SOURCING IDEAS FOR THE GARDEN

When I started my first garden in 1973 all the ideas came from my own head. I had a Better Homes and Gardens loose leaf book and that was it. It was very basic. I never thought of looking for gardening books at the library or even buying garden books or magazines. Around 1998 I began visiting a few gardens on my travels and buying garden magazines and books, many of them at charity shops in England. By the year 2000, when we started this garden, I had quite a file of ideas snipped from magazines; garden styles I particularly liked; plants that I thought would do well in Texas. It was time to start incorporating some of these ideas into my new landscape.

The front of our house has 4 square high windows. As I looked from outside up at those windows  I remembered an idea I had seen in Sunset magazine years ago.  I found it in my file.

What could be more perfect than to replicate those high windows on the front wall of the garden. It would just add some permanent interest to the wall which looked particularly bare before there were any plants.

David built the boxes and stained them the same color as the front gates.

But the box of mirrors had 12 pieces and sometime later I decided it might be fun to have some on the inside of the curved wall in the front courtyard. This time we used grey stain. This week I caught sight of the reflection of hesperaloe and American beautyberry in one of the windows.

I have seen mirrors used in gardens before. Hung directly on the wall they add another dimension sometimes creating the illusion of another garden beyond and the mirrors seem to remarkably resistant to damage. Some of mine have had to have the wood replaced because of rot and from time to time I clean off the beak marks of the cardinal and mockingbird who see themselves in the glass. It is hard to find the right size of wood and unless you have a router, and when ours died David had to use two sizes of wood to create the inset for the mirror. It would probably work just as well without the mirror being inset as long as it was well sealed.

Another recent project gleaned from a magazine, and squirreled away in my file, was the sliding shutters in both the side entry garden and the English garden. I was trying to work out how we could add shutters to those openings when flicking through my file I came across this sliding shutter.

Another great Sunset magazine idea. David built the shutters and hung them on sliding barn door hardware. The first one he made was for the opening in the side entry. Wind-driven rain was a problem at the side door. This was the perfect solution. It works. No more wet shoes and doormat.

And one thing led to another. "Wouldn't it be nice to have similar shutters in the English Garden?" I asked him. A similar problem exists there with rain and wind from a different direction. Not only are they functional but they add interest to another very dominating wall. What would Dick Clark be saying about this?

Then there are my little sayings. Remember this one above the side entry? I'll be honest I didn't make this one. I actually bought it for $1 at a garage sale with the intention of stenciling my own saying on there. I hunted for a stencil that was the right size and gave up. In the end I thought the saying wasn't such a bad one after all. But the idea to have some writing on the wall came from a garden I visited in England.

At Snowshill Manor in England there is a passage from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Charles Wade might have said that of his own garden and I agree with him.

To make some for myself I found I had to make my own stencils by printing out the letters and cutting them out. One for over the Sun and Moon Archway.

I also saw this idea in a garden shop in England.

And using some wood from the old compost bins I made a similar one to place just by the side entrance.

And those of you who came to the recent Garden Bloggers' Spring Fling might have noticed this one I made to guide you through the front gate and around the side into the other gardens.

I saw this simple theatre at Holehird Gardens, home of the Lakeland Horticultural Society, in the Lake District, England. They have taken the idea of an Auricula Theatre and used it to display miniature hostas. If you want to see an amazing display of auricula theatres then just google the words.

My theatre is for cactus and succulents and replaces a, difficult to water, hayrack planter.

Holehird gardens was another source of one of my garden projects. My trough planter.

But in making this large one I realized just how much material is needed and mine ended up being more shallow and not so thick. And of course alpines are out of the question here so I chose succulents.

And then came some easier planters to make from styrofoam boxes seen on the Hypertufa Gardener They can be made in next to no time and look just as good.

And my largest project of all was my first one and that was the dry stone wall for which the English Garden is named. They abound in the part of the country I grew up and you can see one behind the troughs in the picture from Holehird.
Here's mine.

Then sometimes I have my own ideas as in the stock tank water feature set in a raised bed.

But then recently I saw this idea in a British garden program and filed it away because if my stock tank ever springs a leak, and it will, I will try this idea.

I'm always on the lookout for little things to bring interest into the garden.  I watch gardening programs from England, Australia as well as the US. I watch videos, read magazines, and books and troll Pinterest. There is such a wealth of ideas at our fingertips these days! No one should be short of a source for garden design.

I'VE BEEN WORKING ON MY LETTERS

You'll probably spot right away that this has something to do with gardening.

And you would be right. I have been making a stencil to use on a sign for the garden. The idea for the first sign came from a garden visit in England. It was in the garden shop and I decided it would be a good winter project.

Time-wise it didn't quite work out that way, partly because the piece of wood I needed to use was still part of the old compost bins and I needed to wait for David to disassemble it.

 The lower pieces of wood were pretty rotten but there were enough good pieces for me to complete a few planned projects, all involving stencil. I liked the weathered look of the wood.

I printed the letters out and cut them out with an exacto knife. After the board was sanded to remove the dirt I laid on the letters and painted with black craft paint. Then two coats of satin-finish varnish.

I haven't quite decided whether to mount it on the tree or maybe raise it a little off the ground. Either way it will point the way into the garden by the side gate.

Stencil project number two was my own idea. I always felt that the entrance to my sun and moon archway was lacking something. Although it was my plan to put the large colorful sun and and moon  over the entrance I wasn't sure that it was quite right. I'll find a home for them somewhere.

Another sign with another stencil seemed like the perfect answer. And this is what I did. Cutting out those letters was a labor of love but I could never have painted it freehand. In the center is a little sun I bought in Mexico. Surprisingly it was the only one I could find there and it was really too small to join the others on the wall. Just perfect for the center of the plaque.

And the two new sun-sticks in the planters were a perfectly chosen gift from my friend Linda Peterson, who lives in San Antonio. To begin with I thought they were twins!

                               

And as I turned away I couldn't help but notice the moon shining down on the garden. Both the sun and moon were there for the hanging of the new plaque.

You can bet I will be on the lookout for some new suns and moons for my collection. I might even include the wind.