Secret Garden
By: Garden Gate staff
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Room to grow
One way to make a garden more interesting is to divide the area into different “rooms,” separate from each other, but connected by definite transitions. There are two main rooms in this garden, separated by a low stone wall: the gray-green garden on the left visible from the house and an enticing secret garden on the right.
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Restful retreat
DEFINE YOUR ROOMS If your garden lacks fences or tall walls, you can still have separate garden areas. An effective way to define areas is with walks and low stone walls. The ones in this garden divide the space without blocking the view. When seated on the wide back porch, you look out on this formal planting of lavender, catmint, lamb’s ear and woolly thyme. Use a round shape for contrast if you have lots of straight lines in the garden. An elegant water feature contains the only curved line in this border.
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The secret garden
ADD A SENSE OF MYSTERY Stone steps lead down to a long “secret garden,” the only room that cannot be seen from the porch. You must either look out the second floor windows to see it or go down the steps at the left in this photo and look back toward the house. Creating a space like this gives guests a nice surprise as they explore your garden. The secret garden breaks from the rest of the garden with a palette of red, yellow and chartreuse.
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