Ilona's Garden » garden design

Peaceful Fountains, Meandering Pathways

the gardener — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:36:57 +0000

One purpose of a garden is to provide a relaxing place of sanctuary for the soul. The world is full of busyness and worries, and we rush through our days meeting needs, schedules, and obligations, for the most part. A garden is a place to allow us to move away from that and “recreate” our sense of center and let nature speak to us.

Some gardeners find that repose in simple weeding chores and the feeling of satisfaction after replacing order in a flower bed, others find it viewing a particular garden scene from an indoor window, for many the mere act of planting seeds and watching the miracle of nature is restoring and peaceful. No matter the amount of space or the climate, a garden can provide a place for reflection and balance.

pathway bridge

For a meandering path a bit of space is required, not a lot – just a bit to get from “here to there”. You can’t “meander” on a balcony. However if you have a backyard, designing in a specific way can create a sense of direction through the garden that awakens a feeling of “taking a walk” even in fairly small spaces. Enough to settle the mind, and give attention to nature. The Japanese even have a device of arranging the steps in such a way as to deliberately slow one’s pace; stepping stones are smaller, more irregular in their spacing.

Placing visual barriers within, like shrubs or small trees, and winding a pathway around those, or a tall clump of grasses, a hedge that separates the garden into parts… these create a sense of a garden being larger than it is, with certain areas hidden from sight and others providing a long view to the end of the garden ( or beyond, in the case of borrowing a view. Have a path lead to a little bench, and there is the making of a morning ritual. A peaceful stroll in a garden to have some thoughts while listening to birdsong and the sounds of the garden: breezes swishing through foliage, insects happily buzzing.

A way to create soothing sound and a quiet scene is with the addition of a fountain. For this, no special space requirements are needed. A garden on a balcony can be made with a fountain, some potted plants, and a chair. Fountains aren’t always high on the list of a garden design, but they create so much interest, I am not sure why they aren’t used more. Garden designers often utilize fountains, and I always see them in Garden Show exhibitions. The home gardener can take note, and with many choices available incorporate the sound of water, and its sparkle in the light. Wildlife loves a fountain, sometimes a little too well, it draws birds, frogs, dragonflies and other creatures. You can even make your own fountain, if you don’t find one you like in your budget. Sunset Magazine’s Instruction Steps

bench under the lilac

I think the combination of a path curving through a garden, a spot with a gently splashing fountain, and a garden seat are ideal in the creation of a garden. Make that two seats , so one can enjoy conversation together with a good friend. Think about combining several of these features, possibly in more than one place. I have a large yard, so I like my bench under the lilac bush, one on a back porch near the vegetable garden, and a chair beside the little pond. Anywhere there are places to congregate, or to rest after working in the garden, or with a particular view (the sunset, perhaps) is a good place to situate your destination bench. Fountains can be near the house, and benefit from access to electricity to man the motor needed for running water. Small preformed ponds are sold in kits that have fountains included. Create your design for an after work sanctuary space, or a place where you can go anytime just to be alone with your thoughts, it could even take the form of a secret garden. Surprisingly, city backyards with their fenced in spaces are good places to implement these features. A meandering path of stepping stones spaced to cause one to slow down is an idea taken from Japanese garden philosophy, as mentioned before, and might be well placed a few steps before a certain planting or a widened space, where a graceful view is situated.

If you need any help locating some of these (although there are lots of choices in home improvement stores and on Amazon), here are a few convenient, recommended links:

garden path and bench awaiting

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Variegated Leaves

the gardener — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:30:57 +0000

Variegation can produce some gorgeous effects in the garden and we instinctively know that by the way our eyes and hearts are drawn to these “color freaks” in the garden centers.

Variegation is the effect of two different colors in the leaves and stems of plants, it occurs very rarely in nature. Variegated plants are . Mutations consisting of the loss of the chloroplasts, with a resulting difference in color is the cause of most variegation.

That is the scientific explanation, but the explanation for why we love them in our gardens so much is another type of story.

Of professional garden designers, some love them and some hate them, but most of us want at least a few of these accents in our garden. My vote is for a number of these visually captivating plants to find a place in the garden.

