Transform your patio, balcony, terrace or rooftop into a wonderful garden environment by using containers for planting and a little imagination. Recently, I was inspired by a patio garden that showcases a large assortment of plants grown in containers alongside a beautiful collection of vintage garden furniture and accessories. Martha Stewart has described container gardening as a “moveable feast,” and this patio garden is a feast for all the senses ” as though it has jumped out of the pages of Martha Stewart Living magazine. It is also a feast for the many hummingbirds that happily spend their days among the many flowering plants.
Perched high on a verdant canyon, this lovely garden lures you toward the canyon’s edge as it opens to views of the ocean and southern coastline. Restful and pleasing to the eye, the garden has been created over the past nine years in a classic theme of green, creamy whites and a few pastels. The patio has been treated as though it is another room in the house and reflects the owner’s passion for timeless elegance and simplicity. The design and style of the garden blends with the home’s interior décor, and as you look through the windows of the home and out to the patio, each view is a picture in itself.
The owner’s impressive collection of antique garden furniture and accessories with their bristled, peeling paint and oxidizing iron lends age-old charm and a sense of legacy to the relatively new garden. A rustic wooden table topped with pots of herbs has been placed outside the kitchen door and invites you to come outdoors for a cup of tea or to dine al fresco amid the scented plants.
What started out as a bulldozed pile of rocks is now the large patio and garden area. The patio is covered in French antique tile pavers that are more than 100 years old, and the varying colors of terracotta allow the greens in the garden and canyon to stand out. Vine-covered walls, which give the garden height and scale, as well as privacy, are covered with climbing roses and scented jasmine. Instead of being forgotten, long, narrow side yards have been transformed into secret garden areas, just waiting to be discovered. Stepping-stones and hidden walkways lead you through these areas that have been decorated with an assortment of plants, containers and garden accessories. Artfully placed, aged terracotta pots planted with organically grown herbaceous plants, such as lavender, scented geraniums, roses and shrubs, makes an eye-catching display. There are also olive, bay, apple, ficus, citrus and apricot trees (grown from apricot pits) growing in large pots. A wide variety of herbs tops antique tables and tiered garden stands, letting you know that this is a “cook’s garden” where they are used to flavor gourmet meals.
White roses mingle among a few pastel varieties and they thrive in containers, planting beds and on the garden walls. The white varieties include Karen Blixen, Maria Shriver, Iceberg, Full Sail, John F. Kennedy, Mme. Blanc Double de Colbert, Honor, White Lace, Sally Holmes and Lady Banks. Cecile Brunner and Kathryn Morley are pale pink.
All of the planting beds were one filled with our indigenous hard clay soil, but over the years, the owner has amended it with organic soil, compost and fertilizer, which has made it rich and pliable, so the plants’ roots can grow and spread easily instead of being stunted by our naturally compacted soil. The owner has also added earthworms that continually burrow through the soil, adding their beneficial casting and aerating it.
All of the containers are filled with the owner’s special homemade potting soil that does not compact like regular garden soil. Her special soil mixture is actually “soil-less” and is blended with organic matter, including aged forest products, peat moss, pumice, sand, gypsum, lime and more. This mixture provides excellent nutrition and drainage for her potted plants.
A few of the owner’s tips on creating the perfect patio garden: Use good quality organic potting soil in your containers. While not a necessity, try and grow your garden organically. Treat the patio like another room of your house. Think about what you want to use it for ” dining, reading, gardening entertaining, or all the above, and furnish it accordingly. The style should blend with the décor of the interior.
Plant what you love that will grow under the condition of the location. Don’t try to create it all at once; let it evolve slowly. Go to www.LindaMarrone.com for more information.