I choose this before and after garden created for a show house in West Sussex England by Modular for one reason.  It is an odd shaped yard, and I love that although this is in a housing development, the designers resisted the urge to take the wood fence to the brick wall closing everything off.  I think it is much more interesting that they have 3 fence types. (who would have thought it would work so well?) But even better, their remains a view and an openness to the space and wild beyond in the back that gives this garden so much more health, beauty and vitality.

yes, its a clever trick, I know….before, all black and white…after, all pretty and colorful…but the devil is in the details here (as usual) and the cheery mix of bright colors and little vignettes to take in are what make this balcony makeover so sweet and charming.  From Marie Claire Maison.

All imagesfrom Lejardindeclaire / Slowgarden

I had a date this morning…9:00am @ the garden of Clara Endicott Sears….meet up with a group of volunteers who have signed up to spend the morning helping to clear the over growth from the historic walls of  The Lost Pergolas Garden at the Fruitlands Museum. (a.k.a. Phase 1).

For some reason I had in my head that these ‘volunteers’ were going to be Banker/ Financial types coming out from the City (of Boston) for a morning of  ‘doing good’.   I swear someone told me that. Quite to my surprise, I was greeted by a half a dozen service men from our United States Navy.  Presented, to help clear my little historical garden project.  I was and still am feeling like quite a lucky girl…SIX Navy Boys to clear a Garden!!!! Yee Ha!!

Admittedly not quite the striking before & after’s I have grown you accustomed to, I hope you can still appreciate the huge job these guys completed in just a little over 3 hours.

To what do I owe this grace? I don’t know, but I am a lucky girl and lucky girls have Six Navy Men show up to help when she was expecting a handful bankers.

And for them I am grateful.

Susan’s own description of the look she is trying to create in her garden puts a smile on my face.

She calls it:

“hardscrabble prairie/desert oasis/Texas cottage/woman homesteader/grubby child wandering through an arroyo on a Saturday morning”

It makes me think that there is nothing to be lost in trying to be more wordy with my design vision descriptions….

Through a series of front garden makeovers, I think she achieved what she was going for ….don’t you?  I really like it and love seeing a garden that by nature of its location is so completely different than my own.  You can see more about Susan’s garden at her interesting blog called the bike garden.

I love what the Landscape Studio of Plano Texas did with these two different pool projects.  Each presented heartless and uninspiring spaces (if not also very dated) to start with but the after results are both bright vibrant moderns designs.

The addition of this eating area made a useless corner into an inviting place.  The Use of consistently colored plants and containers along with a relatively short list of different plant varieties keeps the whole thing cohesive and sharp looking.

My favorite though is this update.  The blue tiles on the pool are just heinous and fit has a serious lack of charm.  It looks so dry and sad, it makes me think of cattle on the prairie in a dried up mud puddle trying to keep cool.

But the after makes me feel cool without even getting wet.  I love how the design uses just purple (in big quantities) to unify the planting and the fresh green of the palms and the umbrella are very sophisticated.  Banishing the blue tile and red brick pool coping and changing the pool color also go along way towards a successful update don’t you think?

I love a transformation such as this.  Just the visual improvement of tearing out of the shabby stuff alone usually provides enough improvement satisfaction to keep the DIY energy going.

The Black stained fence is really beautiful and I am sure will make plants shine in all their glory.  Have I mentioned the disapproval I am getting from my local Ben Moore guy for staining my house the closest shade of brown that there is to black?  I am not sure why…I have a cottage house in the woods and besides a more modern installation such as this, I can’t think of a better color.  I think there is a huge place for black in the garden and outdoor design world.  Do you agree?

You can find a few more images of Elke’s Makeover at her site Botanus.

BTW, while at Elke’s site, I discovered a new plant – Eucomis bi-color. I am wondering if it would be possible to pull off a beautiful pot like her mother did here in zone 5/6.  Aren’t those speckled stems just amazing?