#real topiary trees

[twigoftetbury]

Contact Twig for a wonderful collection of cast iron urns and pedestals, real topiary trees, antique garden statues, turquoise canvas art, antique lacquer & inlaid furniture, antique decorative objects, garden antiques, antique garden furniture, etc. A local antiques and interiors shop in Tetbury with a broad reach to areas like London, the Cotswolds, Cheshire, Bath, bristol. Cheltenham, Gucester, Cirencester, Newbury, Oxford and America.

[k-hippie]

k-707 ( 2025 EDITION ) RELEASE - FIRST WAVE

It’s finally here! Well, the first part of it—because let’s be real, this beast of a project is too massive to drop all at once ( unless we suddenly gain the ability to compress/expand time ) ;)

For now, we’re rolling out the first wave of k-707, covering :

- Base Game/Seasons ( Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, Newcrest ) - Get to Work ( Magnolia Promenade ) - Outdoor Retreat ( Granite Falls ) - Vampires ( Forgotten Hollow ) - Cottage Living ( Henford-on-Bagley ) - High School Years ( Copperdale ) - Life & Death ( Ravenwood )

Yes, we know ... you want more—but trust us, this is already a lot. The rest will come soon-ish ( don’t ask for dates, we’re not EA ) and as we say again and again, this is a work in progress, time for us to understand some more things with blender managing vertex painting and so on ;)

For everything related to instructions, how-to and so on, see the previous post or the "Download Page" of the k-707 on our website.

We replaced, reshaped, optimized, and obsessed over hundreds of trees and plants. Everything is optimized for directX11 ... Now, in theory, all should move right, look right, and fit right :D If you encounter a purple question mark on this new release, just send us a message. We'll see this together :)

Do not be surprised, some trees ( very very few ) are not yet modified ( -> I think about topiaries ) and some others have been fully replaced ( such as the ugly majestic and royal palms in base game )

Never forget this is still a work in progress and some changes will be done later ;)

As soon as we do some minor modifications and checks, we'll release a SECOND wave ( which should be very soon indeed )

Later ( End of February ) a THIRD and final wave will be released ...

Installation & Warnings

Each Expansion has 2 folders : one for plants, one for trees

The base game is split into 4 folders : 2 lots + 2 debug

Expansions with minimal greenery ( City Living, University, Get2Work ) are in single folder named k-hippie-k707-multi-greeny-2025

Do NOT mess with the folder structure unless you love chaos. If you merge files and something breaks, that’s on you. We won’t be able to troubleshoot Frankenstein mods ... More information on our website or into the previous post ;)

Final Notes

K-707 isn’t perfect ( yet ) :D We’re still tweaking, improving, and fixing things. We are aware some textures and styles need to be refined/modified. It will be done in time. But this is already a massive upgrade. So, enjoy your lusher, greener, better-integrated Sims world—and if you spot a tree acting weird, just pretend it’s haunted until we fix the green :D

Remember the k-mods are still and always free. Thanks to freely give a little something if you can. This is a massive piece of work and so, a massive piece of time ;)

If you think it’s good enough to drop our way : PayPal link

...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > UPDATE ! February 25

We added few missing plants to the base game ( both lot & debug ) and some modifications to some plants ( azalea - hydrangea ) ... Some textures have been fixed. As we said, there will be adjustments and tiny updates. You know, a work in progress ;)

Tonight, a bit in advance, we release too :

k-707 ( 2025 ) for Sulani ( Island Living )

k-707 ( 2025 ) for Tomarang ( for Rent )

We know the gameplay bug related to for rent expansion but we finished trees & plants for this expansion, so better to release :)

By the way, as Windenburg and Britechester, Sulani will get a small k-505 redux quite soon. It won't be huge but it will correct details here & there. That was the Sunday late news and releases. Have a great week everyone !

Sorry for the delays but real world got massive changes and I confess I didn't have time to make more k-707 stuff this time ...

See you soon fellows :)

Download the K-707 mod HERE

...

[dalydily]

I was hunting down the real life term for the thing gardeners do to trees to change how they grow and the resulting shapes, but the only term i could find that worked was "tree shaping", "tree bracing", and topiary so let's go with that!

I've seen a few common interpretations of the horns and chains around Promised Consort Radahn's arms and legs. Many of them I like and agree with, but that doesn't mean I can come up with completely different ones!

At first I thought that these looked like chains binding Mohg/Radahn for Miquella to more easily control, but what if they're there to help/protect Radahn?

Normal animal horns grow in set patterns and only injure and interfere with the animal in unusual cases.

But Omen horns aren't a natural attribute. As a result of the Hornsent curse they grow erratically to the point of self harm. Despite the likelihood of death Omen babies have their horns cut off to increase their quality of life, even though theyre shunned and left in the sewers.

The Omen Bairns:

Mohg takes pride in his cursed blood, as a child of Marika bearing the Omen curse. Kidnapping war surgeons, worshipping the Formless Mother, spreading his blood; all serve to legitimize himself and his condition.

His horns are the clearest icon of his cursed but royal blood. He takes great pride in them and clearly maintains their appearance and health. Which also means he doesn't cut or even trim his horns to the point that it causes self harm. He probably sees himself as a sort of new divinity and is unwilling to do anything to defy that.

Much like a tree that grows without any outside intervention, such as too heavy branches, lopsided growth, a bent or twisted trunk and so on. That's why we have gardeners and arborist after all.

As a side note I see his identity being a combo of his bloodline (Marika's child) and his curse (which isn't actually associated with blood or relationships, bit possibly just chance). It's why his dynasty doesn't involve any other Omens.

Mohg doesn't actually venerate the Hornsent curse, he is propping up his unique combination as making him worthy of power and divinely appointed authority.

Morgott on the other hand hates himself, his curse, and all other Omens. To Morgott their suffering is well deserved. He keeps his fellows imprisoned in the sewers and allows the Omenkillers to act freely.

