Garden Planning & Inspiration
The furthest project we have planned for Grove House are the gardens, even so, I can’t stop thinking about them. Maybe because the excavation and foundations aren’t that exciting to me, it leaves me to wander off and daydream about the potential beauty at the end of our build.
I’ve been contemplating not having any grass whatsoever, and instead having pea gravel and stone pathways between lush planters and raised beds. The weather gets extremely hot in our area and grass takes an enormous amount of watering to keep it healthy and green. And I’ve always been fond of the look of rambling plants spilling out onto the walkways.
We plan to have a very large vegetable and herb garden right outside the kitchen, and small cutting garden of my favorite flowers. Maybe I’ll mix them together like this beautiful garden…
And I’ve been scouring Craigslist, flea markets and antique stores to try to find an outdoor sink like this beauty. It will make a great prep station for gatherings, and a quick place to wash veggies and hands. And I love the rustic stone used as support.
Have any of you removed all your grass or have none at all? I would love to hear your feedback on your favorite plantings, gravel and design!
PS. Yes, the chickens will be coming with us…and they will get to have some new friends!
Image Credits: 1. House and Leisure 2. Gardener.ru 3. FS’s Garden Joy
4. Country Living 5. Swan & Shears
42 Responses to “Garden Planning & Inspiration”
I love all of these pics, so beautiful! 🙂
Thanks Tinajo!
We are finally paying more attention to our gardens and coups at our farm this spring, and are installing crushed limestone paths. Hardens nicely and not so hard to walk on as peagravel. Can’t wait to see how your chickens will be living at your new farm! I’m in the planning stage of making ours more pleasing for our feathered friends and for us to look at. ~ Kim
Ooh, crushed limestone…need to look into this. I agree, gravel can be hard to walk on. I’ve seen stabilizers you can lay beneath the gravel to help. But I’m definitely going to check out the limestone. Thanks for the tip!
Our DG pathway has a stabilizer in it for sturdiness. Somehow weeds can still manage to try to grow in it.
We have a small back yard and chose to use a gravel pathway with perennial gardens on both sides. The path ends with a small flagstone patio complete with an inviting chair and wicker table. I love to be outside because it is so peacful. I live in Colorado where the summers are hot and the winters are cold. The path holds up well in all temperatures. Today we are expecting another round of snow with 4 – 5 inches.
Sounds absolutely lovely. And perennials are always a good investment in the garden. 🙂
I love the pea gravel look, but my hubs will not allow me to do this around my vegetable garden boxes. To bad you are not on the east coast because I have that sink in my basement and am trying to find a new home for it.
Well now, Margaret…why do you tempt me so? 😉 I’d be over there in a heartbeat if I lived close!
hello Margaret -I just now saw this post by you, do you still have that sink and trying to find a new home for it? Just wondering…I live in East Tennessee…am I close? ha-
Thanks-
Melisa
Beautiful! They really call to mind the southern part of France, and Greece and Italy too. I say go for it! As for the sink, your best bet may be a salvage yard. Or contact a demo company and tell them what you’re looking for – sometimes they’ll keep an eye out and contact you if they find it.
Good idea Stephanie! Haven’t gone to any salvage yards…maybe I’ll check the Habitat stores as well.
Oh I would love an outdoor sink! Your inspiration images are lovely. I hope your dreams come true!
Thanks so much Ann!
Beautiful inspiration today! So reminiscent of France, I agree! And I adore a pea gravel walkway!
xo
Kate
Thank you Kate, me too! xo, H
Two years ago, I replaced the grass in my backyard with pea stone – mixed in with raised garden beds, wine barrel planters for herbs, an avocado tree, a lime tree, and a lemon tree. The two existing California peppers provide shade in a seating/dining area. It’s very comfortable, feels European, and family and friends enjoy a relaxing game of bocce on the pea stone …
Looks like I need to see your garden for inspiration! It all sounds stunning! We were thinking about a bocce court as well. 🙂
I was going to put in a bocce ball court, but my husband thinks he’d use a target range more. So bow and arrow it is. I’m also putting in a garden shed, and NOT from Home Depot!
