is a drugged landscape. Landscape doping.
When athletes are caught with drugs the trainers seem to be investigated and their names mentioned. Who is Armstrong"s landscape designer/architect? Who is Armstrong"s landscape maintenance company? Is Armstrong surrounded by "yes" people?
Armstrong isn"t to blame entirely. He has decades of American landscape trends promoting his actions. Those trends stopped, seemingly overnight. Before hi gas prices it was a newly eco world.
Garden magazines and lifestyle magazines with landscape porn have exacerbated the water doping problem. Showing landscapes of beauty without reference to what they cost to install, what they cost to maintain, how much water they use, and what chemicals they are fed.
It would be interesting to know the insecticide, fungicide, and fertilizer usage of Armstrong"s landscape. It would be fascinating to know the carbon footprint it takes to maintain Armstrong"s landscape. When someone wears a fur coat or uses city water they can be held accountable.
What about the rest of a landscape? The parts not visible to accountability?
Landscape writing in newspapers remains true to the past. Answers to pest and turf problems mostly or highlighting a pretty plant. If your landscape is full of problems it"s not the fault of the landscape.
Highlighting pretty plants, one a week, doesn"t help you put a landscape together. Pleasant articles but what about heft?
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From the garden on July 13, 2008, 8:42 am |
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A MACRO LANDSCAPE CHANGE.....& I AM READY!!!!!
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I never joined METRO ATLANTA LANDSCAPE & TURF ASSOCIATION
Too much emphasis on MOW-BLOW-GO. My work isn"t about lawns & foundation plantings. Choosing instead the historical model of international gardening.
What is that? Landscapes laid out on axis with the home-lifestyle of the owner. Designed for February (bones/structure) knowing if February is beautiful the rest of the year is too. Plants placed properly with pedigrees proving they won"t get bugs/fungus nor need much water/pruning once mature.
Plants chosen to provide a succession of blooms all year. Knowing a landscape needing annuals for color is a landscape failure. Inventing Tara Turf because lawns are bad for the environment. They drink too much water, eat fertilizers toxic to groundwater, and are unfriendly to insects. Especially honeybees.
Landscapes should provide destinations for outdoor living, beautiful views, improved property value.
Once these things are accomplished the real benefit is GRACE. Landscapes of serenity in addition to beauty, low maintenance, organic.
Water bans, rising water bills, rising oil have effected the macro landscape profession profoundly. To my mind, IN EVERY GOOD WAY.
Never part of the macro profession my micro niche is approaching main stage.
FINALLY!
In hindsight I understand the gift of having had 4 incredible mentors and 7 trips to Europe studying landscapes. It didn"t make sense, professionally/financially, the past 2 decades. Now it does.
My work hasn"t changed. Market forces have changed. The market is going my way.........and yours!!!!! |
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From the garden on July 11, 2008, 10:27 am |
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AMAZING LANDSCAPE DESIGN COMBINATION
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Designing yesterday at a Craftsman bungalow for a 2 career couple with young active son and in-laws yielded a surprise. First, it was made clear LOW MAINTENANCE. NO GRASS. FRIENDLY TO BACKYARD GATHERINGS FOR EATING, RELAXING, FILLING THE SPIRIT.
Front/back yard both small. Keeping to the history of the house was a joy. Using simplicity creates impact & elegance & little maintenance. Pleased with the frontyard the backyard design stirred my creative muse profoundly.
A combination of Mrs. Whaley"s garden in Charleston, SC & the Garden Tomb of Jesus. Small gardens rich in spirit. Thinking of my time in both brings exquisite uplift. How did the muse do this? I don"t know.
I couldn"t make this stuff up if I tried.
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From the garden on July 9, 2008, 10:04 am |
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KEEP THE BODY GOING....TO GARDEN MORE, MORE, MORE
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IN THE GARDEN TO BE BRUISED & BLOODIED IS NORMAL. Decades of experience haven"t reduced their occurance. Realized about 4 years ago it would be good to get a tetnus shot. It made me reckless.
LADDERS. Fell off the 2nd story of my house several years ago. Landing snow angel fashion in a mature clump of laurels. Not hurt but now I don"t get on a ladder without a cellphone in my pocket. If I have to go really high I invite a friend to lunch and have them hold the ladder and phone.
BODY CARE. On the days I garden for 4hrs it"s ibuprofen in the morning, after gardening & before bed. With too much stone/brick work without gloves I slather BAG BALM on my hands before bed. Oh the romance.
MORE BODY CARE. Properly preparing soil taught me how plants responded. A metaphor telling me to stop yo-yoing with my favorite 10# & do aerobic exercise. I"ll do what it takes to garden into my 90"s.
