Garden Art means different things to different people.
In the vegetable garden it can take the form of a screen to mask the compost bin, or a painting on the side of the tool shed. Some of us – and by us I mean gardeners – take care to lay out our herb gardens to create patterns that please the eye. Then we add decorative elements that bring us joy or remind us where the time has flown.
Most of the time garden art means a sculptural element that we add to gardens as focal points, as whimsical elements, to make statements, or as mementoes. Focal points work especially well when space is limited and the city encroaches just outside the garden walls.
Focal points also serve to draw us along the garden path, sometimes giving us pleasant surprises.
We appreciate the bold statements some art makes. It draws our attention to elements of the context in which a garden sits, to contributions of indigenous people, to the past from which the garden derives.
Whimsy plays a vital role in the choice of garden art. It brings magic and mystery to gardens, and enhances the joy of growing flowers, herbs, and trees.
But I think we love it best when the garden is the art and its plants serve as sculpture, form, and function. David and I designed the informal park in Port Ludlow I mentioned above. It is such a delight to take a blank slate and transform earth and light, soil and water into a lovely place to be.
We invite you to share your stories of the greenworld, and welcome you to join us at one of our stops on the road. See our events page for all the details. If you have a favorite spot we should not miss, please let us know.
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