Enjoy Your Garden

​We once had a three-season porch that overlooked a pond and my backyard gardens.  It was furnished with typical rattan porch furniture.  We never used it.  Why?  I would guess we weren’t comfortable. 
 
I refurnished the room with cushy sofas, chairs, and a small table for meals.  Outside I added a Pagoda Dogwood and Japanese Maple (both small understory trees growing about 8-10 feet) that provided screening from our neighbors.  It made all the difference and we enjoyed the room and used it frequently.  Can a similar redo of a garden increase the use of an outdoor room? 

Now our screened porch is a screen house set right in the middle of the gardens.

As a gardener I focus on the plants and leave the thought of what it takes to really enjoy my bit of the outdoors to chance.  But I would guess that more thoughtful elements in the garden towards comfort would tip the joy meter in an upward direction.  
Here’s some things to consider to add to your garden space:

1. Comfy furniture
2. A fire pit
3. Good views (such as a focal point plant or even borrow from a neighbor’s yard or the lake or countryside)
4. Moving parts such as wind chimes or a water feature
5. Attractions for pollinators and wildlife (birdbaths, pollinator plants, feeders)
6. Privacy:  hedges, shrub bed, trees and/or a fence
7. Most comforting is something overhead such as a shade tree, pergola, porch, or canopy

Most suburban yards are developed with wide-open spaces and hardly any separation from our neighbors.  This drastically reduces privacy that we naturally crave for relaxation.  Michael Pollan in his book Second Nature writes that “a fence or hedge along the street meant one thing:  the family who lived behind it was antisocial, perhaps even had something to hide… Any enjoyment of this space was sacrificed to the conceit of wide-open land, for without a fence or hedge, front yards were much too public to spend time in….Fences have always seemed to us somehow un-American.  Europeans built walled gardens.” 
 
Oh, how I love to peak into those walled gardens and see how lovely and private those areas would be to enjoy.  I say let’s close off some private spaces for us to enjoy our gardens. 

A perfect example of a private spot, this one in Tuscany overlooking the countryside. Note the privacy hedges, the chairs & tables and of course the view. 

​My favorite place to enjoy my gardens is to sit under our upstairs deck on a patio that faces the lake and is surrounded by perennials that change as the growing season matures.  I can look out the window and see these gardens that are about 15 feet from the foundation of the house.  Many homes have foundation plantings that can only be enjoyed as you approach the house.  Move those plantings 10-15 feet away from the house and they can be enjoyed both inside and outside. 

A private spot to enjoy the gardens up close is the patio and the overhead deck provides shade and protection during rain showers.

​Do you have a favorite spot in your gardens?  If not, take a look around your gardens and see what you might do to increase your enjoyment.