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Crafting
A
Garden
Miracle
Haven Garden ~ Glendale, Arizona
Crafting a garden has been a
slow but rewarding, process. One that began as
a daydream, progressed to a study (of seed packets, pictures and journals)
and has been fine-tuned by trial and error...
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When we acquired it, our
new yard was speckled with odd shrubs and mismatched landscaping rock.
Piracantha
bushes leaned near the entry walk, looking like partially deflated cakes; and a
cramped honeysuckle topiary
jutted out from the wall at a 45° angle! Our large backyard included a
nice old-brick patio, sparkling diving pool and a massive tangle of Bermuda grass
-n- broken
sprinkler system pipes!
AND SO IT BEGAN. With this
lovely "canvas", a liberal helping of artistic license and a budget of
only six
dollars a week I set out to create a garden...
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Through
years of transformation,
an eclectic country garden has begun to emerge, I've developed my
own distinctive style |
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and stumbled upon a few useful tips!
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Miracle
Tip #1:
Break it down! At first I tackled the entire area
- all 5,223 sq. feet of it - adding my $6. worth of flowers and plants
every week, but making very
little impact. One day, in desperation, I gathered a pile of large river rocks
and laid them in a ring near the front door of our home. I then proceeded to dig
up every plant I owned and re-plant it inside the ring. After finishing the
project I realized, for the first time, I had made a noticeable difference!
I continued to focus all my gardening efforts on the small area
around that ring of rocks ~ adding a narrow brick pathway, shade loving ferns, a
garden bench and eventually a small pond (see photo at top of
page). Slowly but surely an absolutely charming
courtyard garden developed near the front door!
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Miracle Tip #2: Choose a theme for each garden space!
By choosing a
theme for each area of the garden I've given myself some structure, and the results
have been extremely pleasing! (Especially since I used to return from the nursery with an
assortment of impulse buys ~ which faded into crispy little twigs before
I could find a place to plant them.) Now I am able to quickly decide which
plants and accessories fit into each garden area ~ maximizing appeal and
minimizing confusion.
| In the courtyard area, near the front door my
theme is “Welcome” and I’ve used a palette of bright colors,
like reds,
purples and yellows, which are welcoming from the curb. I’ve also accessorized
with handcrafted birdhouses, wreaths, a hand painted mirror and other welcoming
things. A miniature rose cooperated and I was able to train it into the
shape of a heart.
Just around the
corner, I’ve chosen the color “White” for my theme and filled the area
with Arabian Jasmine, ferns, a bower vine and white blooming perennials. It’s
been fun to accessorize the area with terra cotta pots that have white mosaic
tiles around the rims and a hand-painted sign that reads “The White Garden”. |
Welcome
to our home
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White
Garden with new climbing rose on
the left & bower vine on the right
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Miracle
tip #3: Look-out for the SUN! The "White Garden" area is essentially considered a
shade garden. It is only seven feet wide and gets lots of light, but almost no
direct sun - except for a little triangular strip about 1 foot wide by 3
feet long on the left edge of the garden! This strip gets direct sun from noon
until 4pm (Arizona's hottest)!
Originally I had planted two bower vines in the
White Garden (one on either side of the gate), but the direct sunlight in the
aforementioned "triangular strip" began to burn one vine and I had to
quickly transplant it to a
shadier spot.
In its place, I planted a miniature
white climbing rosebush (Iceberg) that could take
the heat. The miniature rose is now growing
beautifully and is covered with little white blooms!
In contrast, the bower vine
~ had I left it there ~ would be a crispy little piece of twig.
The
direct sun is definitely not a thing to be feared, but it should be
carefully observed. It's
amazing to see how sun patterns, in areas only 2 feet away from each
other, create such completely different "climates" and require drastically different plant selections.
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the
bower vine in it's new home
with
lisanthius & rain lilies |
| My husband tells me that the garden will never be finished and
I suppose it’s true. It changes season by season as plants mature and flowers
fade, but the joy of the process is so rewarding ~ an inspiration to the
creative at heart.
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“Miracle Haven Garden”, now includes a Mediterranean
conversation garden, reflection pool, fishpond, children’s garden, prayer
garden, flower beds and more. It will be opened for a tour and craft boutique in
December 2004.
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