Garden Centre

Thursday, July 3, 2008

It's dangerous to visit other gardens ...

If you’re like me, there’s a real risk when you go to visit other people’s gardens – there’s the normal risk of garden envy (theirs is always greener, neater and more elegant than mine) but there’s the other risk: garden makeover bug.

Take this week. I went to see a nearby garden which has been lovely designed to make the most of a largely south facing slope. It’s full of nooks and crannies, gazebos, arches, pergolas and cunning corners. The colour palette was largely cream, pink and blue, with a little purple for contrast, and the whole effect was a lovely blend of secret corners and soft cool colours. I felt immediately that my own garden was too open, positively tundra-like actually, and far too bright, full of garish reds and oranges, blatant yellows and shocking pinks.

Over the course of the next couple of days I sat and looked at my garden and planned to change everything. Then himself took a hand, pointing out that two small dogs would wreak havoc with the idea of arches and pergolas as they tear through the garden like jet propelled missiles and that although pink and blue and cream are very nice, it would mean removing 70% of our perennial plants and shrubs to stick to that colour scheme, and that our garden isn’t actually south-facing, or sloping, so we’d have to dig a slope …

So I had to give up, but I still want a pink, blue and cream garden with nooks and crannies – I just want my own garden as well!

Labels: garden makeovers, garden visits

The All Seasons Gardener at 9:04 AM

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