One Thing Leads To Another: Artistry In The Garden

It's funny how doing one thing in a garden seems to lead to another project. Take the arborvitae arch I wrote about in my last post. I would have been content to let it be, but my husband Phil insisted that we needed a wrought iron gate to complete the look. He's a man who likes projects, and I have to admit he has a good eye for structural details.

 The next thing I knew, we were barrelling down the interstate to a salvage yard in Schenectady, NY he found while gate searching online - a little treasure trove called Urban Restyle (www.urbanstyle.com). The owner pointed us over to a rickety looking pile of gates in all shapes and styles leaning against the side of a barn and we went at it like kids in a candy store. They all showed their age and needed a little work, but the price was right. We inspected just about all of them, and finally chose a simple but elegant looking one with a round curlicue design at the top. It just needed a little (haha) minor tweaking and painting.

I was wondering what we were going to mount it on, as it didn't come with any posts, but he picked up two of these wrought iron things while he was rooting around at another local junkyard. They even matched, how lucky was that?  He poured concrete pads, bolted them in with heavy screws and mounted the gate. 

I kept out of this part of the project, as I'm inept when it comes to construction, but at this point I was allowed back into the act. I reshaped the beds so they matched and added a few plants to fill it in.

 I wasn't expecting this, but the additional framework made this space feel more like a garden room rather than just a part of the yard.

It had the same effect on this side, an area I usually just walk through when watering or dumping stuff off by the garage door. The gate made it look more elegant, guess I'll have to upgrade the plants and start serving afternoon tea.

The thought of doing anything more in this area had never crossed my mind, but when I celebrated the  official 'gate opening' at our 4th of July family picnic, I realized how much I like sitting there.

 God help me - my wheels are starting to spin. Maybe I'll change that tea to cocktails.