Hello GPODers! Today we have a wonderful garden story from a regular GPOD contributor that illustrates how wonderfully small our big world can be. Bas Suharto has previously shown off gardens he has designed and built (check out some of his entries: Build a Garden with Bas and Build a Japanese-Inspired Garden) as well as his amazing home gardens (Parterre Garden in Ottawa and Japanese Garden in Ottawa). But the garden in this most recent entry caught Bas’s attention long before he was asked to help with this space.
I passed this garden with an interesting fence design 3 years ago, on a weekend bike ride in Vanier, Ontario, Canada (zone 5b). I stopped just to look from the side street, where I could see a little into the squares of the wooden trellis fence.
This is the fence from the side street. Along the fence are some newly planted hostas, Karl Foerster grass (Calamagrostis × acutiflora flower ‘Karl Foerster’, Zones 4–10), and some autumn sedums.
Two years ago, I received an email from a good friend of one of my best friends. She asked me if I could help her with some gardening, and she was the owner of the garden in her yard! I finally got to see what was behind that beautiful fence.
Photo of the garden before Bas left for work, sent by the homeowner.
First we discussed the dense trees/shrubs in this “Japanese style” courtyard garden. I started by pruning the dense cedar trees to resemble ‘clouds’, as is often seen in Japanese gardens.
To contrast the dark green clouds of the cedar and the ground, I cut and planted euonymus branches growing under the cedar. I find euonymus easy to grow by cutting and sticking directly into rich soil. And this variety, moonshadow wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei ‘Moonshadow’, Zones 4–9) shows color when leaves are exposed to full sunlight.
I moved some Karl Foerster grasses outside in the patio garden and replaced them with a red Japanese maple. (Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Zones 5–8). I installed some bamboo poles to spread the branches of the red maple horizontally. Below, I planted Japanese sedge (Carex morrowiiRegions 5–9).
Japanese reeds under red maple.
Along the path, in front of the red maple tree, I planted bergenia trees. (Bergenia crassifoliaRegions 4–7). Here are some overgrown bergenia plants that I cut back, blocking the LED ground lights.
Miniature bergenias, once luxuriant. The tree on the right is a dwarf Alberta spruce. (Picea glauca used to be. Alberta ‘Conica’, Zones 2–6).
Next to the two doors of the garden there is a bush of smoky trees. (Cotinus coggygriaArea 5–8). I let the smoke tree grow taller like a tree, it had always been pruned as a short bush. I parted some of the branches to expose the smoke tree trunk. Underneath it I planted Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macraZones 5–9), I wanted something that contrasted with the dark purple of the smoke tree.
Near the terrace, there are LED lights installed in natural stone. Surrounding them are overgrown bergenia trees. I removed some of the trees that were blocking the light and I installed black pebbles in a corner around the stone lamp. Next to the bergenia trees is a Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis prisonRegions 4–8).
Garden view from seating area.
Seating area for four, a great place to enjoy breakfast or afternoon coffee.
There is a seasonal rectangular pond, approximately 2.5 feet by 7 feet, with a tiered fountain designed by an Ontario ceramic artist. The pond contains yellow irises grown in 2-gallon plastic pots. In the fall, the yellow irises are planted in the ground with the pots to overwinter. (Photo courtesy of owner)
On nice days, the Ragdoll Siamese cat will sometimes go out into the garden to watch the birds.
Wow, Bas—what a serendipitous gardening moment that ended up in a completely serene garden! I think it’s safe to say you definitely meant what you said about this patio garden. Thanks for sharing!
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