One of the first gardens I did outside the family was for the designer Hattie Carnegie. I was 23 then, and I went to her salon, but could not afford any of her dresses myself, though I loved them. Miss Carnegie suggested I do a garden in exchange for a coat and dress, and so I designed and planted a garden for her.

The sky is a free asset in design, and nothing unnecessary should be planted that takes away the sky.

I always design a landscape with fixed horizons whether it be mountains or a stone wall around a 20-foot-square plot.

Rachel Lambert Mellon Quotes