Morgott never (meaningfully) denies being an Omen himself though. He keeps his misshapen horns that are clearly unmaintained, but also has what looks like stumps of sawn off horns. He's doing the bare minimum to maintain his capabilities

The only horns he's removed are the ones above his eyes, likely self inflicted so he can at least see. Otherwise like Mohg he keeps his horns, though oit of self hatred rather than pride.

As for Miquella, let's take another look at the horns on Radahn's arms and legs.

Note the chains are only around the horns and don't even overlap his bracers. You can see that they're actually winding around and between individual horns.

We know that Omen horns don't grow in a natural pattern and can maim the Bearer without proper care.

Perhaps Miquella is using these chains to guide the horns growth in a healthy way. And though the horns are probably young they look to be in better shape than Morgotts.

Miquella is heavily associated with gardening, such as Lilies and the Haligtree. He's the middle ground between Mohg and Morgott. The former cares for and maintains his horns but puts no limits on his growth to the point of self harm, the latter hacks off his own for utility but doesn't maintain them. And here's Miquella caring for them by allowing them the grow in a safe and controlled way.

I'd go even further and say this is Miquella's and Radahn's way of showing respect towards Mohg. They could have hacked them off, or found a way to keep them from growing. This is in spite of Ansbach's words that they are disgracing Mohg. Ansbach is pretty conflicted himself about Miquella given his conversations and armor description.

Relatedly, I think that Mohg's soul hasn't yet fully left his body. If he was fully dead when Radahn's souls was placed in his body then there wouldn't be any horns left.

Morgott's corpse lacks horns to the point that there are holes in his skin where the horns were. That, and he shrunk down quite a bit, though that could be some gameplay or development contrivance to fit Godfrey's model.

I think, in lore, the horns are a physical manifestation of the curse, to the point that the horns grow out from the soul itself. Thus upon death the soul takes the horns with it, leaving said holes.

Perhaps some part of Mohg's soul was merged with Radahn's in the process, or pieces were left behind to be absorbed. Radahn can use 1 Bloodflame spell despite likely never encountering it before. Seems unlikely he could use said spells if Mohg's knowledge was completely gone.

The horns being present only on his limbs means his soul has mostly taken over Mohg's body. What little influence Mohg/the Omen curse has over the body has been pushed out to the limbs, and isn't likely to come back.

Perhaps some part of Mohg did get to be Miquella's Consort, in a way.

Final point, now all 3 Carian siblings have had their souls transposed into new bodies. Ranni into multiple doll bodies, Rykard consumed then possessing the serpent, and now Radahn possessing Mohg's corpse/body.

[dailycharacteroption]

Leafshifter (Shifter Archetype)

(art by BangBooDoragon on DeviantArt)

Mimicry is a common adaptation among life across the planet. If you’re soft and vulnerable, mimic something that your predators fear. If you’re fearsome and scary, mimic something harmless to draw other creatures in, and so on.

This extends even to plant life, with many plants finding way to mimic animals or other plant species. Many flowers have parts that mimic pollinating insects to draw the real deal in, or mimicking other plants to avoid being eaten by those that fear the toxins of others, and so on.

With that in mind, the ghorans, a plant species that hyper-evolved a humanoid form and behaviors to convince humans to stop exploiting them as a food source, have a conceptual link to not just this concept, but the shifter class as well.

Today’s subject, the leafshifter, is one of two archetypes that cause the shifter to take on plant forms instead of animals. The other, the verdant shifter, we have already covered, but while the verdant shifter specializes in actually shapeshifting into plant monsters, the leafshifter instead shapeshifters into forms that blur the lines between animal and plant. Like living topiaries, their animal forms are composed of plant matter, gaining the benefits of the form on a macro scale, and the benefits of plant physiology on the micro scale.

Now, this archetype naturally meant for ghorans first, but as always, I’m of the opinion that unless a so-called “racial archetype” (or perhaps ancestral archetype is more appropriate now) specifically requires a certain trait to function, there isn’t any reason why other ancestries can’t take part too.

Regardless of how you handle it, however, these shifters present an interesting way to blend mimicry with the true nature of the plant beneath for surprising customizability.

Rather than grow claws, the basic weapon morph of these shapeshifting warriors is to harden their limbs like bramble-covered tree branches.

While they gain aspects like any shifter, they do not gain the normal minor form associated with that aspect. Instead, they gain a planty aspect of their choice, representing the base plant species that they take on the form of, which is later reshaped into an animal-like form when they invoke the major form. These minor forms can include an assassin vine’s grappling, the punishing thorns of brambles, the climbing skill of a creeper vine, the camouflage of a giant flytrap, the toxin resilience of a mushroom, the immovability of the oak, the senses of the giant shrieker mushroom, the lightweight airy nature of the spore, and even the buoyant aquatic mobility of the water lily.

Essentially, as these shifters grow in power, they get to pick and choose their minor aspects to go with their more familiar animal forms. You might recognize the names of those minor aspects as being the same as the plant focus abilities of the plant master archetype for hunters, which makes sense with how the core shifter aspects of the base shifter work. Regardless, these aspects provide lots of mobility options as well as close combat options, so this archetype might be useful indeed for the shifter as a whole. Beyond that, you can pretty much build them however you like.

Even though they don’t necessarily HAVE to be ghorans, the angle of mimicry is a very strong tie for that people, especially since in the Lost Omens setting, they hail from a land where their species was once engineered as a food source, and those of the mystic arts already hold so much political and social power over those that do not. If you can’t beat them directly, fool them. Of course, not every mage requires such deception, and not every ghoran lives in such a situation, but the concept is there, especially since ghorans live with the constant shadow of knowing that some may view them as nothing but chattel.

The iron mining and smelting town of Jusso has had it’s fair share of troubles with the local ghoran population, who take offense at the pollution wrought by their industry. However, when a scanderig wanders out of a pocket of elemental earth deep in the mine, the two forces must set aside their differences to bring down this forgefiend, with combined might of steel and bestial plantlike forms.

