Tag Archives: NC

“It’s Complicated” movie provides inspiration for NC garden

Abundant summer garden

Design inspiration sometimes comes from unexpected sources. Late last winter, one of my clients asked me to design a kitchen garden (or potager) inspired by the movie, It’s Complicated. I knew that this was going to be a really fun experience. How many jobs do you have where you’re asked to see a movie as part of the design process?

Pat had taken the first step in creating an inspiring garden. She had a clear idea of what she wanted. The potager garden in the movie provided her with the picture of an abundant, lush vegetable and flower garden surrounded by a fence and raised beds for structure. She’s an avid vegetable gardener and cook and already had a large, abundant vegetable garden. The views of the existing garden from the house and decks were great when the garden was in full production but not so in winter.

Winter view

The deer who had found plenty of food in the woods before discovered the tasty buffet of her garden last summer. Rather than a high fence, she decided to install a rail fence with a single line electrical fence above it if the deer become a problem.

My role in this garden was to provide the “bones” of the garden while Pat would select the small fruits, edible flowers and veggies to plant based on her past successes. Vertical structures for beans, tomatoes and other climbing plants will be built by a neighboring craftsman. We also planted dwarf pear trees that added vertical structure. When I last saw Pat, she was expanding her gardening knowledge by researching companion plants that benefit each other. Among others, she was going to install the baby corn plants first so that beans could grow up the stalks.

Raised beds add structure

One of the joys of the design process is collaborating with my clients to create a garden that inspires them.

Subscribe to my post to see updated photos of this garden with the installed fence and summer garden.

Autumn Landscapes in Asheville

As we start to experience the signs of autumn in Asheville, do you have visions of a beautiful fall garden? Now is a good time to plant.

Those of us who reside in western North Carolina are blessed in many ways. Not only do we live in one of the most beautiful areas of the world with a vast diversity of plants and people, we can successfully install most plants year round. Autumn offers optimum conditions.

There are great benefits for planting in autumn. The temperatures are cooling and the days are getting shorter, so there is less moisture lost to transpiration and evaporation. We also experience more rain during the cool months. This results in less supplemental watering of the new plants and less use of this valuable resource.  Even drought tolerant plants need about a year to get established. The plants have several months of establishing their root system in their new home before focusing their energies on leaf and flower production in the spring.

In Asheville, we can successfully plant herbaceous plants, such as perennials and groundcovers, well into October. Depending on the plant, you may even enjoy some flowers or fall color before they go dormant for the winter. By planting in the fall, you’ll be on your way to enjoying spring and summer flowers next year as these plants can’t be put in the ground in the spring until after the danger of a late frost, which is in May. Autumn is also a great time to plant trees, especially large trees that are dug in the field and balled and burlapped.

October is the best time to plant spring bulbs. Don’t let this once a year opportunity pass by you or you will miss the beauty of these spring harbingers next year.

At Terri Long Landscape Design, we can handle your autumn landscape needs from creating a design to enrich your life to the actual installation of the landscape. Please contact us to discuss your needs.