There is no spot of ground, however arid, bare or ugly, that cannot be tamed into such a state as may give an impression of beauty and delight.
~ Gertrude Jekyll
A delightful setting at Hollister House!
It’s easy to find inspiration in these words from Gertrude Jekyll, her efforts have inspired many to create beautiful gardens, to look upon any patch of ground and imagine the possibilities! There is a hidden message in this quote however, and it lies in the effort needed to create and maintain these beautiful spaces.
Ms. Jeckyll uses the word “tamed” to describe the efforts about to be undertaken, and tamed is appropriate, as any gardener will tell you. Nature abhors order. Chaos and aggression reign without the steady and constant hand of the gardener.
Today, the members of the Roundtable take a look at the efforts a gardener must put forth to “tame” that chaos, efforts so often overlooked during the exciting process of creation. Efforts, when practiced, reveal the beauty hidden in each “spot of ground”.
Follow the links below and see what our designers have to say!
Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA
David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM
Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT
Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN
Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.
Garden Designers Roundtable 
Another benefit of historic landscape design, low maintenance, unskilled labor.
Testosterone on wheels-mow-blow-go-commodify-all-I-touch is too expensive to bank accounts, pollinator habitat, beauty, water supply. Yet, most prevalent.
HOA’s have restricted millions in USA to having Mr. Testosterone. Forever. When will things change?
Merely reducing lawn, exchanging mulch for groundcover, annuals for flowering shrubs could reduce the footprint of Mr. Testosterone. While reducing maintenance.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
All great points Tara! Have we passed the point of no return yet or is there time for change? 🙂
Gertrude Jekyll was almost a prophet in the quote you shared. Though I would differ, in that given time, natures processes will create definite patterns over chaos. In designed landscapes, I think we are most successful when we simply aid and accelerate those processes. Deep thoughts, S.H.!
I agree about patterns in nature, but a far cry from what many gardeners wish for. Maybe we ought to give it a little more time.
I know I’m prepared to wait…
It is the use of the verb ‘tame’ that is telling there. If you tame something, you don’t change its underlying structure. A horse remains a horse. What you do is direct its energies in specific direction, either for more profit of for greater accomplishment.
We tend, I love Tara’s comment, to break more than tame.
That is a great way of looking at maintenance, and gardening in general! And yes, Tara hit it right on the nose, didn’t she? 🙂
Lovely post and good reminder that we need to work with nature. Tara, in Texas they have passed legislation that stops HOA from preventing homeowners from use native plant in their gardens. It is a step in the right direction! http://npsot.org/wp/story/2013/3558/