The weather has turned cool after having some very hot and humid days last week. This week the day time highs will be in the high 60s to low 70s. I don't mind the cooler weather because it is more pleasant to be outside but my tomatoes will not be happy. I was hoping that the Sun Gold tomatoes would begin ripening this week but the low night time temperatures may inhibit them from doing so.
Last Saturday (June 27), was the 2009 Livonia Garden Walk. There were seven gardens on display but due to time constraints we were only able to visit four of them. All of the gardens were lovely and we were able to get some great ideas.
One garden had a wonderful side garden. You entered this garden by going through a trellis and then following a pathway. Both sides of the path were planted with perrenials. However, the most enchanting part of this garden was the "stream" that was flowing on the far right hand side of the garden. It was made up of medium-sized rocks and it really did seem like a stream. There was even a fish sculpture in the stream bed.
Another garden was composed of a variety of smaller gardens. Each section had a theme such as ferns, roses, etc. The lot's shape was unique and the owners were creative with how they had divided it into sections. My favorite part of this garden was a cottage garden that is off the side of the patio. An antique wrought iron fence surrounded and defined this bed. I noticed that people were stopping to admire the globe thistle that was planted there.
Ken loved a pergola that was a main attraction at another garden. It was located over the patio and the roof was covered with grape vines. Inside the pergola, old grape vines had been twined together and were wound over the ceiling. In addition, a variety of artistic objects were hung from these vines. Ken was attracted to the shade that the pergola provided and liked the idea that grapes could be grown on top of it.
Several other observations:
Last Saturday (June 27), was the 2009 Livonia Garden Walk. There were seven gardens on display but due to time constraints we were only able to visit four of them. All of the gardens were lovely and we were able to get some great ideas.
One garden had a wonderful side garden. You entered this garden by going through a trellis and then following a pathway. Both sides of the path were planted with perrenials. However, the most enchanting part of this garden was the "stream" that was flowing on the far right hand side of the garden. It was made up of medium-sized rocks and it really did seem like a stream. There was even a fish sculpture in the stream bed.
Another garden was composed of a variety of smaller gardens. Each section had a theme such as ferns, roses, etc. The lot's shape was unique and the owners were creative with how they had divided it into sections. My favorite part of this garden was a cottage garden that is off the side of the patio. An antique wrought iron fence surrounded and defined this bed. I noticed that people were stopping to admire the globe thistle that was planted there.
Ken loved a pergola that was a main attraction at another garden. It was located over the patio and the roof was covered with grape vines. Inside the pergola, old grape vines had been twined together and were wound over the ceiling. In addition, a variety of artistic objects were hung from these vines. Ken was attracted to the shade that the pergola provided and liked the idea that grapes could be grown on top of it.
Several other observations:
- I was happy to see that even though all of the gardens were beautiful none of them were "picture perfect". By this I mean that none of them seemed to be artificially staged. I occasionally would see weeds in lawn or bed areas. I even saw a dead rhododendrum that had been dug up and placed out of the way.
- Three of the four gardens that we visited had compost piles. However, none of them had rain barrels. (When we went on the walk last year, we saw only one garden that had rain barrels.)
- Three of the gardens used cedar mulch to create pathways. None of the homes had extensive brick walk ways. Instead, the brick or stone paths were used as accents.
We did get one idea for our own garden. We have been wanting to do something to block the sight of the compost area. After seeing many raised beds, Ken decided to create a curved raised bed in front of this area. Yesterday, he layed out a tentative plan and is eager to begin building it.
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