A really great aspect of garden tours is looking at different types of property and how people make it work. The third garden I visited sits on the edge of a steep enbankment. It's a narrow area and this gardener has really made the most of what ground is there.
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Right behind that stone wall is a ravine.
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Large trees in the ravine create a 'borrowed view' and act as a backdrop for the garden.
Another feature that has been put to great use is a natural spring. The spring has been partly diverted through the garden creating a small waterfall and stream. The effect is simply stunning.
Way to use what you've got.
Yet another feature I loved was the use of stone. Stone is such a great feature in a garden, it has a quality I find difficult to describe. There's something very aged and comforting about it.
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| This stone wall really caught my attention |
Wouldn't you like to have this garden?
The fourth garden on the tour is another country property. We do live in the country after all!
I'd like to take this moment to mention, once again, the trouble and effort our gardeners went to for this event. As a member of the organizing committee I'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to the wonderful people who made this possible by going that extra mile and opening up their properties for people to traipse through.
The fourth garden on the tour is another country property. We do live in the country after all!
I'd like to take this moment to mention, once again, the trouble and effort our gardeners went to for this event. As a member of the organizing committee I'd like to say a heartfelt thank you to the wonderful people who made this possible by going that extra mile and opening up their properties for people to traipse through.
I mean, just look at this awesome bench. It's beautiful in its own right. A nice little shady spot to hide away. But what's that tagged to it?
A photograph, that's what it is.
Of that very bench in spring. Surrounded by forget-me-nots. This fabulous gardener tagged many areas throughout her garden so that those coming to look could 'see' what plants looked like throughout the season. A rose just out of bloom? no problem, there was a photo showing exactly what it looked like at the height of its glory.
Amazing. See what I mean about going that extra mile? These people were awesome.
Amazing. See what I mean about going that extra mile? These people were awesome.
Gardens are not just pretty flowers and this particular garden captivated me with many amazing shrubs and trees, including this outrageous black walnut.
Country gardens have room for big trees! and the biggest grape arbour I've ever seen.
Country gardens have room for big trees! and the biggest grape arbour I've ever seen.
It was loaded with grapes too.
Not to mention plenty of room for charming weed free vegetable gardens.
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| complete with scarecrow... |
Seriously, how do these people do it??! I have more weeds than plants at this time of year.
Big properties also call for big planters
You can't get much bigger than this display.
And that ends this portion of garden tour 2013. Come back soon though, there's two more gardens to go before we call it a day.
Big properties also call for big planters
You can't get much bigger than this display.
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| Obviously a gardener lives here |
19 comments:
More great inspiration! My favourite thing has to be the stream with the moss covered rocks and little bridge. So often I see man-made streams that look fake. You can tell right away that this is the real thing. I've pinned your pictures for future reference. Hopefully, we will have a water feature some day.
Ich bin hin und weg! Beautifully
LG lykka!
I love how appreciative you are of the creativity and effort these gardeners put in. You are seeing not only the designs and plants, but the joy of gardening itself on these tours. I really like the idea of pinning a photo of an earlier season to a garden spot to show how it looks over time. Great idea.
The stream in the first one is magical. All of those moss covered rocks are fabulous. In the second garden, wow, what space. A good idea to have pictures about a place showing different seasons.
My favorite thing HAS to be that amazing stream...so wonderful and beautiful. I also love that bench of course :)
That old agricultural sowing machine used as a planter is so different and beautiful.
The grape arbour and the old bench are fabulous too. Very interesting and a quite a good idea to tag special spots and plants with images of another season.
Loved the tour - and the innovation that the lady used to show what the garden looks like at other times of the year - pure genius.
What a cool tour! I love resourceful gardeners who use what's available. I wish I'd been on the tour, too. :o) I really love the stonework, too. I enlarged those shots for inspiration for working with the stones in my recently expanded rain garden.
Great idea to have photos of what particular areas and plants look like at different times of year. I love the garden bench and the grape arbour. Nice series Marguerite. I look forward to the next few posts.
I would love to go on a tour of mostly country gardens! I'm always looking at the rectangular lots of the gardens I visit and thinking, but I don't have a back yard like this--I need some ideas for working around sheds and outbuildings, etc. Love that old planter--now there's an idea I can use! And what a clever idea to put photos in some spots to show what was in bloom at a different time.
I like visiting gardens that have a few weeds--makes me feel better about my own:)
Wonderful tour, Marguerite! I love the 'stone' vignette in the first picture. And what a great idea to post photographs showing the plants at other blooming times. P.x
The tour was wonderful...how creative your garden hosts were. The photo idea was great and I actually used that once, showing our property before and after on a tour. That really inspired some folks, just like the photos your gardener put on her bench and roses. Delightful escape. Thanks again.
Thanks Marguerite, I enjoyed our stroll around the gardens ! Lots of interesting ideas - loved the bench, the walls covered in lichen - but best of all, I loved the idea of the photographs showing plants at the height of their glory ! I might do that just for me, so I don't forget !
Glad you liked the photos Jennifer. That stream really was the highlight of that garden, it wound its way all through the plantings.
Thanks Laurrie, I really am grateful to all these gardeners for allowing us to show their places. They did a huge amount of work and it was all for a great cause.
That planter really was unusual wasn't it? Great way to put an old piece of machinery to use.
good stonework is a work of art isn't it? not easy to fit all those pieces together just so..
Rose, it's funny you say that. I kept hearing from gardeners on the tour how unusual it was to see such big amounts of property - they were many people visiting from town. They couldn't get over the amount of lawn mowing that goes on out here!
thanks everyone for your comments and please forgive my laziness in getting the full tour posted. August has slipped by so quickly, I barely noticed it. Intend to have the third installment up in the next couple days. ~M
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