Simple Solutions for Moving into a New Garden
Owning or purchasing a home with multiple patios can be quite overwhelming. When we bought our house, it came with two patios, an upper and lower level, both at ground level. The slight slip from the upper to the lower patio had steps connecting them, but the slope was completely bare. After talking to the previous owner, we learned that a cactus garden had been maintained during summer. The soil was primarily red clay and dry, and it did not appeal to the gardener in me.
When moving, you may bring garden accents you had from your previous home. These garden accents may already fit into your new decor, or they may not, so you may have to move around and change the landscape to make your favorite garden piece fit. For me, this piece was a flower-shaped birdbath. I placed it in the barren space, but it looked very bare. With winter fast approaching, we stored the bird bath in our shed and decided to construct a pond in spring to enhance the space and make it a bit larger.
With winter past us, we began our new landscape project in March. After excavating the hill with shovels and hoes and adding some stones we picked up from a farmer's field, we were overwhelmed with the mess we had created. After a great deal of work and a few weekends, our pond was flowing, but all we had were rocks, dirt, sand, and mulch. We placed flowers and shrubs around the pond to make it visually appealing. After purchasing some koi fish to put in the pond and spending a few weeks enjoying the pond from our patio, we realized we were on to something. Koi fish are often a representation of the Asian culture.
Going with our Asian theme in mind, we visited our local nursery and found some lilies and other flowers that would complement the pond. We also saw some larger and smaller pagodas that could easily be placed near the pond. Adding red stones and a few Buddha statues gave us the desired look. After spending a few weeks enjoying our new Asian garden theme, we realized we were tracking dirt and red rocks into our home. We did not want to take up our fresh new landscape, so we decided that placing stepping stones to pave the way into the house would be the perfect remedy. We purchased lily-shaped stepping stones that led right into our sliding glass door. With some small frog statues guiding the way and some solar lights, we completed the perfect connection between both patios.
Our patios are great for entertaining, whether for a large family gathering or an evening with just a few friends. The garden statues added just the right touch to give continuity to both patios. On a nice evening, we enjoy sitting out overlooking our backyard and listening to the sound of the water from the pond, which takes all the day's stress away.