MAGICAL SHADE GARDEN DESIGN {for mystery add pathways and sculptures}
I was standing in the back of my pick up truck unloading 45 bags of Gold and Red garden mulch, jumping down to the ground, running like a mad woman to garden paths, teepee floors, renaissance trellis and playing hide and seek with my Keen phone.. It was hard to say how many great calls I missed. Straightening sculptures, pulling wheel barrels of weeds, I left a “auto message” at my company. “Ann Marie is in the gardens. She will be on irregular hours.” What I did not say is “because her phone keeps falling out of her pocket and she can’t find it when it rings.”
WHY WOULD I GO THROUGH ALL THAT INSANITY?
Every year I have gardeners tour my half acreage I fondly call, “the Prairie Crone Gardens”. My aim is to show folks that even dense shade can become a wondrous magical garden place. Those that prejudice against shade landscaping say things like, "Chop down 7 of those trees and you'll have something to work with." To me, each tree is like a wise old man. To chop down an old Elm or Maple in its prime for the sake of a Petunia seems a sin. You go for Texture and Form, rather then bright colors.
The birds that come to visit me are from woodland shade. Like a sundial, each garden has a number position in which a few hours of sunlight shine on it out of reach of tree shadows.
Even an old teepee frame without its skin can be turned into a fabulous frame for vines and ivy. Mine is 12 foot tall, and inside it are garden chairs, and an old ladder utilized as a plant stand. In the Autumn, the teepee is ablaze with scarlet vines and white blossomes against blue morning skies.
THE TRICK IS TO ADD INTERESTING SCULPTURES, PATHS AND SITTING PLACES TO SHADE GARDENS
I am always amazed how adding a small unique sculpture {such as this basket with a baby in Angel hands, } creates squeels of pleasure from women who discover it in the ground cover along a path way.}
GIANT SHADE HOSTAS & OLD FASHONED FERNS ARE A DELIGHT!
It seems that my Magical Garden tours give a whole new dimension to those that can not fathom the beauty dense shade can offer. The trick is to take advantage of the mystery and magic of shade, so that your visitors can enter another dimension. And they will love it.
CALL ME FOR A UP FRONT AND HONEST READING WITH 38 YRS READING EXPERIENCE.
Have a beautiful week. I will be here for you my regular morning and evening hours again. http://www.mariessafehaven.com