Garden of the Day: Crown Heights Verdant
[nggallery id=”21338″ template=galleryview] A dispatch from Crown Heights: We’ve been here since 2002, and have worked on the garden incrementally since then. Closest to the house is the concrete patio, which is as we found it. Here we have the shed, the grill, the patio table, the herb garden and the grape arbor. The central…
[nggallery id=”21338″ template=galleryview]
A dispatch from Crown Heights:
We’ve been here since 2002, and have worked on the garden incrementally since then. Closest to the house is the concrete patio, which is as we found it. Here we have the shed, the grill, the patio table, the herb garden and the grape arbor. The central area consists of small plantings with a brick path and flower boxes on either side. Finally the ‘lawn’, which is a mix of grass, dandelions, plantain (the weed) etc. Here we sit in the Adirondack chairs to enjoy the ferns, pine tree, and Bradford pear. As a nature lover, one of the things I appreciate is the way various parts of the garden are microcosms of the wider natural world. The prickly pear (Opuntia) cactus was started from a single ‘leaf’ purchased in a small pot from a vendor in Union Square. Opuntia is native to the northeast and can be seen in ‘the wild’ in Jamaica Bay Refuge, and on the Hudson palisades.
This is fun—Keep the submissions coming!
Garden of the Day: Bushwick ‘English Garden’ [Flickr]
Garden of the Day: Another Greenwood Heights Goodie [Brownstoner]
Garden of the Day: HGTV Does Greenwood Heights [Brownstoner]
Garden of the Day: PLG Make-Over [Brownstoner]
Submit Your Garden for ‘Garden of the Day’ [Brownstoner]
“Theres nothing “great” about a chain link fence. If you want lateral light try split bamboo.”
Well one great thing is it’s affordable. Oh and another great thing is it’s strong enough to support the weight of a vine. Unlike split bamboo.
Also we can easily have this discussion without getting all catty on the topic. Ala the recessed lighting debate! Hilarious, 2pm.
I like a trellis even without something growing on it. The lines are a nice design element, which is why we often see trellis designs used in prints on decorator fabrics. You can attach lightweight trellises to a chain link fence using wires.
chain link = the recessed lighting of gardens
😉
1.06 – all good ideas!
Climbing roses and clematis don’t take over – but I have to say those beautiful bamboo stick fences are beautiful, don’t make the garden feel claustrophic and are not expensive. We bought some at Chelsea garden center in red hook and wired it to our chain link fence and it’s very nice. the other thing to do for a quick cheap visual improvement is to buy some wood trellis and attach it to the chainlink – permits air flow but better looking.
Exactly right, 11:22. A garden is never designed and done and then you walk away. It evolves and the plantings are always in different stages of growth and change.
Thanks for the kind words. I agree that the chain link fence is less than ideal. But we rationalize by arguing for its advantages: no maintenance, it was already there, some plantings give it cover, it permits early and late day sun through, and actually the visual lines through to the neighbor’s yard enhance the feeling of depth. Our neighbor on the left never uses her yard and lets it get overgrown, supplying us with a ‘wild’ side. The neighbor on the right has a lovely, simple and elegant garden that her family rarely uses. So in each case privacy is not an issue. We await the time in the summer when the grape arbor provides shade for the table.
Great job, it looks better than ever! I’ve always been jealous! 😉
Hope you have recovered, and are following 11:32’s advice and reading the Sunday paper.
MM
Is that what those nasty things are called – chain link? I’m from England, we do like our house gardens there. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a chain link fence in a domestic setting.
This reminds me of many London low-key relaxing gardens. It’d be nice to read the Sunday paper in.