Welcome to The Good Garden.  I created this blog to share my love of gardens and the stories and people behind them.  My passion for historic gardens has taken me to dozens of gardens across 5 continents.  I hope you will join me on this journey and share your comments and experiences.

Historic gardens have an amazing ability to engage restore, and energize. This is why I call them “good gardens”.  Good gardens make us feel good.  Of course historic gardens are a fun way to connect with culture, history, philosophy, and people, but on a practical level they are full of ideas that we can use to enhance our own gardens today.

As a business executive for a large global company I traveled a lot.  It was during a decade of particularly heavy travel that I caught the garden history bug (in a big way).  You see, I found visiting gardens everywhere I went, even if for a short time, gave me energy.  My visits were an excuse for some outside time and a chance to literally put my feet on the ground. 

My experience visiting gardens and subsequent research taught some of the 'secrets' behind design: the importance of providing shelter and having clear invitations into a garden.  I learned how designers engaged visitors and ways of moving them through the space.  A consistent rhythm brought calm and the necessary foil for personal touches that make gardens unique.   Whenever I wrestle with a part of my own garden that doesn’t feel right, I seek inspiration from other gardens.

I hope that my pictures and garden stories will provide a brief break and trigger some ideas that you can use yourself.

Here's to good gardens!

David Calle, david@thegoodgarden.com