Larry O’Neil operates a Design and Build Firm in Jacksonville, Florida and these are a couple of his makeovers.  The deck is so much more interesting with its curvy shape than the standard rectangle that an unassisted homeowner might tend toward building.  And adding the tree that grows through the deck is a great touch, it gives something to look forward to!   The courtyard makeover is beautiful with it’s simplicity don’t you think?  It’s hard to get a great idea of the before from the image, but it looks a little grotty, tired and uninviting….now its lush, stylish, cool and sophisticated.

Ok this is the last Alex Smith Garden for now… I can’t tell for sure but I think these three before and after sets from Alex Smith are perhaps all the same house.  I dream of such a place.

More of the during and after in the gallery…

You know what strikes me about this series….it suddenly seems so easy.  Ok, so it’s not that hard to create a great garden, but it’s not this easy either.  Interesting.

One more on the way from Alex…as I said, I just can’t help myself…

Images from Alex Smith garden design.

Hold on to your hats, I am a little obsessed with the beautiful portfolio of Alex Smith in Atlanta. He has mountain gardens broken out in a separate section on his site and they are truly breathtaking (as is the rest of his portfolio)…and it is especially fun to see the steps to put it all together.
So here is the first before and after garden to whet your appetite….I am going to break them up into a few posts here. While not a true nothing to something transformation because the bones of the garden are here, this spring to summer transformation is remarkable and makes me excited for the coming weeks.

Fabric never ceases to inspire me.  I love the infinite mix of textures, colors, patterns and styles.  Outdoor fabrics can however be rather boring.  Sunbrella is great, but just not that exciting for a true fabric aficionado.  The Osborne and Little Zancudo fabric line is however a little more interesting.

My personal favorite is the blue leaves on the light background….very orla keily….very me.  What do you like from this collection?

Oh Boy — it’s been one of those days…but I have a great garden for you and hopefully a couple of other posts….

This garden caught my eye because I think it interestingly illustrates at least one technique to age a garden. Some of the great show garden designers know a few tricks  to make something new look old and established and you can learn them too.

Setting pavers into grass gives age very quickly — sure you have to wait for the grass to grow, but if you let it get a little long around the edges, you can make things look like they have been there a while. Also, setting the pavers a little low, and letting the topsoil creep over the edge before you seed will give that been there forever look rather than than the been there for the month or so that it took for the grass to grow.
Don’t be so set on perfection….the long grass around the fountain makes this have a much more casual romantic vibe don’t you think?
The other thing that ages a garden is big plants…that are planted to grow together.   I frequently am asked to do something about plants that are touching each other.   I suppose it is a style preference towards hyper tidiness….because certainly, plants that touch and grow together give a place a sense of establishment and age….sure if you want the plants to be prude, prune away and space widely…but if you want this type of romance, let them touch and tumble around together.

Oh — I and I think we have a perspective thing going on here too….is it me, the photo, or are those crape myrtles towards the back of the picture actually spaced closer than the ones at the foreground giving the whole thing a great sense of depth?

garden designed by Alex Smith