Garden Diary: Linear motif

Peter Holt, friend and garden designer near Halifax, Nova Scotia, suggested I add a new garden feature to extend the visual line made by my long, thin pond near the house, and continued by a long stone-wall raised planting bed. My first thought was to make another stone-wall planter, but the labor and cost were just too much.

So this is the result, a roughly crescent-shaped "resting" area, a clean void in the midst of the garden, constructed roughly in line with the other two linear elements. Well, not actually in line, but in "curve," as a river curves. Picture this out in the middle of the garden. I need to add a few more concrete pavers (16 by 16 inches) then an infill of gravel, and it's finished.

This new feature is located off to the right of this photo, behind the Miscanthus giganteus.

Here is the unfinished approach from the other side.

Now that I've placed it here, amid all the grasses, I see the need to plant bolder plants for more solidity, shape, form. I need large leaves, interesting foliage, pattern, repetition--plants and objects that want to be viewed close up, that help define the space and its qualities.

The view is back toward the house side of the garden, hidden behind the giant Miscanthus at the back on the right ...

I think the grid works well to subdue the wildness of the plantings, as a counterpoint to the swaying verticals and swirling foliage ...

I'm reminded of grid patterns Mien Ruys used in some of her gardens.