SPIRITUAL CARE. Over a decade ago 3 loved ones were dying. Many gardening hours were spent praying for their health/lives. Within a year they were all gone. This taught me to pray for God"s will. A hard lesson lovingly taught in my garden.
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From the garden on July 8, 2008, 1:11 pm |
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GARDEN THEFT WITH A HAPPY ENDING
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3 weeks agoA LARGE GARDEN CLOCHE WAS STOLEN from my frontyard. Not an antique it was $15 at TJMAXX. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
Visiting Monet"s garden I fell in love with much. His home, his garden, him. At home I copied his idea of blue/white porcelain pots with cloche.
Never overlook the power of LANDSCAPE DESIGN RULE #2...COPY...
Realizing it was stolen was upsetting in an outsize way. 1. I didn"t like my response. Upset out of proportion to value. Did the thief realize they stole metaphorical beauty? Then guilt. How sad a person"s life must be to steal a cheap cloche. 2. It was likely a child thief. How could a parent not notice?
Last Saturday the cloche was returned. Found in the blooming lavender near where it was stolen.
Mankind"s goodness is sometimes manifest in small measures. This time it was a cloche. |
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From the garden on July 6, 2008, 9:31 am |
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Real Landscapes Again
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It is no accident books & TV about landscaping have been losing ground recently. They stray into territory alien to the majority of gardeners.
Too many checkbook gardens. TV segments with 50k up landscape renovations. How often do you landscape with a designer-general contractor-subcontractors-heavy equipment? I do this for clients but my own landscape is done with my hands, back, sweat, hand tools, determination. Real world.
Among peers this conversation has lasted a decade. Great news. Change is arriving in the oddest place, Better Homes & Gardens magazine. Their garden pages are full of beautiful landscapes real people are creating. Without the help of a bottomless checkbook or big men on big equipment.
It is fine, and desirable, to have some of that, but not helpful as a majority. In an era of reality TV why did reality landscaping go the opposite direction?
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From the garden on July 6, 2008, 9:08 am |
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Watering With Buckets Better Than Hose Restrictions
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Water restrictions still apply which is better than a complete water ban. Recently learned, and it is odd, watering with buckets from the shower is easier than the hose with restrictions.
Why?
The buckets are faster and can be used any day, any time. Instead of watering when allowed a plant has water when needed.
ANOTHER COUNTERINTUITIVE LANDSCAPE FUNDAMENTAL.
Not many plants need water. Mostly the mophead hydrangeas. Given to me by a dear mentor that died. She would adore the inconvenience they are causing me. Well before the drought and water ban she said oakleaf hydrangeas were her first choice to recommend. Strong words from the woman, Penny McHenry, who discovered, hydrangea Penny Mac. |
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From the garden on June 29, 2008, 9:34 am |
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STUNNING PLANT COMBO: STAGHORN SUMAC & CROSS VINE
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Showing off together, now, along the RAILROAD TRACKS AT STONE MOUNTAIN PARK are
STAGHORN SUMAC & CROSS VINE. Potent. RUST & ORANGE. Together. Two colors HORRIFYINGLY HARD TO COMBINE. Ha, ha, ha, nature laughs tossing this gift. Then more audacity; combining the long cone shape (sumac-rust) with a generous bell shape (cross vine-orange).
THIS IS EXCITING STUFF.
Not much stops my 5 mile speed walk around the mountain. See a friend? Stop to say hello? Never. Seeing the sumac & cross vine produced a Screeching Halt & Gawking. |
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From the garden on April 20, 2008, 1:58 pm |
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SAVE THE PLANET: PLANT A TREE FOR YOUR SOUL
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If you do nothing with your landscape at least PLANT A TREE. Place it on axis with several window views. Chosen well you will have birds/butterflies/foliage unfurling/blooms/fall color/branches casting shadows. Leafing out in spring it signals myriad metaphors (growth-new life), harbors birds/beneficial insects in summer, generates further metaphors in fall (what a tree lets go of-its leaves- feeds/enriches), again in winter (shedding clothes to survive brutal cold--counterintuitive).
A TREE HARBORS A REALM OF CALM. Well placed, a tree reduces summer air-conditioning & winter heating. Its roots help retain rain and soil. A tree raises property value. A tree cleanses the air.
If you can PLANT THE TREE YOURSELF, HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH IT.
Today, a salient article by Michael Pollan in the NYTimes suggests the place to start saving the planet is a vegetable garden. He is one of the few save-the-planet writers I can abide. But having done over 2000 landscape designs I know planting a tree is a better place to start than a vegetable garden.
Asking a vegetable garden of most people is too much. Starting with a tree is small with a big impact. Remember, Emerson, "The creation of a thousand forests is in a single acorn."
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| Tara Dillard |
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