Let’s talk about maintenance.
It’s up to us to make decisions about our own bits and pieces. When I first started visiting potential gardens with BRS, I had many a client ask me for a zeroscape. I always giggled knowingly at them, ha ha wink, we all know the word is really xeriscape – defined as a landscape that uses xeric plants. But, um. No. It’s come to our attention that there are folks who believe a garden needs nada. never. That we might guarantee their garden will never have weeds, nor frost damage, will laugh off drought, humidity, dog pee and drunken marauders. Never would it need a clip, or a pinch, a nip or full bush whack.
We quickly began to associate people’s garden maintenance requests with their personal grooming styles and I’m here to tell you- in our heads, we think we are spot on. So yeah, we are thinking about your bush when you are talking about bushes. Really. I’m not saying we all fall into strict categories- there is winter and summer grooming for us and our gardens agreed? But let’s name it to tame it- a little grooming all the time is just a good idea.
Speaking of- last spring I decided to rip out the Hades Garden. It was getting too expressive. Imagine that in a bikini? We were.
And truth be told, I’m feeling the need for some C O N T R O L. clipped tight clean control. Something that will do what I will it to do. And it’s a wee bit sad that I have a better chance of mother nature bending to my will than my two and a half-year-old.
Thus the new bliss garden.
at install last spring:
We used a few things we had hanging around the nursery and added pretty silver, blue, purple and yellow. And I’ve made it smell good- loads of lavender, so if I’m having a little melt down at work I just pop out into the new garden “to clip”. It gets clipped several times a week and it’s responding with vigor. Nicole Vesian said you can show your plants you love them by giving them a good clipping. This garden is an homage to her work with which I’m rather obsessed.
Voila. She is already putting out this spring after a winter of pruning and light fertilizing. We experimented with fertilizing the lavender all winter as it’s its growing season. And it’s about to burst forth with controlled lavender love.
I’ll tell you though- when a client comes in and says I want that… and points to the new Bliss garden. We have to say, wellllllllll. Will you love it and feed it and groom it weekly?
A bit more about the beauty of loving garden care.
Some of our most favorite-est projects are our gardens at Josephine house and Jeffrey’s. Larry McGuire loves JoHo to look like a rich woman’s yard and well… a-hem, we are here to make your techni- color dreams come true.
When we inherited the Josephine House property, it was feeling a little neglected.
Bravely brushing aside jeers “hey hey tutti-frutti” from other landscapers driving by- (that’s you Jeff Neal) we quickly put aside our innate snobbery about annuals and dug deep for our inner California housewife- little did we know, she rested very very close to the surface.
Now, we trip over one another to find the best color combos that can bedazzle and withstand the plethora of dog pee and Christian Louboutins popping about. And yeah, it needs bi-weekly love to look like this but so do you.
Slowly we’ve been asked to help other McGuire Moorman properties. Lambert’s is a particular love- minimal cowboy chic is our latest theme.
Yep even cactus need love and care to look their very best. Last spring we were asked to take on the beast of Perla’s on south congress. Dios mio- it’s hard out there being a plant- but we are getting her rhythm and we will thwart and stun the garden trespassers with our eye popping Long John’s Silver color theme. We have also been fortunate to add Clark’s to our constellation: “preppy plants please”. We do love how McGuire Moorman let’s each property find it’s own personality and we are honored to be working with them and the gorgeous By Georges as well.