The Bones

Bones - they provide structure, strength, support and outline the substance. We'd be quivering masses of protoplasm without them!

Gardens of any size need bones too.  Without them, they are random collections of plantings.

Our eyes, our minds look for pleasing lines of order.  Even subconsciously, we try to process and group things, we look for sensible transitions, with just enough random and unexpected sprinkled in to keep it all interesting.

The bones of the garden are the large plantings, hardscapes such as walkways, water features and statuary.  They define the paths that garden visitors follow, provide a backdrop for the smaller plantings, lead the eye and structure the presentation. 

Our first impulse is to think of gardens in terms of vegetation, but gardens without bones, inviting pathways and hardscapes is like a picture without a frame.  Gardens should lead you into areas and use bones to hide some, but reveal enough to tempt you to seek out the beauty awaiting you around the next corner.  The hardscapes provide a pleasing outline, draw the eye and highlight the beauty of the plantings.

This is where we are - mapping out the bones of our garden.  The decisions we make now will in time become pretty permanent, so we are taking our time and letting what we have to work with soak in.  Some of our pathways may indeed eventually be cast in stone.  While moving water features or transplanting rhododendrons that have been growing happily for a decade may be possible, it would be a big job, so we'd much rather make the right plans now instead!

First Bones Planted!

While we are in the very beginning stages of mapping out our plan, we will never pass up an opportunity!  Our goals include taking our time, enjoying the process and creating our garden as inexpensively as possible. 

In early June, Home Depot was clearing out their rhododendron inventory with a 50% off sale.  Gallon pots were only $3.99 each, so before we had even finished clearing, we bought and planted 35 rhododendrons!

Rhododendrons are a great bones plant.  They will grow large, so they will be a super backdrop to the smaller plantings in front, they are evergreen, they have beautiful spring blooms and they love the woodland shade.  They have been in about a month now and so far all but one look great (and the one may come back)!

We planted these based on our original paths, so we will see if our updated design will require us to move any.  At this size, if any need moving, that's fine.

Even though we have to plan out the bones of our garden before too much more gets planted, there is still lots to do!  We may not know where everything will be planted, but we know we will need LOTS of hydrangea, azaleas, hosta, etc., etc. 

We can either buy plants at the nursery or grow our own.  Honestly, one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening for me is starting plants from cuttings.  Kim and I lived in Delta PA on four acres in the 90s and we had a small nursery.  I loved starting cuttings then and this is a great reason to resurrect that skill!  In my next post I'll show you exactly how we start cuttings!

Thanks for reading.  Please come back soon!

Take care,
Scott