We started our garden in 1999. The front yard prairie went in first, because as excited new homeowners we wanted the front of our house to express our vision right away. Curvilinear-edged perennial and shrub beds along the margins of the backyard gave definition to the landscape and harkened of changes to come. The backyard evolved into several distinct rooms to take advantage of local microenvironments (sun, shade, etc…).
Outdoor rooms provide a way to enhance the small yard, and create intrigue and mystery with each room. Most of our garden rooms are not
In planning the yard, the relationship between public and private spaces was critical. Living in town, our front area is quite public, with a city sidewalk separating an 8’ wide boulevard area from the rest of our front yard. We encourage the public to feel comfortable lingering in and investigating our garden by incorporating signs, garden markers, trails, and a garden bench.
The backyard is our private area, separated from the neighbors by a 6’ cedar fence on 3 sides (we still have one side to finish), and a 4’ cedar fence on the other. In the backyard, the rooms are successively more private and intimate. Beyond the side gate is the entry into the least private foyer, leading to a living room/ cooking area, into the vegetable garden or the dining room and finally to the most secluded room- the hammock arbor (our newest room).
We placed wildlife features throughout the garden. We have 3 different birdhouses (designed specifically for northern flic
We have many structures throughout the garden, all built by us and many constructed from recycled fence boards as we replaced sections of our fence. The structures (including arbors, trellises, privacy screen, benches, and tables) not only add visual interest and provide definition to the rooms but also make the areas more functional to sit back in and enjoy the space- they help to simply linger.
I love the "room" concept. Not sure how to apply it, but it makes all sorts of sense.
ReplyDelete--Kate
Love the "room" concept. Not sure how to apply it, but it makes sense.
ReplyDelete--Kate
Oops. Once would have been enough.
ReplyDelete--Kate