It is impossible to say for certain, but some have speculated that the leafshifter technique has a connection with the curious plant monsters known as living topiaries. The ghoran inventors of the technique are quick to dismiss such suggestions, though some would say they are hiding something.

The Jinoge clan of adaro have developed a fascination for the kelp forests surrounding their territory. Such places are prefect for setting up ambushes, especially during their sacred thunderstorm hunts. Some have even learned to tap into the sargassum and take on predatory aquatic shapes composed of kelp and sea grasses.

[halla-hunts-the-wolf]

The Vineyard Girl

Alecander Lavellan, son of the former Inquisitor and the Archon of Tevinter, accompanies his father on a trip to Antiva. There, he meets his love at first sight.

A/N: A short-story featuring one of my Pavellan children. Alecander is so much fun to write for, and I've had these interactions rattling around in my mind for weeks. This is set ten years post-Veilguard, when the world is at peace and everyone can enjoy the warmth of Bloomingtide without fearing another world-ending disaster.

Pollen tickled the young elf’s nose as he leaned precariously over the side of the fence.  The estate owners had recently painted it ivory, a color in fashion during the summer in Antiva.  The green sleeves of his tunic caught in the groove of the wood, and he used it as an excuse to linger a moment longer, staring wide-eyed across the field of trellises and arbors. At the end of Bloomingtide, the summer heat allowed the petals to fall, revealing grapes of deep reds and purple, as far as his remaining eye could see. However, it wasn’t the vineyard or the prospect of good wine that caught his attention, but the sight of the young woman flitting back and forth on her second-story balcony.   She held a book aloft in one hand, while the other hitched up the skirt of her dress.  Her fingers clutched into the furbelows of the carnation pink fabric, conveying her frustration with whatever was on the page.  She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else, and Alecander Lavellan wanted nothing more than to whisk her away from her boring countryside life to some real adventure. 

They had met by accident a few weeks ago.  Although he had spent the passing seasons in college, studying alongside other young men and women in Minrathous, his determination to study the sciences and biology led to many unsanctioned experiments and word home to his parents.  They encouraged him to focus on his mathematics, literature, language, and history — to take a break from deciphering the complex webbing within a dragon’s wing or the toxins excreted from a serpent’s fangs.  They assured it had nothing to do with his encounter with a Wyvern during his Wintersend trip to Orlais, where he had returned home one eye poorer.  When the warmer seasons rolled around, and the colleges let out for the semester, Alec found himself whisked this way and that.  He had to visit his elder sister in Arlathan, to show his face at Senate meetings as the Prince, spend evenings aiding Cole and Maryden as they manned the soup kitchen from within New Haven, shepherding orphaned children all the while.  His latest endeavor included accompanying his father to the outskirts of Antiva City, where they had spent Bloomingtide alongside the Montilyets. 

Aunt Josephine had ensured they stayed busy.  If they weren’t attending the opera or engaging with a local theater troupe, they had dinner with the local nobility or played crochet with her associates, each vying for his father’s, and by association the archon’s, ear. Politics were never his forte and while he could appreciate a good play with the right amount of passion-fueled declarations or daring battles, he soon grew restless.  His only saving grace was one of his closest friends, Qwedian, who had joined them on their vacation to Antiva and kept him company during his less-thrilling obligations.  

Qwedian was there to roll their eyes when Alec caught the eyes of  Lady Sophia Forsythe from across the room.  They were each attending an evening dinner with their families.  String lights garnished the trees in the garden, and the live orchestra was accompanied by the sound of merry laughter and the gentle babbling of the fountain in the middle of the festivities, which pictured Andraste tipping over a vase, as if supplying her devout followers with one of their most basic needs.  Although a sea of people separated them, as did an outlandish amount of garish topiary,  Sophia had shared his private smile and used the fluttering of her cloth fan to hide the flush creeping up her cheeks. 

He had asked around that night, learned that the Forsythes owned the local winery and vineyard, and that Sophia was their only daughter.  He had looked for her at the following social events, and although they shared a few polite words, they were pulled away by their parents or outstanding obligations.  From their scarce interactions, Alec gleaned two crucial things: Not only was she their only heir, she was their prized possession, making her favor almost impossible to gain.   As his trip to Antiva barreled toward its end,  he was close to getting her attention with a note penned to the end of an arrow. 

“Can we go? Qwedian’s deep, raspy voice, pulled him from his pining thoughts. “I’m starved and Mahvir told us to be on time for lunch.”

Alec pulled back from the fence.  He threw one more look at Sophia in the distance, committing how her waves framed her face to memory.  “What’s he going to do? Ground us?” 

“Uh… Yes?”

“We’re nineteen?” 

“And that means you want to be on the bad side of the former Inquisitor?” 

“He was never The Inquisitor to me.” Alec waved the notion away, ruefully starting down the street to begin the long stroll back to the Montilyet country home, a less-than modest manor with a sprawling hedgemaze, stable, and lake for boating.  “Besides, he likes you, he would never get you into trouble.” 

“No,” Qwedian grunted their agreement. “But he might write home to Bull, and I’d hate to hear him goin’ on about manners and behavior when I’m stayin’ with you.” 

“My father is many things, but a snitch isn’t one of them.” 

Qwedian shrugged their shoulders and Alec kept close to their side, walking in their shadow to ward off the heat from the mid-day sun.  It paid to have a Qunari as your closest conspirator, not that Alec knew such a thing when they met at eight-years-old, barely able to stand one another as they mentored the other children at New Haven.  

“I just respect him, is all.” Qwedian broke the silence, “and I told him we’d be back for lunch.” 

“Alright, alright.” Alec acquiesced, breaking his casual stride to start into a sprint. 

