Making our garden a special place is really important to Jos and I. He turns the things I imagine into reality even though he says he is not handy. I am really proud of his latest project...a pergola. We had made some changes to the back garden but it was still not working for us. We felt the garden lacked depth and mystery. We had stopped at a shop in the north of Holland to see about buying a couple more wrought iron rose arbors to give us some depth. We left without the money spent on the rose arbors and armed with inspiration instead after walking around in the garden of this shop. We created this instead...
The wooden pergola goes straight back to the second terrace then curves off at the last section. Once the pergola is full of climbing plants, it will lead your eye back but pull you in to walk there since you will not be able to see everything at once creating the sense of mystery. Right now, you have to use your imagination that it is covered in clematis, wisteria, climbing roses and Virginia creeper. They are all there as we took these plants from other areas and placed them against the pergola to start working some magic next spring (fingers crossed).
The bricked path is coming up next. We will change the path to curve off with the pergola and it will be a gravel pathway to add more interest. We also have section of planting that has to be dug up and replanted elsewhere now. The new line also allows us the tunneled walkway without getting in the way of the Robinia Umbraclifera or 'mop-head' Acacia tree. In planting up the section beside the tree rather than having a straight path, it will create a more secluded feel to the back terrace. I am excited to get on with a little more of the planting and the path but that will have to wait as Jos has a busy period again at work and may have to go away for a week. This pergola was a real bargain to put together. We recycled one piece of old wood and bought the rest which came to about 88 euros. It would have cost us in the hundreds to have a gardener do the same job.
And that rose arbor? It is moving to a new area of the garden to create a more intimate sitting area. But that is a project I will share with you another day. In the meantime, the birds are enjoying the high perches from the arbor and pergolas in the garden. It is a busy place today while they come to feed which gives me a pleasant view onto my garden.
13 comments:
I can just imagine it covered with scented creepers. It's going to look great.
I cannot wait for it to be covered in lovely greenery and sweet-scented flowers - it is wonderful!
I bet it will look lovely when spring/summer rolls around! I too, have often gone to different places to get ideas. An antique rose shop that I loved, but got sold because someone loved it so much that they bought it for their personal home, had something similar to what you have done. However, they took logs (which we have plenty of in Georgia) to make the arbors.
I took a wok that a neighbor was throwing out, put it on an old birdbath stand, and it has been filled with flowers ever since!
I'll have to read some more from your blog as this summer I did not do much blogging so I am so far behind.
Enjoy your day!
Ulrike
That is a great job, Jos, you CAN do it. I can hardly wait to see it covered in wisteria. That was so pretty at your other house. The other house you had to pay for that effect dearly. GREAT JOB JOS.
Love you both, and Dagi too,
Mom
I see it growing! And Jos is a real handyman! Now wait a few years, and see the transformation. This house and garden doesn't know what's happening. Never had that much tender loving care...
Very nice Heidi! I can't wait to see it all covered.
The photos of your garden are just lovely. I yearn for private garden spaces; little spots of discovery...a birdbath here or, around this corner, small statuary or a wee stone bench; maybe a quiet and modest fountain, so "cooling" to listen to on a hot afternoon. As we are, perched on a sloping hillside, we have nearly an acre of tangled old-growth foliage that is overpowering and claustrophobic rather than pleasant, too-tall trees that obscure any views...but my dear husband has no time left over from a busy job to do much more than mow our small grass lawns. It is very expensive to bring in a necessary "team" of workers to do the yard clearing, so I am putting many pennies in my piggy bank! The squirrels, birds, lizards and raccoons love our yard just the way it is...but I don't! I keep my inspiration and plans alive in my mind and I know that some day we will have a planned yard/garden such as yours. The problem with saying "some day" too much is that it can mean "never" (something I came across in reading recently; so true).
Pergolas are wonderful. How I love them! In a professional setting, my favorite through the years was the one at the Getty Villa in Malibu, California (a wonderful museum/garden which is open free to the public; it overlooks the Pacific Ocean) and they also put in one at the larger Getty Center's prolific garden in Los Angeles. Pergolas are like secret passageways. I love the way the light shines through the leaves and flowers that weave their way over the framework. A pergola can become a sort of magical "tunnel" to a special destination. Congratulations on doing such a fine job conceiving your own pergola and for your husband in making such a good one; fun! So much to look forward to as spring arrives, sooner than later.
Do you know, here in California USA, my tomato plants are still yielding? My husband planted late, and the tomatoes are a bit weird-looking because they're heirlooms, but it seems strange to see them amongst the rather bedraggled roses, which will be drastically trimmed in just about two months so that they will be beautiful by Mother's Day. One thing very nice right now is that I have a bumper crop of lemons from two rather sad and neglected trees. I want to go hug them and apologize, for their fruit is so juicy, sweet-tart and tasty with honey in a cup of tea. I place the lemons in bowls around the house; they smell heavenly. The bright yellow looks so pleasing, especially paired with blue, so I try to find dark blue bowls or old china plates with royal blue; Delft, as a nod to my Dutch ancestry, is my favorite vessel for lemons and also crisp, red apples, also prevalent in our stores right now from points north of us. We had a very hardy apple tree in the yard at our last house but my husband over-pruned it and it never bore fruit again; perhaps it revived in the years after we moved. (I have found that husbands can sometimes get a bit over-zealous with the garden shears!)
Anyway, thank you for another enjoyable post, Heidi! You always have something interesting to share with us.
I can see those climbing flowers pretty well ;-). It looks great!
Will I still be able to see them on Thursday???
I always wanted to have a pergola. Please take pictures for us next growing season! I am always amazed at the projects you and Jos are doing, you make it seem so effortless (although I realize it's nothing but!)
Wat een verandering wederom, Jos is een echte "Handyman", de tuin is onherkenbaar veranderd de afgelopen tijd. Over een aantal jaren kun je erin verdwalen en zijn er overal leuke zitjes ontstaan.
Erg leuk, liefs en huygies, Bep.
I admire the way Jos and you are arranging your home and garden ! I hope you'll show us the pergola next summer ! You'll enjoy the fragances too. What a great idea !
That's your garden in those photos?! It is so gorgeous, that I thought it was a garden center/shop that you were visiting! I can't wait to see the pergola covered in flowers.
Oh I love it!!! Well done, you!
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