Secret Gardens

This summer, it seems as if I have been spending half of my waking hours in my garden. While I love picking my flowers and making arrangements, this summer has consisted primarily of watering my plants and chasing hungry rabbits that want to eat them! Yes, gardening is a combination of fun activities and maintenance. So I sometimes ask myself why I go to such lengths to have a plant-filled landscape. Last week after spending an hour or two watering my thirsty plants, I sat down in one of the private areas in my yard and I enjoyed the scenery. And then I had my answer as to why I garden: I love the private or secret gardens in my landscape.

I appreciate curb appeal, and I strive for that, and love growing plants whose blooms I can enjoy both outdoors and indoors in arrangements. I also grow herbs to use in my cooking. But after years of being an avid gardener, the part I most enjoy is creating private retreats or areas where one might not expect to see a garden. The idea of "secret gardens" has been discussed and written about for years. I decided to experiment with a secret garden in my previous landscape. We had an acre of land,and had planted pretty much all of it, except for the woods. The woods primarily consisted of white pines and understory trees. I kept thinking about how awesome it would be to have a path through the woods that led to a secret garden. It was all shade, so that my range of plants was limited. (ferns, bamboo, and moss). The idea of a moss garden fascinated me, and 10 years later, the moss had filled in beautifully.

My husband originally laughed at my idea of creating a garden in the woods, but he actually made a bamboo fence for the entrance of this Asian inspired private garden. A flagstone path let to a stone bench and Japanese lantern. Visitors to my garden often commented that they thought that they had seen all of my garden until they looked beyond the bamboo fence! The mysterious nature of secret gardens is perhaps the best part!

My current landscape is much smaller and I was wondering where I might make a private garden space. A side alley made the perfect spot, and I cleared some ivy, placed a bistro table and two chairs, and added containers and plants. This area is cool and shady in the morning, and is a great spot for coffee, reading, and resting! Oh, it is also a good place to eat a piece of pie!

A less private but meditative space is inspired by the Asian gardens I have visited in Portand, Oregon, Singapore, and China. My goal is to create a space for reflection, and to have another moss garden. I already have a Japanese pagoda that is a focal point, and will continue to add special plants, such as a Japanese maple and several evergreen conifers, so that this garden will have something of interest throughout the year.

I am already considering another part of the yard for a secret garden. This is a woodland area behind our stone wall. Admittedly, I am crazy about secret gardens. Wanting to make new ones is one of the motivations for my spending so much time in my landscape. In the meantime, it is back to watering and keeping rabbits from munching away on my treasured plants. Unfortunately, though, the rabbit thinks I am playing a game with him when I chase him, so he will probably create his own secret garden in my yard!