—

By the time they rounded the picket fence surrounding the manor’s back garden, sweat had permeated the fabric of his tunic and left behind an unflattering stain along his collar.  His brunette curls pressed against his forehead, further obscuring his vision as he stepped onto the stone pathway leading to the patio, where the staff had staged a table full of frilly cakes, sandwiches of various fillings, and tea. He sank into one of the chairs with a huff, bringing himself face-to-face with his father, who sipped nonchalantly from a porcelain teacup.  Although the older elf’s eyes gleamed with pleasure to see him return on time, Alec didn’t miss the tremor in his hand when he returned his cup to its saucer. 

“Dal’en.” His father said, leaning his weight against the arm of his chair, rather than the ornate cane propped against the table.  “You look aggrieved. Don’t tell me a run through the countryside left you, our destined dragon-hunter, winded?” 

“Dragonologist.” He corrected, knowing full-well that his father knew the difference and was only trying to get a rise out of him.  Well, he thought, two can play at that game. “And no, it isn’t the run that has me wanting for breath, but love.” 

“Love?” Mahvir parroted back. Wrinkles creased across his wide-eyed expression. “And who is the lucky recipient of your affections?” 

“Sophia Forsythe,” Qwedian said, taking the seat to Alec’s left.  They always sat on his blind side, making up for his lack of peripheral vision. 

“The vineyard girl?” A smile threatened itself, but Mahvir schooled his expression into something sincere when he saw a familiar gleam in his child’s green gaze.  “I wasn’t aware that you knew one another.” 

“They don’t.” Qwedian continued to intercept, creating a tower of sandwiches on a plate that was too small.  “It’s all - ‘Good evening, Lady Forsythe,’ and ‘You as well, my lord,’ before he spends the entire night moaning about how beautiful she is. I believe, last night, he compared the color of her eyes to the lyrium crystals in Kal-Sharok.” 

Alec kicked his friend beneath the table, but his booted-toe against their shin elicited a thin smile and nothing more. “You read my journal?” 

“No,” Qwedian shook their head, their horn-cuff glinted in the afternoon light. “You left it open on the middle of the floor. I was cleanin’ up your mess, and happened to see the comparison.” 

“Well,” Mahvir intercepted them before an argument could begin. “If you’ve developed a fancy for the young lady, Alecander, I’m sure Josephine could introduce you.” 

“Who am I introducing you to, Alecander?”  Josephine swept through the manor’s backdoor.  Age failed to wither her beauty, as she was the picture of Antivan grace.  Her greying ebony hair sat within a bun atop her head, but she allowed a few strands to frame her face, curling past her pierced ears. Her modest sundress of peach-colored fabric and lace embellishments trailed the patio as she joined them.  Laugh lines marked the dimples on either side of her mouth, and the crows-feet at the crease of her kind eyes betrayed her wisdom.  Her adopted daughter, another New Haven orphan, trailed at her heels in a more elaborate dress of blue and ivory.  

“Sophia, I’m sure.  He’s been drooling over her for weeks.”  Esmerelda said as she pulled a chair out for her mother.  Now she was a snitch, and a stickler for the rules. However, Alec was willing to overlook her need for principle as he whirled in his chair. 

“Sophia,” He pressed. “You’re on a first name basis with her and you didn’t bother to tell me?” 

“Yes, we go to school together.”  Esmerelda took the chair to his right and filled the table. “I didn’t think it pertinent. You’ve yet to have a proper conversation with her, and you’re returning to Minrathous in two weeks. That’s not enough time for a prolonged courtship, which is what her family expects.” 

“Surely they’d be empathetic toward a prince?”

Esmerelda scoffed, tipping the kettle over her empty cup. “How vain.” 

Alec threw a long, suffering look in his father’s direction. “Babae.” 

“Dear Esmerelda is right.” Mahvir started, stabbing one of the frilly cakes - Nevarran chocolate - with his fork. “In the two years since you’ve entered polite society as a bachelor, you’ve entertained your share of fleeting romances.” 

“This is different.” Alec insisted. “When I look at her, the whole world becomes brighter.  I haven’t stopped thinking about her since we first locked eyes at the Ambrosias’ dinner party.  Instinctively, I look for her wherever we go and am disappointed when she’s not there.” 

Mahvir hummed, his low and rumbly sound reminding Alec of a disgruntled bear. They exchanged a moment of silence as his father mulled over this new information.  The silence felt like a cresting wave, threatening to drown Alec with each passing second, until Mahvir mercifully turned to their host. “Josie Darling, can you arrange for me to meet with the Forsythes?” 

—

Three days passed before the Forsythes sent word to the manor, inviting Lady Montilyet, Lord Lavellan, and their children to the vineyard for a wine tasting and tour of the grounds. Alec had dressed in his best clothes and endured Qwedian’s relentless teasing the hour before their departure. The Qunari had elected to stay behind, disliking alcohol, and in their words, wanting to preserve Alec’s picture of dignity for as long as they could. 

Now that they were at the vineyard, he found himself at the back of the tour.  He watched as his father’s cane bounced off the grass, keeping the war-worn elf from limping his way through the rows of bursting grapes, ripe and sweet on the tongue.  He tried his best to walk on the straight and narrow, steeling his nerves against the shadows in the corner of his vision, where he occasionally saw flitters and specters.  In all his storybooks growing up, no hero mentioned the aches and pains of losing an eye.  At the very least, The Iron Bull had gifted him an ornate leather eyepatch, with a dragon etched onto the front.  He never wore it, and his parents didn’t find the irony of the etching amusing at the time, but he kept it packed among his belongings, in case the light and its shadows became too much. 

It sat in his pocket now, and he fiddled with its bindings as he listened to the laughter filter down from the front of the group. 

“-And then he told the Marquise that if he worried about the stench of fish, he should keep the window of his drawing room closed.”  Josephine had just finished telling a twenty-year-old anecdote. 

“I’m sure that earned the Inquisition few favors with the Orlesians!”  Lord Forsythe chortled, his laugh sounded more like a guffaw. 

