garden planning: inspiration, aesthetic and planning, pt1

[This isn't really a how-to guide, It's more of a journal of thoughts about planting and growing a garden]



Today's topic is about laying out the plans (skeleton. blueprints, whatever you want to call it) of a garden.

there are a few important things to keep in mind when starting a garden.

1. how big or small will it be?
2. is there enough sunlight?
3. how often do you plan to water your plants?
4. what are you planting ?
5. when are you going to start planting and how's the soil quality? 

There eventually be more questions that arise, but let's take it a step at a time.

I want my garden to be relatively small. I don't have an exact size yet, but I know that I don't want to look after too many plants. (I simply don't have the time) I've got sunlight covered for the most part, and watering too. I really want to concentrated on design so instead of dragging my heels and lollygagging let's jump into design, shall we?

If you follow my pintrest you would've seen my gothic gardening board. I've basically pulling ideas form everywhere to come up with a design i like. I've visited arboretums, and my schools bonsai cub, and even analyzed the mess out of the garden from Coraline.  In doing so, I've notice a couple of traits that are common in the gardens i like.

  

Traits I like

1. stone accents. things like gargoyles, tombstones, stone boarders, statues
2. metal. things like iron gates, or 
3. moss. it gives an old, creepy feeling while still being charming
4. dark colored or plants associated with being creepy. pumpkins, blackberries, roses etc...

taken at the gingerbread mansion in Ferndale CA. Here's a picture of the gingerbread mansion's garden. The fountain in the middle and the crisp cuts of the hedges give off an Victorian feel. 

Iron fencing was often used in the Victorian era, and is one of the reasons i find it to be almost natural to be in a darkly themed garden (aside from the harsh lifeless look of iron against the flourishing flora). Angles, gargoyles and fountains made of stone have all been reoccurring decor options for many years thus giving the garden a since of  age and mystery.

I'm almost positive that there's no way i could fit all of these things in my garden and it not look cramped... unless.

Yup, I'll just scale everything down a little bit. I've started to make little doodles in the margins and on the back of any and every piece of paper i could find. It's going to take some work, and a lot of time but I think it'll be worth it in the end.

Here are some posts, and articles that may explain the whole gothic garden thing a little better 

goth gardening tips written by Nikki Tiley,  writer of  The gothic crypt (a very informative ebook, that's not too lengthy. I highly recommend skimming through it if you get the chance) 

This is a pretty old post but trickortreat's gothic garden:the witches house is a good place to find inspiration too.

Elements of a gothic garden by J. A Young, and Katy Bosin