THE MIRRORED BOXES

More time spent at home means more projects and at this house they are lining up and waiting to be done. The mirrored wall boxes were in need of some refurbishment as the wood had begun to rot on a couple of them and one mirror was cracked. I'm sure our feathered friends who spend much time staring at themselves and pecking the glass would appreciate it. The original boxes were on the outside of the front wall where they give the impression of windows looking into the garden. 

I had come across the idea many years ago in a Sunset magazine and kept the clipping in my file of Garden Ideas. Here was the perfect opportunity to use the boxes which would play off the upper windows of the house. I'm so glad that David has become handy with the saw during retirement. They are a simple structure of mitered 2x4s backed with a mirror and plywood. Some years later I requested 3 more to put on the inside of the walls.

 

This fall we took down the Lady Banks rose that was in the corner of the garden. It was more than 20 years old and I will have to admit poorly pruned. This rose needs a lot of support and I had permitted underlying dead branches to remains as the support framework. It had spread several feet over the top of and along the wall and was becoming unmanageable with dead twigs constantly falling. This and the fact that the rose had never recovered from the terrible hail storm that occurred in April a few years ago, scaring the branches and taking every new leaf, its bloom considerably reduced, made the decision to remove easier. It took David a full week to take it down little by little.

Now suddenly there was a bare spot extending around the corner. I suggested that we add a couple more boxes to fill in the space. 

And at the same time change the color of the boxes to match the gate and the overhead beams. My plan is to plant a Hesperaloe on the corner. Something that will not take any maintenance and will do well there. 

And there is a fig ivy climbing back up the wall. I will allow a delicate tracery of this vine and not let it turn into a hedge! My job was to repaint the wooden bench and the cactus theatre. It is amazing how a coat of paint can breathe a few more years of life into an old bench. In fact all our benches are getting a similar paint job. Those relegated to places outside the walls suddenly find themselves inside the garden. 

Not that there is much time to sit around!