“I’d had a very long day,” Mahvir answered with a wry smile, “and the courtiers found my uncouthness charming. The following day, I received twenty salon invites. I suspect the nobility wanted to make a further spectacle of me— or hoped I would embarrass their enemies in a similar fashion.” 

Sophia and Esmerelda walked behind their parents, speaking to one another in hushed voices.  Alec’s pointed ears came to attention at the hushed sound, and his gaze trailed over the lush curls bouncing between Sophia’s shoulderblades, but he did everything in his power not to eavesdrop on their conversation.  Instead, he focused on the nearby birdsong, listening to the distant trills and warbles.  He listed the local species in his mind, so engrossed in silent study of the avian wildlife that he overlooked when Sophia lulled a step, allowing him to catch up and take Esmerelda’s place at her side. 

For all his training as a warrior and nobleman, Alec startled when he noticed Sophia by his side, inconveniently on the left. He needed to turn his head to acknowledge her, admiring the hook of her nose, the sweet roundness of her cheeks, and the softness of her lips.  “My lady,” he said, placing his hand over his heart for a mid-stride bow. “It was gracious of you and your family to welcome us into your home on such short notice.”

“My parents were beside themselves when The Inquisitor requested a meeting,” Sophia responded in her soft, meager voice. Alec longed to help her overcome her fear of taking up space or putting others out.  “You’ve done them an honor, coming to survey the vineyard. It’s my family’s pride and joy.”

“Not yours?” 

“Excuse me?”

“You said it’s your family’s pride and joy.  Is it not yours?”

A faint smile flickered over Sophia’s expression, there and gone as quick as the wind. “You’re perceptive. No, I can’t say the Vineyard is my true passion, even though it is my birthright.”

“What is your true passion?” 

Sophia glanced in her parents’ direction, but neither was paying them any mind. “The theater. I long to stand on the stage with my peers and tell stories.  My favorites are romances, but I wouldn’t mind putting on a thriller. It would be great fun to play an Antivan Crow in a murder mystery.  What of you, your highness? Is it your passion to rule Tevinter?”

The notion felt laughable.  An elven warrior leading the greatest nation in Thedas, who netted and collared his people not a decade prior. Minrathous was his home now, but he had neither the drive nor the ambition to lead the city into a new era once his father was gone.  “No, I can’t say it is. I’ll leave the politics to my cousin, Nellie.  As for dreams.  I desperately want to track Dragon migration patterns and watch everything about them.” 

“Dragons!” She echoed, loud enough that their parents finally gave them the light of day. Alec pretended not to notice the amused tremor of his father’s lips. “Is that what happened to your eye? Forgive me for asking so bluntly, but I have heard rumors.” 

Alec knew the jagged claw marks trailing down his left eye left him unappealing to some.  “That was a wyvern.  Last winter I took a trip to Orlais for the holidays, and found a nest of snowy ones.  As it turned out, it was a mother with her yearlings, and she didn’t take kindly to intruders.  She let me leave with  a mild warning.” 

“And after that experience, you still want to study them and their larger cousins?” 

Alec spared another glance toward his father, whose hair had faded from chestnut to grey in recent years. “They’re not that different from us, I’ve found.  Most parents would do anything to protect their children when backed into a corner.”

“You’re a peculiar one, Prince Alecander.”

He turned his gaze to Sophia, his heart fluttering when he saw her look at him with excitement rather than horror.  “Please, call me Alec.” 

[lauronk]

what if you write a ficlet where Joel & Ellie meet a leprechaun 🥹

here you go "anon" (cough @stillboldlygoing cough)

getting that tilted feeling out here

length: ~2k words tags: joel & ellie; slight magical realism; magic; a vague description of a leprechaun; wish-granting; a dash of feelings and a pinch of emotions; nebraska; a sprinkle of amnesia

“Joel, come on!”

“Ellie, I swear to Christ –” Joel muffles another swear as a rock comes up almost out of nowhere and rams into his toe. “Slow down!”

She either doesn’t hear or doesn’t care - and Joel’d bet on the latter - and she keeps tearing through the woods, bent on a path only she seems to be able to see. It’s all he can do to keep her in eyesight, dodging swinging branches and tree roots and rocks.

“It’s gotta be right up here!” Ellie calls back to him, pointing ahead through the trees. “We’re so close!”

So close. Joel rolls his eyes. Yeah, so close to getting lost in the goddamn woods in Nebraska of all places, probably a mile from the road they’d been following at this point. But Ellie had spotted the rainbow over the trees, fresh and glimmering bright from the rainstorm they’d just weathered, and she’d been off like a shot. Determined to find the end of it, the same nonsense he’d heard since he was a kid about a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Thank God Sarah had never –

Joel’s grateful for the next rock he stubs his toe on - the sharp pain radiating through his foot is enough to distract him from the way it feels like his chest is caving in.

That had been happening more and more these last few weeks - thoughts of what he had lost creeping up on him, her face appearing in his dreams, her name reaching the tip of his tongue only to be swallowed back. And Joel didn’t really wanna think about what might be causing it.

He finally catches up to Ellie, hanging back and watching with a barely-smothered grin as she yanks at a particularly thick clump of bushes, entangled with vines hanging from the trees above. Not exactly your typical Nebraska topiary, Joel thinks as he watches the kid. “Well, don’t just stand there,” she huffs when she notices him. “Fucking help me.”

Joel amuses himself by watching her tug a little harder. “Help you do what?”

There’s strands of hair coming loose from her ponytail, cheeks tinted pink with the exertion. “Help me…get us through…this bush!” She pulls and tugs and digs and yet the bush remains impenetrable. “Look, Joel, the rainbow is right there!” A finger jabs in the air, and to humor her, Joel follows it up to the sky.

