Hopalong Hollow....

Hopalong Hollow, where the Blueberries grow sweet, and the moss feels soft beneath your feet.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Garden Bones and garden vignettes


   In Hopalong Hollowscaping,
 having a garden full of blooms is a jolly good thing, but it takes more than plants to create a really harmonious garden...it takes great GARDEN BONES. What are garden bones? They are the structural, permanent elements that give your garden interest, shape and form. Especially important in the winter, when nothing is growing, Garden Bones provide an eye-pleasing, interesting space in an otherwise stark garden. Fences, statues, birdhouses, walls, TREES, small structures are just a few examples of garden bones. Today, I want to talk about one of the best bones you can have:
Garden Paths as Garden Bones.
If lain properly,
they gently guide you through flower beds, courtyards,and outbuildings in a pleasing and rhythmic manner.

Paths can be made of many materials, but I maintain a similarity in materials  to create a continuity in the many walkways we have. Using  a rustic mixture of salvaged brick, found stone, broken concrete and timbers is compatible with our country gardens and home.

The purpose of paths is not just to simply get you from one place to another, but to make it an interesting journey.
Paths should enable you to stop, for a minute or two...
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and "smell the roses" so to speak. You will observe the intricate delicacies of tiny plants, hiding beneath tinier plants, the intertwining of varied leaves and blooms, and bitty insects making their way to and fro.
Paths slow you down, and entice you to see things you would never have noticed from afar, by taking a closer look...

They persuade you to expect the unexpected..
as they lead you through secret places.
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If paths lead hither and thither, one must make a decision...should I veer off the path and go left? 
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or right? 

Whatever direction you take, be assured that you will find interesting sights along the way; which leads us to Garden vignettes. If Paths are Garden Bones, and plants are the Heart of the garden then I consider garden vignettes as the HeartBEAT of a garden...
 For they express the heart of the gardener
Artistic details are  placed in specific locations for quiet impact.
Always, nature helps out with a few brushstrokes of her own.
Below, the Morning Glory vines ramble and twine around the lantern in harmonious confusion.

That makes for a glorious vignette; placed by the gardener, enhanced by the plants.

 Set your decor, the growth will complete the picture

Paths that crunch beneath your shoes,

escort you up and down slopes,
 provide you with a seat,


and tease you with anticipation of what lies beyond that corner, that curve...
 are Garden Bones of the most engaging kind.
 Garden Vignettes
 can be playful, 
soothing,

amusing, rustic, serene or nostalgic, it all  depends on your gardeners heart.
 In keeping with our cottage gardens and rustic paths,
  The garden vignettes in
Hopalong Hollowscaping

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 are all of the above,

  and can be observed by walking those Garden Paths.
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All of our animal family members use the paths...
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and sometimes even BECOME living Garden Vignettes themselves,
as this sitting hen in the English Ivy will attest to.
Lest I forget the main purpose of  the Garden paths, please allow me to show you what one such walkway envelops.
Below is a small bed  that I renovated in a garden video last year. 
(You can see the BEFORE garden in one of my YouTube videos. You can also see how I created it's  garden path.)
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 So remember, when  next you plan your garden, plan your garden paths as well.
They are such good bones.

26 comments:

  1. Thank you for this little stroll through your lovely, country gardens. You have created a place of peace and beauty.

    FlowerLady

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  2. Beautiful and magical gardens.
    Prayers ongoing the ladies have eggs that hatch.

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    1. We may have ducklings after all, I am keeping a close eye on 2 nesting hens. There is hope!

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  3. Jeri, this was a beautiful poast and I admit that it brought some tears tomy eyes, as I remembered how my late father planned and added lots of structures to his garden in the back yard of his Virgina home. It was a pleasure for me to add to the spring blooms (via daffs and tulips) to fit in with the brick walkways, benches for contemplation, and other details he added over the decades.

    Can you imagine how much I still hope to find some sort of country dream area for my own garden in the coming years, before my city views take over my imagination?

    Many thanks, Jeri. xo

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    1. Frances, someday, perhaps you will leave the big city and garden in your own little plot? I can imagine you amidst the Spring blooms, with the memories of your father's garden to guide you. I hope that country dream comes true!

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    2. Thank you, Jeri, for those kind words. xo

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  4. So beautiful Jeri, and I did not see a single weed. Where did you get that headless statue. I love it. Bet you spend many an hour looking at everything (except when it is in the 100s).

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    1. Donna, HAH! there are plenty of weeds. That poor statue of Venus lost her head years ago and even though I have considered repairing her, I kinda like her with the head at her feet...it reminds me of ancient ruins and headless Greek statues.

