I am not typically a big fan of things like this (that is baubles shoved in with the plants) but this combo of textural plants and glass sculpture so nicely and interestingly elevate each other that I am perhaps reconsidering…at least for this one instance.

Picture was taken by jchants on the Lake Forest Park Secret Gardens Tour.

I love this Swedish garden bench.  It was designed by Kristoffer Fagerström.  It seems a relatively easy concept to recreate as a DIY project — I would maybe make the boards all shades of the same color….perhaps blues or greens and I might let the metal piece rust out.

Found via husligheter.

My husband and I are hotly debating our planned vegetable garden addition.  We are more than doubling it’s size and the controversy surrounds the beds.  Currently we have (8) 4′ x 4′ and (2) 8′ x 4′ cedar beds that we got locally from this great place in western Massachusetts.  The beds are charming – using a colonial peg system to hold them together rather than nails.   I think we should simply double what we have, it will keep a uniform tidy look and be easy to accomplish.  My husband (being more cost conscious) however disagrees, he wants to build raised beds using hessian (that’s British for burlap) sacks.  He saw something once like this and thinks it is a great idea.  I think it will last about one season before rotting away and leaving us with a pile of whatever we fill it with.  I think the answer is obvious, but the debate rages on.

As in many of these type of discussions, where a winner and a loser may never be definitively decided, I am wondering if perhaps a modified solution might be in order.

The reason for raised beds is that we lave a lot (a. lot.) of rocks in our soil.  They just keep percolating to the top.  There is a cluster of world renowned seismologists that live down the road…apparently moved here by Harvard University because the hill, atop which my house sits, is actually formed by a solid piece of ledge that interestingly extends very far into the core of the earth (apparently only one other place on earth shares this level of ledge depth) – Seismologists think it is cool and interesting enough to make them gather…I however, find the visual image of the rocks yet to rise, daunting.

We just try not to deal, by putting rock free soil on top.  But maybe this is being too lazy (though the thought of all the work exhausts me) and to be honest, I struggle with the moving of large amounts of topsoil and paying for truckloads of something I already have in spades. So,  I am thinking about building a few Keyhole gardens and Bag gardens which are being used in Africa to help gardeners there to grow with minimal water.

The Keyhole Vegetable bed is a raised bed. It’s about 1m (3′6″) high, and the outer bed, where the vegetables are growing, slopes down from a central hollow column. There’s an access path to the column (giving the bed a “keyhole” shape viewed from above) and inside it is what amounts to a compost bin, held in with hessian: you fill it with kitchen waste, stable manure, grass clippings – whatever you’d put on your compost heap. Africans tip on water saved from washing up.   The idea is that the water will drain through and take all the nutrients with it.  It feeds from below the topsoil, so rather than watering on the surface and all the water evaporating, everything’s coming up from underneath.  Apparently in Africa, this garden will feed a family of six through the three-month dry period, when crops in the fields simply dry out.

Similarly, the idea of a bag garden is that you can grow more vegetables in a smaller space.  Hessian sacks are used and are filled with a core of stones surrounded by compost.  The central column keeps the water from getting stuck in the top layers and helps it to filter all the way through.  That means even veg planted through pockets cut in the bottom of the bag get enough water. To get the column into the centre of the bag (or pot) take a plastic drinks bottle and cut off the neck and base, giving you a plastic tube. Put the tube in the centre of your pot, and fill it with stones. Pack the compost around it, then lift the tube up, leaving the stones in the soil, then repeat until you get to the top of the pot.  It is like a rudimentary strawberry pot.  I have stones…plenty to fill the bag and plenty more to build keyhole gardens — but the labor….

So I am curious, I am wrong about the hessian/burlap?  I quite like the look of the tall bag gardens and am willing to give it a try but really, what about rot?  hmmm…. whose got an opinion?  Am I right or is my husband?

found via city farmer news. All images from Cowfiles.

Run. Run. Run for your life!….Giant architect lamps are attacking!!

This image maybe a photoshop job, but the giant outdoor lamps are real.  Just like the one on my desk, you can now have a giant version for your garden or outdoor application.   Thank you but I think I will pass…for some reason, they creep me out.  But perhaps there is a use for them in an outdoor theater application (or something).  What do you think?

You can learn more about the Great JJ lamp from Itre here.

I am so impressed with the magic of moving a fence…..

This garden was really under utilizing the side of the house and the access point for the garden.  When I saw the beofre shot, I thought it was an office building or something, and not a beautiful home.  How Sad!

The before picture was taken from the front of the home, whereas most of the after shots are taken from the back so you have to get your bearings to really understand this project.  The fence was moved forward toward the front of the property allowing the backyard to re-capture the space.

Now it is a a shady oasis with sophisticated planting — the only thing I would change is to perhaps add or change planting around the AC to obscure  them a bit more…What do you think?

images by william

Before and after number two (I have one more on the way)…

This is Tim and D’Arcy’s back garden in Toronto, Canada.  I really like the checkerboard paver/ grass patio.  I never stop being amazed by how much bigger gardens seem when you get rid of large blocks of grass and break it up into a flow of garden rooms (or areas).  I think it helps too, that they painted the shed in the back brown so that it would visually recede rather than leaving it red making the garden seem shorter.  What do you like about this garden?

Thanks Tim for sending these!

Have a before & after you’d like to share on studio ‘g’? Email right here with your images.