Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Don't Build a Garden, Create an Experience


 Anytime, I watch a movie, read a book, look at a painting, or even read a financial statement...I mentally say, "Tell me a story."  I feel that everything mentioned earlier has something it is trying to express.  I feel that this translates to my gardens.

Now I am stating this from an amateurish, don't-know-what-I-am-doing perspective but I do have a motive. I don't want to create a garden but an experience.  What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel?

 The backyard project I have been working on since January was not a concerted concept...it evolved.  So I won't say that I planned any of this but it's how it's growing, much like a plant that I don't know it's cultivar.  

Last year, I wanted you to see flowers at every corner.  It was very unorganized and slightly chaotic.   I have only been gardening for a little over a year but I am making headway in experience.  The backyard I want the "theme" to be, a relaxing oasis where all the stresses of the world disappear.
 This is from the backporch that is unscreened.  I have ordered sheer outdoor curtains so I want you to think it's a room that is normally inside, but it's outside.  A place to relax and have the comfort of inside but the wonder of mother nature outside.
I want you to hear the white noise of water flowing.  Even when the fountain isn't on, the pump gives the sound of water trickling.  Also, you might here birds chirping, hummingbirds flying, wind chimes clinking.

This garden is what I consider a "personal" garden.  It is not seen unless you enter the house so passerby's or visitors in the front do not see it.  That being said, I love things that relate to astronomy.  This will be mounted soon, and I will ponder the Egyptians, Romans Etc who used to use it.


Screened portion of the backporch is a place to eat without being bothered by bugs....admittedly, we don't use it as such but that is the concept.

Staying with the astronomical concept, the statue is Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn, and here is her Sun.
The smells will be from the gardens, the tastes...not sure on that one..but I want it to be the experience of travelling in time and releasing the stresses of today.  Now, this maybe a "haughty, pretentious" concept given my zero experience..but given the garden is my personal garden, it is working for me, at least.

4 comments:

Jean Campbell said...

Taste is the easiest. Plant a little herb corner with oregano, rosemary and thyme: some basil and cilantro seeds.

There are books on Edible Landscaping.

Blueberry bushes are as easy as azaleas except you plant them in the sun.

HolleyGarden said...

I LOVE the concept of creating an experience. That is exactly what I picture a garden should do! And each garden creates a different experience, and expresses the gardener's personality in different ways. I think your garden is going to be a fabulous experience. Keep going! :)

Cerberus German shepherds said...

@Nell, I have cabbage and strawberries in the (guard dog pen.which I don't have yet). The strawberries I think are being eaten by birds, the cabbage (which I don't like)is doing fabulous, of course..

@Holley, I am going to put the wind chimes out...it surprising you miss sounds...speaking of which, what is the verdict on your pond?

I bought one of those books you review...Gardens Personal and Private?? Anyway, when a garden is on the other side of the house...it is a mystery and a surprise..(I have read this more than once)..the fact that I consider it a personal, private garden it allows me to be less self conscious about my decisions....

Jean Campbell said...

What you are doing when you put down your thoughts in this journal/blog is writing the mission statement for your garden: your ambitions, your dreams, your intent. That's what makes a garden personal.