Garden Diary: Adapting to reality

I'm pleased with the off-center symmetry of the evolving garden, and the interplay of the rectangles, quite pleased, actually. The axis runs off the center of the glass doors (that gold hardware has to go!), and will terminate at the back of the garden, in some way I have yet to determine--though I'm still haunted by Ross Hamilton's Italian ruin idea. (That piece of fence in front of the pool is construction detritus.)

I wish the pool were only 18 inches deep, as well as a foot shorter and two feet narrower, but I have to adapt to this oversized 4- by 9-foot monster (maybe I could make a hot tub ... just kidding). This pool poses a tripping hazard and could be dangerous, so I'll need to give attention to perimeter protection. I'm not sure how I'll do that, but part of the solution will be to add bluestone coping all around as a visual cue. Possibly some planting, pots on the coping, lighting at night ...

First change dictated by the unexpected spatial relationships? I'll have four trees, not six, in the graveled area, near the four corners. The long narrow pool I had planned would have allowed space for a third set of trees in the middle of the garden. But trees around this pool, as built, might narrow the passage sufficiently to cause visitors to walk unconsciously toward the pool, and possible injury. I also left 10 feet of open garden planting area in the back, substantially shortening the paved length of the garden. Best keep this area as open as possible, and direct foot traffic with square stepping stones or judiciously placed planting. Think boxwood and bergenia for starters.

I'm not displeased with this. I can work with it. And should I want koi (I don't), I can have them.

The next image demonstrates why I need a tree canopy, and fast. This is a very exposed site now that the 80-foot mulberry is gone (thanks to hurricane Irene).

I will need screening on both the left and right of the extension to break up the mass of the structure and to provide some privacy to anyone sitting in the bluestone area just outside the glass doors.

I think you can see here that multistemmed trunks, roughly in the four corners of the gravel rectangle, would be almost perfect, so I'm taking Michael's and Les' suggestions for Stewartia or Chionanthus retusus seriously. I'm also open to Billy Martin's Medlars, which I think would be a truly unique solution. Of course, my old favorite Sunburst honey locust (Peter Holt likes them too) remains if all else fails.

You can make out the view into the garden through the doors below even though they remain covered in protective plastic wrapping.

The buildings beyond, again, give you ample evidence of the need for quick cover (instant tree canopy). While this is a historic district, and the fronts of most houses are beautifully maintained with their original brownstone detail from the latter half of the nineteenth century, no one pays much attention to the backs!

And here an even better view of the back facades to be obscured across the block ...

A view from above, though much of the garden is cut off by the parapet of the extension roof ... Useful visual information for those not familiar with the structure of Brooklyn back yards (this is where the privy was when most of these houses were built; plumbing was a rarity in the early days). By the way, Spike Lee grew up in one of the houses off to the right.

The bluestone and gravel look quite blue late in the afternoon shadows, but the actual color is gray. I'm paying attention to these details in selecting the color to stain the fence.

A more true impression of the color of the gravel ... at least until we get a heavy rain.

The budget for all of this? Maddeningly, less than the cost of removing the fallen 80-foot mulberry!