April 29, 2018

Creating Garden Sanctuaries


My idea for this post came from a client this morning. He was calling from his home in Florida, sitting under his arbor in full flower. He described the fragrance and the calm it brought him.
This space became his "office", a place to begin the day with coffee,   and for relaxing with wine at the end of the day.

"Can you recreate this ambience at my other home?" His desire for the sound of water completed the picture. Happily!
Ahhhh, this would do perfectly! Add a water feature & life is good
In tumultuous times, in particular, don’t we all need a refuge? A place to start and end our days that creates calm.
 I love to help create this inside homes however the garden is a built in refuge. And let me say, after our winter, I cannot wait to get outdoors, and that is coming from someone who loves winter, enough!

Where is your place to retreat? What elements soothe you? 
Here's my list


1 Comfortable Seating

1 Privacy

1 A view

1 The sound of water

1 Preferably an overhead setting dripping with vines

"Your" spot can be off in a corner somewhere, maybe just for you
Conveniently off your home
Or off on it's own.

Maybe you do not have a spot of land to create a retreat. What if you are on a suburban lot, subdivision.......where to start?
                          P R I V A C Y

Here we go, an overhang & a privacy fence
Strategically placed panels. Clients will say.
 "I like my neighbors, BUT, we want privacy." Most of us do, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Perhaps your refuge is a porch, certainly not total privacy, although you can create the ambiance of, a softening of exposure
Easy, & inexpensive draped cloth. A quick fix is to buy large drop cloths, they can withstand the weather
Yep, plants can aid in privacy, and here is the most hated plant I hear about, Arborvitae....,,.,":they split!"
I'll let you in on a trade secret; ONLY plant the 'Wintergreen' variety with a single trunk, the split will never happen. And, I love to give them flat tops like above, just a different look
TALL grasses can do it........now that's really inexpensive
 Here's something different......a movie screen, any taut, clean surface will do
 Now that we have the privacy and location determined, start bringing in the other components..........Water
 Remember…..the further the water falls, the louder the sound
 Or a softer sound with a Bubbler, we have some great ones in the shop right now
  This would do nicely! Comfy furniture for your retreat is a must

As long as I can put my feet up, I am happy
Fire is mesmerizing, this can be a consideration


 Whatever yours looks like, wherever it is, allow yourself that spot of comfort. It's good for the soul

Need assistance? Our landscape division can assist locally & 
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LOCAL NEWS FLASH………
All of our spring plants at the shop are on SALE!

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