Hi Heather
Jenny at Junk girls had 2 of those sinks at one time. She might still have them.
Thanks for the heads up Judi! Hope all is well…I need to come up and visit soon.
So inspirational and beautiful. Love pea gravel too. I have never been to France but it is what I would imagine.
It is very reminiscent of France. But would you believe the first image is from South Africa? It goes to show you, you can have any type of garden you dream up!
do you ever make it to IL??
http://www.rockford.craigslist.org/for/3716327843
the cement sink you’re looking for!
I wish! 😉
Do you have to put black plastic (bleh) under the limestone?
There are other weed barrier products on the market. No need for black plastic anymore.
Love these looks! I’m so over grass. Just need a little patch for my lhasapoo.
Me too! I wish I could tear all of mine out now. 😉
Well, I think you know that I live 30 minutes south of you. We just did drought tolerant landscaping and I love it. In our area, I would HIGHLY recommend it. The maintenance and watering costs are much lower than my neighbors. I have a lovely landscape architect that totally “gets” my aesthetic that you would love. You can see many photos on my blog of the yard. We are now in the planning stages for the back yard. I’m SO excited. It feels like my yard should be in a magazine, even if its pretty young and simple. I learned a lot through the experience as well. Email me if you’d like Morgan’s (landscaper).
Thanks Karen, when we get closer to the design I’d love his email. Your gardens must be heaven for you, they sound gorgeous!
And yay to using less water. As it stands now, our orange trees are going to be soaking up the majority of it!
And that’s where you want it so you can have beautiful, delicious fruit and lovely scents. Put your money where your mouth it, for real.
Btw, my yard is mostly DG and pebbles.
those sinks were called stationary sinks/tubs, used in the washroom usually or back porch
problem I find with pea gravel/crushed stone is the leaves, I have several trees and the stuff from them looks terrible in the pea gravel and is hard to remove/rake
Heather,
I love the look you speak of, and show us. I also think living in Southern California that it is a wise choice. We recently removed a fair amount of our grass in the back yard and made a pea gravel patio under the shade of some large trees. (Our next door neighbors liquid amber tree drops leaves on it once a year but it seems really easy to clean up and when my gardener visits he blows the leaves off) …it’s one of our favorite spots. I love penstemon, ‘midnight’ and Spanish lavender for taller plants and campanula and thyme ground cover for borders.
I love the sink and the stone that holds it.
Karen
Thanks for all the plant suggestions, some of my favorites too. And I agree, a blower does the trick with leaves. Just wear earplugs. 😉
Well, since we live in Oregon there is a lot of grass and a lot of green! At first I thought your idea of getting rid of the grass was a bad idea because it has such a cooling effect. But, having lived where you do in the past, it does get unbearably hot and if you had enough other plantings around you like I know you would, it would have a very Mediterranean feel.
I love those photos, I know your gardens will be fabulous! Have fun with it!
Oh Heather,
Every time I see one of the sinks I mourn the one my husband refused to remove from our first house and haul with us! They weigh “tons”! They seem to be common in basements of older homes here in the Midwest. I’ve seen them made from concrete but ours was actually Soapstone!
Keep us posted on the hunt!
Stacey
Thanks for the idea of planning this garden. Awesome!
I have one of those sinks in my basement and have been thinking about getting rid of it. Seeing you pic was inspiring but if you are still looking for one…I am in Indiana!
Jill, are you seriously thinking of getting rid of a similar sink? We live in Indiana as well and I’ve been looking for one… we might be able to work something out! Feel free to e-mail me!! (or leave a comment here…)
I’m in So Cal also and we have a grassless backyard. We have a long, windy bed on one side of our path and a recycled broken concrete seating area on the other side. About 3 times a year, we head to the local city mulch place and load up. It’s free and we use it for our path. I’ve thought about pea gravel but have heard many reports it’s bad if you have hardwood floors. Those little pebbles get stuck in shoes and find their way inside the house. Ugh! I’m also on the hunt for another option. If/when you decided on your look, please let us know.
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