POVERTY CYCLE

Touring the old gardens of Charleston, SC over 2 decades ago I realized why they were fabulously incredible. They had endured the POVERTY CYCLE. More than endure. The POVERTY CYCLE is the largest element of their success. Monet's famous landscape was due to the POVERTY CYCLE. Sissinghurst, Vita Sackville-West & Harold Nicolson's garden, again, the POVERTY CYCLE. Using gravel instead of stone? The POVERTY CYCLE. Beauty & function with the sound of 'crunch'.

Old stone terraces with pretty perennials between the cracks? The POVERTY CYCLE. During WWI the estate gardens of Europe lacked labor. No one to repoint the mortar of once pristine stone terraces. We've not gone back. The POVERTY CYCLE led to a prettier, easier, cheaper beauty.

Field gathering furniture & focal points for the landscape the French, centuries ago, painted them all a single color, to unify. Again, the POVERTY CYCLE.

Above, free stones, free chair, plants on sale. The POVERTY CYCLE proving, thru difficulty, you can landscape beautifully.

Wanting a gate & settling for an old fence section wired to galvanized nails. The gate doesn't move. It's a faux gate. The POVERTY CYCLE.

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The best landscape design ideas have come from the POVERTY CYCLE.

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A combination of : intellect, intuitiveness, creativity, art, heart, eccentricity, boldness, integrity and the realization, It is a privilege to garden during our short time on this planet.

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Too often landscapes on make-over TV shows, and big landscapes at large flower shows lack POVERTY CYCLE elements. And that is why TV garden shows and large flower shows are losing numbers.

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Those landscapes dazzle while they condescend & patronize.

How? The creators see an opportunity to do marketing not create a relevant landscape for their audience.

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Yes, with some of my landscape design projects, not many, I've had to 'down' sell clients to stone in dirt, vs. mortar, or gravel instead of stone, injecting the richness of the POVERTY CYCLE.

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XO Tara