Well it…Joel frowns. It is really close, actually. Each line of color crisp and practically vibrating in the air barely twenty or thirty feet over his head. He’s never seen a rainbow so close, not in all his years, and it’s real goddamn weird.

“Joel!” Ellie’s voice is one octave shy of petulant. “Help. Me.”

She’s still got her hands wrapped around some of the branches, pulling for all she’s worth, which ain’t much. She’s a tiny thing, Ellie is, and walking clear across the country hasn’t been helping with that.

“Alright, alright,” Joel mutters when she opens her mouth again. “Move out the way.” He’s got a machete strapped to his backpack - it’s dull as hell but it’ll work a bit better than her small hands pulling will.

A few clean hacks - Ellie helpfully pulling some of the detritus out of the way - and they’re through, and…

Standing in a meadow?

“Holy shit!” Ellie shrieks, and she’s sprinting away again, down the field to where…

Joel rubs his eyes, pinches the skin of his inner arm, and then sets off after her at a much slower pace. She’s come to a stop now, eyes round and amazed as she stands in front of the end of the rainbow where it disappears into the earth.

“I fucking told you!” She crows.

Yeah, yeah she did. And yet Joel still can’t quite believe what’s right before his eyes. A rainbow, so bright it damn near hurts to look at, the end of it vanishing into grass more lush and green than anything in the middle of Nebraska ought to be this late in the year.

“Hang on.” Joel snags Ellie’s arm when she starts towards it. “You don’t know that’s safe.”

Ellie just rolls her eyes at him. “Looks fine to me. Although,” her head tilts, “I thought there’d be a pot of gold.”

“Fresh out,” a new voice says from their left, and Joel hauls Ellie behind him automatically, hand reaching for his revolver. “Oh you won’t need that.” A snap, and his revolver is returned to its holster.

“What the hell –”

“Yeah.” The man standing in the trees shrugs. “I get that a lot. Well,” his brows tug together, “maybe a lot is overstating it. Don’t get to socialize much now with the whole…” a pale hand twirls through the air aimlessly, “fungus apocalypse end-of-the-world situation.”

There’s a faint lilt to his voice that Joel almost wants to place as Irish, but it’s been so long since he’s heard that accent he doesn’t even know if he’s remembering it right. He’s pale, a thick shock of red hair covering his head, and his loose shirt and pants are a dark green that almost blends into the nature behind him.

“Are you…a leprechaun?” Ellie asks wonderingly, peering out from behind Joel. The man bows ever so slightly, and a “Whoa” escapes her.

It’s on the tip of Joel’s tongue to remind everyone that leprechauns ain’t real, but then again…it’s not like he’s got another explanation for whatever the fuck is going on here. Unless he and Ellie ate something really off that’s put them into some sort of shared hallucinatory coma, and honestly he doesn’t know if that’s more or less believable than a rainbow ten feet from him and a leprechaun.

“So where’s the gold?” Ellie asks, and the man arches a brow. “And why are you like…regular sized?”

“You’re a rude one, aren’t you?” There’s no anger in the question, only a curious delight. “I’m regular sized, as you put it, because the whole short thing was a…marketing campaign, if you will. Help us get by unnoticed. And as for the gold…no use for it in this world anymore. So instead,” he rocks back and forth on his heels for a moment, hands clasping in front of them, “I can grant you one wish, one desire. Each.”

“I wish –” Ellie starts, but the man holds his hand up to halt her.

“It is the same kind of thing you probably heard about wishes from whatever books or movies are still around,” he says smoothly. “No extra wishes, no love spells, no bringing anyone back to life.”

Ellie deflates a little at that, chin tucking to her chest. “Then I need a moment to think.”

The man inclines his head, sweeping his hand through the air before turning to face Joel. “And you, sir?”

Joel eyes him suspiciously. “Ain’t no way you can grant wishes, or whatever it is you’re tryin’ to pull here.”

The smile he gets in answer is knowing, almost patronizing, and the man clasps his hands behind his back. “You are under no obligation to use it, of course. And maybe it’ll make you feel better to know that after you’re done here, I’ll return you to the road you were on and you’ll have no idea this even happened.”

Joel scoffs. “None of that sounds the least bit believable either.”

A dismissive shrug. “Suit yourself.”

“Alright,” Joel says with a challenge in his voice, halting the man as he starts to turn back to face Ellie. “I wanna find my brother. ‘S why we’re out here, walkin’ all this way. Tryin’ to track him down.”

The man nods briskly, clapping his hands together in a shower of golden sparks that have Joel flinching back a step, startled. “And find Tommy you shall.”

Joel opens his mouth, prepared to demand that he explain how he knew his brother’s name, but his back is already turned, his focus on Ellie. “And you?”

Ellie’s eyes flick between Joel and the man, and she shuffles a few steps away, a little closer to the rainbow. “Yeah, I just…can you come over here for me to tell you?”

Another one of those fancy little bows. “But of course.” He turns back to Joel, makes a shooing gesture with his hand until Joel backs away to the edge of the meadow, tree branches arcing over his head in a ripple of bright green and tints of yellow.

Their voices still carry to him, even as he turns to face away - aiming his right ear to them - and they step closer to the rainbow. Ellie’s in particular, lands directly in his ear as though he was standing right next to her.

“I want to…belong somewhere. Have someone I matter to, somewhere I fit in and am supposed to be.”

Joel’s eyes slip shut, head tilting back, and he deeply, deeply hopes that what the man said turns out to be true. That they won’t remember this in a few minutes, because those words had not been meant for him to hear, and now they wouldn’t stop reverberating in his head.

The man chuckles softly. “That would be a waste of a wish, my dear. You already have that.”

Joel doesn’t open his eyes, even as he feels Ellie turn to look at him. Makes himself stand still, like he’s just waiting on them to be done, not paying them the slightest bit of attention, not feeling at all like part of his chest has just been split open.

