an update on my reading goals

I thought I would give an update on my progress in reading for the summer. I have been reading a little bit at a time out of Anne Lovejoy's book on Garden Design, would like to share some of the things I have been learning from it.
One of the things she talks about is the five senses that are important in a garden. First is the sense of welcome, a garden must feel welcoming, this can be accomplished in many ways depending on the surroundings. A sense of enclosure is important in a garden too, because people are naturally attracted to smaller enclosed areas. Along with enclosure you need a sense of entry into the garden space. An entry can serve as a source of curiousity for visitors, because they can see a glimpse of the garden before actually entering it. Once visitors enter a garden there also needs to be a sense of flow. Things like paths, and repeated colors or plants guide people through the garden space and provide a sense of flow. The last on the list, is a sense of place. This means that you use the natural strengths of the site in planning your garden, instead of trying to make the site into something its not. You take into consideration the size[small area does not equal gigantic plants], the outer surroundings[house style, etc] and the existing elements[naturally wet or dry spots] of your site.
Some of these things we have talked about at school, but I like the simple way Ms. Lovejoy presents them to the reader. I may continue to post about my progress through her book, I just have to see. If you enjoyed this post let me know by leaving a comment... or if you would like to check out Ms. Lovejoy's book Organic Garden Design School click here.

Summer Garden Adventure

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens with my sketching class at school, and really enjoyed the short time we spent there. I told my friend Lisa about it, and how I thought some of the ladies at church would really like to visit the gardens too. We came up with the idea of doing a garden day visiting a couple gardens including the BBG. So I planned this day and decided to first visit the Bradner Gardens Park in Seattle and then the BBG. We had a small group this time because we didn't have much time to give people notice. But it turned out nice and I think everyone enjoyed it! The weather was nice [maybe just a hint on the hot side ;)], lots of things were blooming and the bumble bees were out. Sounds like the ladies enjoyed it enough that we will plan another garden adventure for the autumn! Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Also- to see more pics click here!

wow... its been a long time

hey everyone... if anyone is still reading .... as I have been remiss in posting.

I thought I would update people on my life a little bit. my last day of school for the summer was thursday. I had to turn in my final presentation for Landscape appreciation, which was on a garden room. I had a lot of fun putting it together, it was almost like scrapbooking! well... almost. I think I did pretty good in all my classes this quarter, except maybe for field sketching. simply because I didn't turn in enough homework, so the teacher couldn't judge my progress very well. But I did feel satisfaction with how my final sketches turned out. [on a side note: I also got a $450 scholarship for the upcoming school year!!!] anywho...

The anticipation of summer fun is slowly taking over... I'm still only working 30 hrs/wk at work, so I'll have time to do some things with friends and family. I'm turning 21 this year, and to help me celebrate, my best friend, her husband, and her babygirl are coming out. [well, they are also visiting her parents ;)] I will be taking vacation from work during that week, to spend with them. One of my other friends is heading off to college in August to start her freshman year. So in July, I'm fulfilling a promise I made to take her on her first camping trip. Besides that, I'm going to enjoy some time with my family taking day trips around the area [and going to see PotC2!!!!!!]. I plan to thoroughly enjoy my summer and to use the time to prepare my mind [and wallet!] for my upcoming final year at college. I can't wait!

There are a few other little goals I hope to accomplish this summer:
read Ann Lovejoy's Organic Garden Design School
start reading Understanding the Times
work on my scrapbook at least once a week
blog appr. every other week on something meaningful
send a card to someone every week

I'll let you know how I do with these goals... ;)