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As gardeners we are always looking at the plants we don’t have with envy, and trying to find ways to get more plants into our gardens. You know who you are, constantly asking if I have any space in my Plant Addicts Therapy Group. Just teasing, but for many the struggle is real.
When you look past the terraces, walls, fire pits, swing sets, pools and other hardscape elements, we are left with our garden beds. When it comes to creating/building gardens, we are often focused on plants and their range of colors, textures, structure, and fragrance, but most plants only hold high interest for a few weeks or a month with flowers. Some have structural interest throughout the season, but often don’t have the weight to draw immediate attention, or draw you into a space.
This is where artistic pieces and architectural elements can help to draw attention to a garden or tie it together, and they can help to carry it in all seasons and when a bed may not be shining.
Above is a beautiful sculpture created by Whitmore Boogaerts, a talented creator down in Westport MA who produces a broad range of sculptures, functional railings and tables, and does commission work too. This sculpture is partially hidden in the season with the intent being of a fish jumping out of a blue ocean of Hydrangeas, and it holds the space, with lighting, in the dormant season. Any art can be used in this way, whether it is historical, architectural or whimsical.
As an example, below is a beautiful garden with many colors and textures in the foliage while not in flower. However, it is the four foot Stephen Proctor Vessel that truly brings focus and stature to this bed. The presence of the large vessel demands that you take a more detailed look at the garden. In gardens that are full of flowers and plants, this slows you down to appreciate the details.
Also below, is a Campania Fountain, from a wholesale company that creates an extensive range of ornamentation for gardens. The angular and geometric design contrasts and creates order in a lush and verdant space filled with evergreen shrubs. The added element of subtle sound draws attention from anywhere in the garden. This design fit the mindset of the couple who are both engineering executives.
Not all structure or ornamentation has to be outright artistic. Oftentimes it can be used to draw people into a garden or down a path, or add order to loosely defined spaces. Below is a concrete bench mold in the form of a halved tree trunk. It sits up a slope and draws you up the path with the idea of enjoying a seat under the cool canopy of trees in a woodland space. A place I wouldn’t mind to be today on a 94º day.
The final image is of an antique, English limestone marker, used at the entrance to a garden path. While very simple in its look, the 18” carved limestone adds some structure to a space with shrubs and wood chip lined pathways. Its historical lineage resonates with its England-born owner, as does a carved English granite trough now used as a planter (not pictured).
The last piece is just a bit of trolling for all of us who deal with rabbits in our gardens. Maybe installing a rabbit overlord, like the one below by Whitmore Boogaerts, will give rabbits pause before they enter your gardens.
These are just a few, varied examples of non-plant additions to gardens that can add interest and reflect your personality, whether you have a formal English garden with statues and lead planters, or a wild native garden with glass butterflies and a wind generator.
For those who live in my town of Winchester, you may remember 15 years ago when someone remodeled their house and garden, and placed three statues facing outwards to the street, surrounded by an evergreen hedge. A David statue (replica, of course) was on display, in its full, anatomical gloriousness, with two others. Unfortunately, it was visible from the pulpit of the church across the street. The hullabaloo wasn’t over the owners right to have statuary, but that it should be for his enjoyment and not forced upon the public.
The point is that the addition of art and structure to your garden doesn’t have to be serious; it is your garden and should reflect your taste and personality. Whether it is the David, or a collection of your mother’s garden gnomes, it is important to look at this overlooked option for the garden.
Reed Pugh, a Winchester resident, works with people to help them get the most from their gardens as a horticulturist, educator, designer and gardener, with his company Barking Dog Gardens.