“Oh,” Ellie says quietly, her voice still crystal clear in his ear, and Joel wonders if it’s something about this meadow. Or the rainbow, or the man, one of those things carrying her words to him when they shouldn’t be. “Well then…I want to find the Fireflies, and have them make the cure.”

The man doesn’t answer immediately, doesn’t loudly proclaim that she’ll find them and make the cure like he had for Joel about finding Tommy. Instead, as a breeze rustles through the clearing and curls its fingers in the neck of Joel’s jacket, he tells her, “That’s technically two different wants. I can do one, I can make sure you find them.”

“Okay,” Ellie says decisively. “Yeah, then I want to find them.” Joel knows what she’s thinking - them finding the Fireflies already means they’ll make their cure, so as long as she makes sure they’re found, everything else will work itself out.

A clap of his hands - Joel turns to look and sees the same shower of gold in the air - and the man nods again. “And find the Fireflies you shall.” He rubs his hands together briskly, waving Joel over to rejoin them. “Now, before I send you on your way, I really must thank you for stopping by. It was quite nice to interact with someone other than myself for once, and I wish you a safe journey.”

Then, without warning, he plants a hand on each of their shoulders and shoves them backwards into the rainbow. There’s a brief sensation of falling, dropping, stomach swooping, and then –

Joel blinks in the sunlight, a breeze setting the tall grass around them to swaying. He’s stopped - they’re stopped - off the side of the cracked pavement they’d been following for miles, sun beaming down. It’s shifted now to be nearly in front of them, and Joel turns back to find Ellie. She’s to his left, blinking confusedly up at him. “Why are we stopped?”

“We –” Joel cuts himself off, brow furrowing. He doesn’t know, actually. They were walking, like they do every day, and now they’re not. “Dunno, but let’s keep movin’. Too exposed out here.”

Ellie gives him a mock salute, marching forward with exaggerated steps. Joel swats at her ponytail as she passes, ignoring the small flare of affection that crops up when she turns back and wrinkles her nose at him. That’s been happening too much lately, refusing to be brushed aside every time, but there’s nothing he can do about it right now.

Only option is to keep moving forward.

this one was a fun little challenge, nice stretch of my writing muscles, so thanks "anon" lol

full collection of ficlets also on ao3

[topiarytreenet]

The Benefits of Choosing Preserved Topiary Trees Over Live Plants

Do you love the look of greenery but — like many people — don’t really have the time or energy to care for live plants? Preserved topiary trees can give your home or office that fresh, natural feel without the upkeep that comes with watering and pruning.

What exactly are preserved topiary trees?

Preserved topiary trees are real plants that have been specially treated to maintain their shape, color, and natural texture without the need for ongoing care. They’re not artificial — instead, they start as live plants and go through a preservation process that replaces their natural sap with a plant-based, biodegradable solution.

What makes preserved topiary trees better than live plants?

Less maintenance - As much as we love the beauty of live plants, they require a lot of care and attention to thrive. This includes regular watering, pruning, fertilizing, and sometimes even pest control. Preserved topiary plants are the opposite — they require zero maintenance after their initial treatment. They don’t need any water or sunlight, making them a perfect option for those who may not have a green thumb or the time to care for live plants.

Long-lasting - Live plants are fragile. If your job requires a lot of traveling, for example, your plants might end up withering and dying due to lack of care. This means constantly having to replace them, which can be costly and time-consuming. In contrast, preserved topiary plants are long-lasting and can retain their beauty for years without any maintenance.

Natural aesthetic without the hassle - Because preserved topiary plants are made from real trees and plants, they have a natural look and feel that artificial plants simply cannot replicate. This makes them the perfect choice for adding a touch of greenery to any space without the hassle of constantly watering, pruning, and caring for live plants.

Ready to add preserved topiary trees to your space? 

Topiarytree.net is one of the most recommended suppliers of topiary trees, plants, and products that have been preserved to retain their natural beauty for years. Browse through their website at www.topiarytree.net to shop for high-quality preserved topiary trees, both for indoor and outdoor use.

[tameblog]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[ramestoryworld]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[alexha2210]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[angusstory]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[tumibaba]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[romaleen]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[monaleen101]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link

[iamownerofme]

