MINIATURE BEDS, BORDERS, AND ISLANDS
There are a number of ways to use small-scale versions of the familiar mixed-flower border. Annuals and perennials can be selected for continuity or succession of bloom, and arranged so that colors harmonize, textures contrast, and carefully placed taller spikes or spires provide accent and relieve monotony. In the background there may be dwarf evergreens or flowering shrubs, a low fence or wall, the side of a tool house or other small building.
Use miniature flower borders to add interest to tiresome areas such as long, narrow strips between the house and boundary line of the lot, or along a service walk. Use them at the edge or in corners of small lawn areas—never scattered through it—or at the base of low foundation plantings. Use them as visual space dividers between driveway and front yard or entrance to the house.
Miniature beds are also effective at one side of a breezeway, at the edge of a terrace or patio, or beside the back door. If they are raised slightly, perhaps the height of just one brick, the small plants are nearer to eye-level and their full beauty is more clearly revealed. I’ve also seen a tiny cutting garden, by the back fence, that was as colorful and pretty as any border.
Whenever there are walks, there are spots for miniature beds—in the diamond-shaped points where two walks join; as little islands along the curves; in the angles where corners turn. Or use small formal beds for dooryard plantings.
The intimate dooryard garden, by the way, is enjoying a revival. Instead of advice to keep flowering plants away from the front of the house, we’re encouraged to plant little gardens that can be seen from the picture window and also will make the house more attractive to passers-by. These don’t replace foundation plantings and front-yard landscaping, but supplement them in a small way. And the small gardens help relieve the monotonous sameness of many modern house fronts.
All kinds of corners are obvious sites for ornamental treatment with tiny gardens—architectural corners between front entrance and house wall, between one wing of the house and another; the back corner of a lot where, perhaps, a small tree is a focal point or background or where, if you’re fortunate, a small stream winds its way across your property.
On almost any grounds there are natural nooks that seem to be made for miniature gardens up and down the sides of informal steps, at the top or base of low walls, in a patch of soil at the foot of a high-branched tree.
Landscape or architectural focal points can often be enhanced by little gardens—gates, bay windows, sundials, the mailbox, a birdbath, or a well. Little pocket-handkerchief gardens are built right into patios and terraces. Little creepers planted in crevices between paving stones make a miniature garden of their own.
CHAPTER 11
MINIATURE ROCK AND WALL GARDENS
Anyone who can live and garden in a place like our part of Connecticut without going overboard for rocks and rock-loving plants has more self-control than I. My bewitchment began one Sunday afternoon when, the weekend’s weeding done, I strolled up toward the small wild-flower plantings in “the point.” Just beyond the garage, before the trees began to cut off the sun, I stopped to glare at an ugly, erupting mound of soil and stones that had frustrated our every attempt to make this area more attractive.
I was pondering the monstrosity, when I noticed an intriguing detail. A partly submerged rock poking its head out of one side of the mound had the same color and patina as a snub-nosed piece sticking out the other side; and the lines of stratification were on the same slant. Could these be opposite ends of one continuous rock formation?
Five wheelbarrow-loads of rocky debris later, we had uncovered a beautiful boulder, perfectly placed so that its lines led gracefully into twin trunks of a wind-blown birch. It was a boulder with ancient age and character, artistically chiseled by the elements. And it said “rock garden” as plainly as any landscape plan.
This five-foot-long discovery may not be miniature; and the naturalistic kind of planting it inspired is neither practical nor suitable for many home grounds. But it was my introduction to rock plants, and to how effectively rocks and plants combine; and it led me to create and watch for rock gardens that are miniature, practical, and suitable for all kinds of grounds. Sometimes I think these are the most enchanting little gardens of all.
If they are to look like anything better than a pile of stones, miniature rock and wall gardens are not composed of miniature rocks. They simply contain fewer, perhaps somewhat smaller, rocks than average gardens; and they occupy far less space. These small plant-and-rock compositions brighten nooks and corners where other plantings would seem out of place.
By their nature, most rockery plants are miniature in height, foliage, and flower. Alone or combined with miniature bulbs, the smaller perennials and annuals, and the tiniest shrubs and trees, they invite close-up enjoyment of their daintiness in these small plantings. Rocks and rock-loving plants have a perfectly natural way of blending and contrasting, each bringing out the best qualities in the other.
Although they’re of different design and construction, rock gardens and dry walls are usually planted with the same or similar plants, and given similar care. Paths, pavements, and garden steps are close kin. But pools and water plants, even though they are often included in rock gardens, are a separate subject, and are covered in Chapter 12.