Hello Lisa. 

There's something about the first weeks of fall that makes you want to pull people close.

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Maybe it's the cooler evenings, the way the light gets lower and softer. Whatever it is, this time of year always brings me back to the spaces that give people a reason to gather.

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I've been thinking about an idea from the book Joyful by Ingrid Fetell Lee: the celebratory beacon. A beacon is a signal, not an instruction. It doesn't tell people where to go. It draws them there. It's the spot in the garden where conversations start and nobody wants to leave.

A few of the most common ones: a fire pit that keeps people outside long after dinner is over. A dining table large enough that someone always pulls up an extra chair. A cozy seating area arranged so conversation is easy. Even a bocce ball court or lawn game area, where the players pull in the watchers and everyone ends up outside longer than they planned.

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The question worth asking in any design: where does the energy want to go in this garden? That's where your beacon belongs.

This topic is October's deep-dive inside The Garden Design Collective…and I love teaching this one partly because the GDC itself works the same way. Not a curriculum to push through...but a room to return to. A space where the energy builds, where designers at every stage show up month after month because something keeps drawing them back.

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If you've been thinking about joining, the doors are open through tomorrow, September 25. Join The Collective here.

From the studio + garden,

Lisa

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

Huge thanks to Mandy Orgler for bringing these graphics to life, issue after issue.