Winter Interest in my Garden - part 6 - Hard stuff!

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Hard stuff? What I mean is the landscaping and permanent man-made structures in the garden.

Let’s begin with fences. If you are lucky, you inherit some which are attractive. If you’re not, they can be plain ugly! Then you have choices – live with them, disguise them or change them.

We were lucky here – our predecessors varied the fences. The ones near the house to screen off the front garden from the side part aren’t straight-topped, they swoop as you can see in that first photo. Fences are always extremely useful – you can fasten wires or trellis on them, and grow climbers up them. This takes away the ‘raw’ feeling of a bare expanse of fence…a very effective disguise!

Then we have half-rounds fastened to posts – some are horizontal…

…to make a change from vertical! They stand out when the foliage is off the trees and shrubs that hide them at other times of the year, as a feature on their own.

You might remember when we put this new fence and trellis up across the back garden. Before that, there was a bramble-ridden Escallonia hedge there – so we were lucky to be able to choose an attractive pattern as a background for my new planting. I have several climbers established on the trellis now.

Another type of fencing that was already here was an open trellis, with a pergola above it. There was a vine planted on the pergola as well as Clematis montana and a beautiful variegated Ivy. I’ve also planted several more Clematis to flower at different times of the year on there. There’s a gate at the end of this pergola – we put this in, complete with an arch above, so that we could keep Henry in the back garden when we want to. I am growing a white C. montana at one side – and a pink one at the other, to meet in the middle of the arch.

There’s an identical arch leading from the back garden to the side garden – also with a gate, of course! It’s useful at night – in a large garden, if Henry decides to go ‘walk-about’ it’s hard to track him down in the darkness and he seems to enjoy a late-night amble around.

The last archway leads from the side garden into the front. That’s where my Clematis cirrhosa ‘Lansdowne Gem’ grows.

I always dreamed of a walled garden – but although I didn’t get that, I am lucky enough to have some lovely walls where I can train plants such as Ivies and Clematis, alongside the beautiful Parthenocissus tricuspida (Boston Ivy) that glows there in the autumn. At this time of year, the stonework stands on its own – still attractive in its own right, with a few little evergreen ferns in the crevices here and there.

Over this wall is the stream and there’s a path which runs along by the wall so that I can look over at the stream bank. The running water is always a joy to see.

Going the opposite direction, you meet Walter. He came from a Reclamation Yard – he makes me smile when I look at him – and I can see him from the garden room window, too. This week, he’s had a snowy hat on, but at other times of the year he gets a green wig from the trailing Boston Ivy.

At the other end of the wall, there’s a wooden bridge over the stream. We inherited the two ‘finials’ one each side. I think they may be acanthus representations – but I always think that they look like pineapples! Whatever they are, I like them. Again – they are a particular feature in the winter months, when the attention is off the shrubs around them.

Obelisks? Their main purpose is, of course, to support climbing plants, and my two metal ones have Clematis and roses on them.

My husband made my matching wooden pair, though, as I had a design in my mind – and couldn’t find what I wanted. I use these for my sweet peas – but I like their shape in the winter, when they stand out with no greenery or flowers on them.

On to paths. You have to have them, so why not make them attractive? I like the paths in my garden – it must have taken hours to lay out the patterns, but I really appreciate them. There are plain gravel paths, as well – but the unusual inlaid patterns are such a feature. The two flights of steps to the top border are made of the same material – brick, stone and pebbles.

Remember this? I uncovered this patterned path back in the summer, while I was clearing some Rhodiola that had grown over it.

My husband turned his hand to the plain brick path, though. It’s looking a bit more weathered than this photo, taken just after he laid it. There was an ugly path made of pieces of concrete there. It cried out for something more attractive.

Our front path is a joy. It’s obviously very old, and matches the stone work of the house. I can’t take a photo of it as it is now, though – I can’t see the paving at the moment….We’d have loved to extend this path round the garden room – but reclaimed limestone flags are few and far between, and even if you can find some you’d need to have won the lottery to buy the amount we needed!

Well, that’s most of the ‘hard stuff’ round my garden – but I can’t leave out my sculpture. This is a piece of driftwood, brought over from New Zealand and bought for my wedding anniversary present last year. It fits neatly under the Pittosporum tree, and it’s surrounded by ferns in this shady corner of the garden. Different? Yes. Man-made? No. But – unique!

8 Jan, 2010
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Stripes

Lovely garden spritz, how big is it ? love the open field at the back just right for putting a horse in !!! unfortunately I dont have any more. It must keep you both very busy :-0))))

8 Jan, 2010

Derekf

deliteful

8 Jan, 2010

Sandra

so much structure and landscapping Spritz...its nice to see at this time of year when its all died down....

8 Jan, 2010

Ginellie

What a lovely walk around your garden Spritz. I now realise there are two things I need - no, must have. One is a pergola. I see myself sitting beneath it on a warm evening and smelling the honeysuckle, jasmin and roses that will have appeared overnight. The other is a husband, well not any old husband, yours would be perfect. Might you hire him out do you think!?

8 Jan, 2010

Winter Interest in my Garden - part 6 - Hard stuff!

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