Country gardens are a broad collection of ideas and approaches that rely on similar key design elements. Popular among English manors and estates (and everywhere else), they bring a departure from Victorian-era cottage gardens with a pleasing balance between the wild and natural and a series of well-designed, seemingly effortless, vignettes. They offer a seamless blend of maximalist planting and well-defined spaces. The idea of the country garden is to embrace nature while complementing and unifying the home with the landscape. Country themes evoke a timeless, easy stability, as if they’ve been there all along, but aren’t overly prim. Unexpected views and focal points unveil surprises, and incorporating blooms, fruits, and vegetables makes them prosperous and functional. Birds, pollinators, and garden diversity flourish. The design elements of a country garden include big, full borders, clearly defined, with paths that unify garden rooms. Multiseason appeal makes them interesting year-round, and punctuating features become focal points, from a sweeping view to a small sculpture, topiary, or fountain. The essence of the country garden applies across garden scales. Using elements that combine order and abundance, even in small spaces, inspires the beloved style. Choose a few of the basics, or even one or two, for small country garden designs. Focus on the Border Borders serve as a distinction or boundary between spaces. A well-defined, fully-planted border is the key ingredient to this charming style. Tailor the size to your space, but make it as broad as possible with a clean edge. It can be curved and organic or straight and tidy – whatever your space allows. Borders are transitional areas that form a distinction or boundary between spaces. They serve as unifiers between zones and define an area. Perennials fill the border with swaths of color, texture, and movement. Plant Selection Several plants and flowers can offer varying heights and textures, providing a naturalistic aesthetic. Use varying heights and textures to layer the border. If you have the room, incorporate a small specimen tree. Use flowering hedges and evergreens as a backdrop for blooming perennials. If you don’t have space for trees or shrubs, rely on rugged perennials and include natives for a well-rounded garden system. Dwarf and compact varieties save space in small settings.  Because of the limited real estate, be selective with your chosen plants, focusing on repeating the favorites and those with similar characteristics. Use clustered groups of low-growers and groundcovers at the front of the border to anchor a small display. The style’s aesthetic is naturalistic, easygoing, and carefree. To narrow down the plant selection, consider the physical space and its growing conditions, such as light exposure, wind, temperature, water access, soil quality, and size. Choose plants with similar cultural requirements that match site-specific conditions. Favorite Perennials for Country Gardens: Acanthus Astilbe Delphinium Foxglove (Biennial) Hardy Geranium Hosta Iris Lupine Peony Tall Garden Phlox Tiarella Verbena Define Garden Areas Define spaces by including connecting paths, borders, and plant selections. The country style creates garden rooms, or distinct spaces that connect to the garden at large through plant selection, meandering paths, and repeated materials. At a small scale, a singular space can be its own room. Depending on your scale, include paths to connect spaces or uses, like seating areas, patios, and the entryway. Focus on the entrance and arrival to set the tone. Defined borders often have a backdrop, such as a wall, fence, or hedge. A backdrop adds cohesion to the space and gives the eye a place to rest. A variety of materials create backdrops, including plant forms, structures, and implied boundaries.  Trees and hedges screen a space, while walls and gates physically bind it. The border itself implicates a space as its own. A grassy patch or path adds visual separation. While we don’t meander in smaller spaces the way we would in a sprawling countryside landscape, using local elements applies it to the broader scope. When it comes to hardscapes, low walls, or accents, aim to use natural and native materials. Local stone or other resources from your region give a settled, fitting quality. Use Structural Hedging Make use of clipped hedges to add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Shrubs, even compact ones, are unifying elements of the country garden style. Clipped hedges like boxwoods and yews add definition to the abundant blooms they surround. Use evergreens, either narrow and columnar or low and spreading, as year-round anchors. Repeating plants and similar characteristics is one of the easiest ways to create unity in the landscape. It helps achieve abundance without becoming muddled or overwhelmed. Repeated plant sequences organize the overall experience and lend a sense of rhythm. Repetition occurs through overlapping form, texture, and color. Repeat the same plant or opt for plants in the same color scheme with similar foliage textures and growth habits. Repetition and rhythm apply to both the perennial border and the all-season interest shrubs that anchor it. Favorite Hedging Shrubs for Small Country Garden Designs: Boxwood ‘Green Mountain’ and ‘Green Velvet’ Daphne ‘Aureomarginata’ Hydrangea ‘Seaside Serenade Cape Lookout’ Inkberry Holly ‘Gem Box,’ ‘Strongbox,’ and ‘Squeezebox’ Japanese Holly ‘Soft Touch’ Old Garden Roses Spreading Yew Create Focal Points Focal points will capture the attention and draw the eye to a specific direction. Strategically placed focal points capture attention and draw the eye in a specific direction.. In small country garden designs, this may be a topiary or showy specimen, a wall fountain, an arch, an arbor, or a sculpture. It can be as simple as a well-situated bed of blooms or a cluster of containers.  Well-placed seating adds to the appeal; plan your view from where you’ll be sitting or strolling to enjoy the focal point. Go Vertical Grow vertically by using hanging baskets, walls, and trellises to add dimension and visual interest. A valuable way to take advantage of all available space is to grow vertically. Verticality adds dimension and visual interest. Tall plants, hanging baskets, living walls, trellises, and obelisks take a small area to new heights. They maximize growing area without taking up much room. Consider a climbing rose, clematis, or passion flower to adorn an arch or climb a post. These become beautiful focal points, soften structures, and define an area. Dedicate Space for Fruits and Vegetables Raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets filled with crops can make the space more versatile. These gardens traditionally have a dedicated herb and vegetable area. A small raised bed or even a container or hanging basket filled with crops and herbs you’ll use makes the spaces versatile.  Espaliered or patio fruit trees add vertical interest while producing sweet rewards. Beds cushioned with companion plants attract beneficial insects and promote healthy pairings.  Feature Lush Containers Utilizing lush container arrangements can highlight specimens and punctuate a space. In addition to growing vertically is the ability to rely on container arrangements. Even the largest manors use pots to accessorize, highlight specimens, and punctuate a space. A topiary, a single shrub, or loads of blooms evoke the small country garden design. Use potted arrangements to feature color, fragrance, and form – all adding seasonal interest. Flank the garden entrance and seating areas. Create a potted focal point in the border or at the end of a path. Using containers only is a way to imbue the country with inspiration, even if you don’t have in-ground beds. Opt for a large container or group multiples for impact at scale. Incorporate a Grassy Swath Grassy areas define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. Grassy areas are characteristic of the style to define beds, unify spaces, and offer a spot to gaze. They frame the layout and give the eye a place to rest. A patch of grass, even a small one, allows for relaxing, playing, and letting pups roam. Depending on the size of your growing area, choose whether a plot of grass is a fit. Prioritize the border and any garden goals/preferred uses first.  Modern country gardens get creative with waterwise solutions and less intensive lawns. More and more, we’re realizing the importance of balancing lawns with richly planted zones that enhance ecological services. There’s charm in a shaggy deep green carpet, whether a tidy lawn or a walkable turf alternative, to break up the space with a little sweep of green. Decide, too, if you want the maintenance even for a bit of grass. Add a Water Feature Water features offer tranquility and benefit diversity by leaving a place for birds and pollinators to drink. Larger-scale country gardens often reveal a pond, lake, grotto, or rills to discover as one strolls. Bring in the idea at a smaller scale with a fountain or pool, bringing in one of nature’s major elements. The elemental blend heightens the senses and complements the blooms and leafy greens.  Water brings tranquility and benefits diversity, too, with a place for birds and pollinators to drink. It also cools a space, at least visually and audibly, in the heat of summer. Source link