Aiming for a shot of the rose arbour for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, way back the summer, I realized that one place to appreciate the (at that time) bower of bloom was from inside the house.
This got me thinking: is garden design all about experiencing the garden from within it? When designing: is in in and out out and never the twain…?
We’ve all seen what happens when people consider the house and its garden as two separate spaces: such as when a huge conifer is obscuring the view, smack dab in the middle of a picture window.
Yet, in cold climates like ours, where indoors begins to feel mighty claustrophobic by February, it would be liberating to be able to extend the view.
Windows and doorways offer the ideal framing device. I’d begun to think on this when Sarah and I visited the country garden of Country Gardener, Yvonne Cunnington, a very talented designer who clearly understands the ins, outs and all their implications.
It isn’t just the fabulous property (although who wouldn’t fantasize about that?). It’s the conscious placement of garden objects in the near, middle and far ground that keeps the eye traveling through the picture – the garden picture – even when seen from indoors.
We can keep this in mind, no matter what size garden we possess.
8 comments
You make some great points about the importance of framing views!
Excellent post! Many people ignore basic design principles when planning their garden. For example, what good does a rose garden do if it is tucked into an obscure corner of the garden where you have to go out of your way to see it? I would much rather have it in a high traffic area and visible from my house.
You are absolutely right Helen! With our famous rain season approaching, views from the windows become as important as sun light.
I was aiming to frame a view of the garden from each window, but so far have really only achieved the rose garden from 2 deep livingroom windows.
Thanks for this timely post. This is something I am thinking about more as I realize how important the views are from the common rooms in the house – for our many frozen months 🙂
Always a good reminder to have – thanks!
Beautiful photos that illustrate point so well. I've been thinking about this concept for awhile. This summer I put up a twig frame on the outside wall I face when sitting at my table. The passion flowers that grew up it gave me something beautiful to look at and think about every time I sat down. It only took me 7 years to figure this out!
Thanks for your comments, everyone. And thanks to Yvonne for having such a lovely garden, which we posted on back in July. You can see the slideshow of our visit here (one day, I'll figure out how to embed a link in the comments — anyone know?):
http://torontogardens.blogspot.com/2009/07/city-mice-visit-country-gardener.html