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  5. What a lovely tour down your garden path Jeri.... I love that bell. You have created such beauty with your hard work.. This is what I love to do, unfortunately my body will not allow me to do heavy work any longer, so I will enjoy watching you.. It was a joy to watch the video again.
    Wishing you a beautiful week ahead..
    Oh.. The last photo of the relief stonework with the children... Is that your work Jeri? Either way it is simply gorgeous!
    fondly,
    Penny

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    1. Penny, I still need to find the proper location to hang that bell, is has a great gonging sound. That relief is an antique cast iron fireplace cover, that never fit my own fireplace, so into the garden it goes!

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  6. I love all the little things that you have placed here and there along the paths you've made. They all look just right-------right where they are. I really like having things to look at in the garden beds but worry about getting too much stuff that it overpowers the plants and flowers. Yours all look like they have been there for ages and ages and fit right in. How nice to feel secure about the placement of things. I never do.

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    1. The trick is to use restraint when placing "props". It can be overdone, but if you put a simple statue or watering can or birdbath amongst your garden, the plants will eventually fit around it so that it does seem to "Belong". Just be sure that the plants outnumber the props and you will be fine.

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  7. Oh Jeri, thank you so much for this lovely tour of your gardens---beautiful bones---paths that meander around your lovely flowers and garden scapes--It reminds me of some of the English gardens behind some of the cottages we toured! Hopalong Hollow is a treasure! ♥

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    1. Really? I dearly love the look of English gardens. You lucky lady, to walk them in person!

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  8. GOOD MORNIN' JERI LANDERS!

    THIS was a great read and this could be a chapter in a book on gardening, all done up in the voice of one of your creatures! YES! I really never thought of the garden in this way...my garden has been transformed over the last 18 years that we've lived here, and we've done the best we could for what we have. But I am seriously considering changing things next year, since school restarts for me in late August. But what you said about the garden paths really hit home. I do think we will have a chance to finally fix a few things after we finally get our front cement work redone in a few weeks. Once that's done, I do believe we'll be able to finish up the back.

    You have put in a lot of hard work here, and like our dear Penny, I am starting to feel the limitations of lifting heavy items BUT those heavy things are already in place. Now that we can afford it more, all we need is a professional to do some small path work in the back that I think will give us more of an interesting entrance into the back garden.

    Thank you for this insight! Wishing you a very wonderful Sunday my friend! Anita

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    1. Anita, you are very astute, this IS going to be part of a book called "Hopalong Hollowscaping". Yes, I often feel the need to change my gardens, and paths don't require a lot of heavy lifting, thank goodness!

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  9. Jeri, I always love your garden tours. I think I love garden paths as much as I love the flowers in the garden. You've inspired me to take another look at my front garden to see what I can do about expanding my the paths I've already made. We make wood chip paths in our woods and the wild plants do the rest to "landscape" along the way. I've added statuary and little gnomes in tree roots or holes in the tree. I love all your Garden Vignettes. The photo of the path 12th up from the bottom of the path with the brick and stone I don't believe I've seen before. Is that in the garden you refurbished last year? I'd love to see a drawn map of your various gardens and outbuildings! I think you should leave Venus as she is! A good reminder not to lose our heads when all about us are! Right?!

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  10. Cathy, Wood chips make good paths, I also like pine mulch paths. THAT particular area is behind the house. It is a courtyard made of old concrete and the "path" is salvaged brick. That path leads to a shady garden on the side of the house where I built the wattle bedding fence this year. I have several sketch books with my "PLANS" in them. I will see what I can find and post it

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  11. HI Jeri, Nice to meet you through Lorraine. I love your gardens, paths, vignettes, and all! After seeing your place, I felt very good about your comment on my Wildflower Wednesday post. I have done a poor job keeping my paths in some of the areas. I did decide to plant a lot of the same plants on both sides of our front sidewalk to make that kind of be a path so the two areas will kind of be a big bed divided by it. I hope we have some nice weather this fall to get lots done out there.

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  12. Sue, I think Fall is the best time to work in the garden. I have a front-yard bed that really needs some work, but it will have to wait till Autumn, our heat is unbearable right now.

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  13. How I enjoy strolling with you along your oh-so-wonderful garden paths. I am afraid I lagged behind a bit to peek around and under here and there. I could have stayed all day! What fun!

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    1. Thanks! I loved watching your video this morning with the lady on the tractor, priceless.

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  14. Wow! A book called Hopalong Hollowscaping. What a great idea! Put me down on the pre-order list. I'll need two, one for me and another for my sister.

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  15. Vic, I've been multi tasking on 3 books at once, Hopalong Hollowscaping is one of the 3. But they all have something in common, a garden

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  16. Jeri-Your beautiful gardens are almost other-worldly-like a beautiful fairy tale, but only real! The critters make it down homey and sweet. It's always a joy to visit you!

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