sweet surrender: Gardening with Tara Dillard

Continuing with the gardening theme and what my brain is focused on these days I wanted to introduce you to

Tara Dillard.

I met her recently and she is witty, talks super fast very funny and I thought at that moment we could be great chums. I had seen her across the blog land waves so it was fun to meet in person.

I picked up one of her books (she has several) and have devoured it. As I have said before I am not a gardner but I do like pretty and color so I am learning!

She says a garden takes patience (not one of my virtues) and that striving for beauty is part of the design. I loved that she said that an important part of garden design is simplicity.

While enjoying others' gardens I did not take in that there is a foundation for the garden just as in the home. Grass is like flooring, trees are like walls, etc.

From Tara's book Beautiful by Design

I love all of these tips because I can see myself loving what is in bloom only to find out that it dies and doesn't come back!

I mentioned in the last post that Mr. MD and I are raising an area for a flower garden and laying a stone patio. Tara has some great visual layouts in her book which really help me.

Focal points are very important and Tara likes plinths (new word for me - a base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests wiki) and pots. She encourages us to make our own plinths with whatever we have on hand. Hmmm, I would need a trip to the stone quarry!

She loves a 'Queen's pot' "the most beautiful pot you can find to be a focal point in an area of your garden". (Beautiful by Design, page 18).

another idea to ponder

A home's interior and exterior should compliment one another.

Outdoor dining tables are a focal point and they should look nice when looking out the window of your home.

One thing I am working on now as well, is moving the grills (gas, charcoal and smoker...oy) out of view from the back windows of the home. They are going off of the deck and off to the side where they cannot be seen from any window on the backside.

Now to find just the right colors that are an extension from the inside to the outside.

I drool over hydrangeas, I have two big bushes but unfortunately they were planted (before we moved in) where no one can see them. In my new garden there will be some planted where I can enjoy them daily.