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Fairy Gardens

Starting on Tricky Places : Gardens that Fit Your Lifestyle like a Glove.

December 31, 2016

rice-14-blogWhew. Its taken a summer like 2016 when friends and family had calamities, passed away or got really sick to make me appreciate my garden and health even more… and then the specter of scary local fires burning thousands of acres in our treasured Smoky Mountains which made me appreciate our fragile ecosystem.

This blog is a personal note is to myself to review everything in Dargan Landscape Architects book of work to help my friends, their home environments and interface with nature. Like holding hands with fragile yet resilient gloves that fit perfectly.

Hugh and I have been in practice as landscape architects for over four decades. Our client’s now lovely landscapes were tricky places to make behave: with thin soils, complicated topography, owners large wish list, zoning issues, too much or too little shade, too much or too little water, not enough space, too vast a canvas, weird parking, insufficient walkways…the list goes on!  We are blessed with the honor to coax, bend and collaborate with the owners to get the best designs built, and we thank them for sharing their private worlds.

My goal is to inspire homeowners to get the best out of their precious home environment. Design it to yield healthy wellbeing, inspire you to be your best and to provide nurturing spaces. Once we finish this work together, your garden will function like a well-oiled machine, which in itself is a stress-reducing factor.

Photographer, Sarah Valentine of Highlands NC,  shot beautiful dawn shots and late summer portraits of many of our local gardens.

Stay tuned as the book progresses!

Filed Under: Appearances, Lectures and Shows, Atlanta Garden Landscape Projects, Bloom Where you are Planted, Climate Change, Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Fairy Gardens, General Landscape Commentary, Horticulture, Instagram, Landscape Architecture Projects, Landscape Design Tips, Mary's Events, Organic Gardening, PlaceMakers, Poppy's Environmental Tips, Poppy's Horticultural Tips, Poppy's Project, Uncategorized, Videos Tagged With: garden design, mary palmer dargan, sarah valentine photographer

Researching Heirloom Gardens in Western NC : The American Kitchen Garden

December 31, 2016

hodges-apple-closeup-blogThe prospect of saying yes…not a decision taken lightly.

The invitation extended to chair the Jan Wyatt Symposium 2017 for the Cashiers Historical Society, by Ann McKee Austin ( from whom it is impossible to decline a volunteer invitation) and president, Connie Haire, was a surprise.

Do I shoot myself after saying yes?  NO.  I’d promised my family not to take on more projects. But the tantalizing nudge to dust off a topic thoroughly covered in my first draft masters thesis is 1977 is impossible to resist. Rafts of info laying fallow in the storage unit, mildewed and unloved, has been slowly maturing…waiting for airtime.

One does not lightly throw something together that could impact a visitors perspective of history.

On the suggestion of Macon County Librarian,Karen Hawks, a spin and TRX buddy, I hired the wonderful librarian, Emily Crowell, to type, type, type.  YIKES! The old manuscript was a dot matrix printed, accordian-paged, non-digital manuscript. Emily DOVE IN with glee on her day off from work and is quickly modernizing the document.

WE HAVE A TITLE: The 2017 Jan Wyatt Symposium The Heirloom Gardener hosted by The Cashiers Historical Society.

WE HAVE A LOCATION: The Zachary Tolbert House Grounds c 1850.

WE SET A DATE: June 21 2017.

SPEAKERS SAID YES:

Eric Jackson of Old Salem to talk about historic plant materials

Ila Hatter, wildcrafter supreme, to demonstrate cooking methods of our forefathers

And me, to demonstrate what a garden might have looked like in 1850 when Alexander Zachary built the house in Cashiers, NC.

WE HAVE A STORYLINE and I meet with the tent man next week.

DIGITAL COPIES OF ALEXANDER ZACHARY’s journal appeared (primarily apple notes, but useful nonetheless!)

Whew…stay tuned for schedule and logo next!

jpegzachary_000

Filed Under: Appearances, Lectures and Shows, Atlanta Garden Landscape Projects, Bloom Where you are Planted, Climate Change, Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Fairy Gardens, General Landscape Commentary, Horticulture, Instagram, Landscape Architecture Projects, Landscape Design Tips, Mary's Events, Organic Gardening, PlaceMakers, Poppy's Environmental Tips, Poppy's Horticultural Tips, Poppy's Project, Uncategorized, Videos

Zen and Magic with Miniature Gardens

August 10, 2015

This calming miniature zen garden includes ivory statues, a beautiful walkway and just the right touch of red. Made right here at Dovecote Porch & Gardens in Cashiers, NC.

Earlier this summer we also hosted a miniature gardens workshop. Watch the fun below:

Keep up to date with all of our events by clicking here.

Make sure to follow us on Instagram too.

Filed Under: Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Fairy Gardens, Uncategorized Tagged With: Dovecote Garden Talk, fairy gardens, Garden Talk Salon, gts, madison johnson, mary palmer dargan, Miniature Gardens, zen

Miniature Garden, Big Results! FREE Garden Talk Salon July 24

July 21, 2015

Photo by Nancy Wall.
Photo by Nancy Wall.

How cute is this miniature garden? They are all the rage and guess what? We are hosting a FREE event this Friday, July 24 at 10 a.m. for guests of all ages!

Landscape architect Mary Palmer Dargan will give us all of her best tips and tricks when it comes to miniature garden design.

Photo by Nancy Wall.
Photo by Nancy Wall.
Photo by Nancy Wall
Photo by Nancy Wall

Have a look at her invitation below:

Contact Mary Palmer Dargan to confirm your space at 828-743-0307or [email protected].

Please also see our how-to videos and free workbook on how to design your own Miniature garden!

Bring the Kids to Learn How to Make a Fairy Garden!

 

Filed Under: Dovecote, Dovecote Garden Talk Salons, Fairy Gardens, Videos Tagged With: Cashiers landscape architects, Dovecote Porch & Garden, Fairy Garden, Garden Talk Salon, mary palmer dargan, Miniature Garden

Mossed Planters are a Must

July 17, 2015

Photo by Nancy Wall
Photo by Nancy Wall

Mossed planters can give any garden that extra touch of style only Mother Nature can provide!

Whatever your taste, we have you covered. Here are some photos of just some of our mossed planters and garden fairy accessories here at Dovecote Porch & Gardens in Cashiers, NC.

DSCF3252
Photo by Nancy Wall
Photo by Nancy Wall
Photo by Nancy Wall

Call us at 404-231-3889 for all your garden landscaping needs. Don’t forget we offer a free, 30 minute consultation as well.

Happy planting!

 

Filed Under: Dovecote, Fairy Gardens, Uncategorized

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