Ivies have a variety of looks, Iris is striking example.

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It must be said, right off the bat, that too many variegated plants ruin the scene. It is often too much of a good thing, so the gardener will do well to exercise some restraint in their use. But there is something so fascinating about the detailed look that the contrasts of variegated plants are quite popular.

Because the mutation that gives the look of two and three tones often is the result of a loss of the food making machinery of the plant’s leaves ( cholorplasts) the variegated plant is weaker than the solid green plant.

Not all variegation has the same cause, however.
There are blister variegations, which reflect light differently, and those caused from masking by other pigments.

Variegated markings can come in spots and irregular splotches, in trimming as prim as scalloping, and everything in between, it seems. All sorts of plants can mutate into a variegated form, and when they do, gardeners take note, and clones are made. Most variegated plants are reproduced vegetatively ( but not all!)

It is often the case that a variegation not only looks better in a shadier spot, but thrives better there. Plants can get sunburned and variegated plants are the fair skinned tribe of the botanical world. It really depends on where your property is located, and southern climes have more intense sun than northern ones. Be sure to check the growing information on the particular plant choice.

Design Tips for Variegated Plants

Contrasting with solid colored plants -The contrast of solid colors, the deeper the better, gives definition to the variegation of a plant. Like a piece of art upon a wall, the more wall space surrounding it, the more the focus will be on the central piece.
Repeated at intervals to give a cohesive pattern to the design of your landscape – It is very pleasing to see a repeated pattern in a garden. It allows the plant groups to make sense to the human eye. It gives a sense of order so that there is no confusion from looking at too many competing things at once. It becomes a fabric, a tapestry of plants, rather than a disjointed jumble of a little of everything. This is more important when the foliage has its own patterns.

Think about patterned fabrics – When you were little you loved to mix and match all sorts of outlandish patterns together, the brighter the better for some little ones. A new gardener can be like that with all the variegated coleus, ivies, shrubs, and even trees. They just have the joy of seeing all that bright mass before their eyes. But there is a sort of tummy ache that comes with all the candy, and eye candy is no different. Think about putting together an outfit you would like to wear, now transfer that ability to your garden plans. Voila.

Containers can break the rules – Concentrated together and displayed against blank spaces of wall or hedge or lawn, the containers can get away with more color and variegated plants in proximity. Similar colors with very different shape and texture can work well, or strongly contrasting with big elements can work together. I like to study recipes and use the concepts to create something with different plants… try that for your own design using variegated plants. Look at and note pleasing plantings that others have created with variegated plants.

Some Of My Most Favorite Plants Are Variegated

It is not our imagination that these plants are beautiful, they are. And there are some that I think make a garden, that is, create the necessary interest to make the garden something special.

Let me name a few for you:

Variegated Sedum. I gave this one a special plant profile because it is such a useful plant; there are a number of variegated sedums. Golden cream and light green
Brunnera, ‘Jack Frost’. This is newer to my garden and I am very taken with it. Silver and light green
Variegated Weigela. There are several of these. Good contrasting shrub with pretty spring flowers.
Hostas. There are so many of these in variegations of gold, white or cream against blue, golden. or green foliage.
Variegated Dogwoods (Cornus). The dogwood family of shrubs and trees seems to be given to mutating to create some lovely variations. I like a number of them. My dad grew ‘Elegantissima’ and it was a nice feature in his garden -long ago, now.
Golden Lemon Thyme – Several thymes are variegated with both golden and silver colors. I love them all, but I think the golden lemon thyme is the supreme one of the bunch.
English ivies come in many variegated forms
Lamium maculatum, ‘Beacon Silver’ – There are more than a few varieties of Lamium maculatum that have variegation. I like this one and ‘White Nancy’, but that is just the tip of the choice list- especially when adding in different Lamium types.

Those are my short list, but I absolutely love the types of variegations on geraniums (Pelargoniums) and Beech trees (Fagus). Yes, I confess that if I could I would people my garden with all of them, but my pocketbook, with a bit of my good sense to take my own advice keeps me from splashing my garden with too many of these plants of many colors.