Oh Boy — it’s been one of those days…but I have a great garden for you and hopefully a couple of other posts….

This garden caught my eye because I think it interestingly illustrates at least one technique to age a garden. Some of the great show garden designers know a few tricks  to make something new look old and established and you can learn them too.

Setting pavers into grass gives age very quickly — sure you have to wait for the grass to grow, but if you let it get a little long around the edges, you can make things look like they have been there a while. Also, setting the pavers a little low, and letting the topsoil creep over the edge before you seed will give that been there forever look rather than than the been there for the month or so that it took for the grass to grow.
Don’t be so set on perfection….the long grass around the fountain makes this have a much more casual romantic vibe don’t you think?
The other thing that ages a garden is big plants…that are planted to grow together.   I frequently am asked to do something about plants that are touching each other.   I suppose it is a style preference towards hyper tidiness….because certainly, plants that touch and grow together give a place a sense of establishment and age….sure if you want the plants to be prude, prune away and space widely…but if you want this type of romance, let them touch and tumble around together.

Oh — I and I think we have a perspective thing going on here too….is it me, the photo, or are those crape myrtles towards the back of the picture actually spaced closer than the ones at the foreground giving the whole thing a great sense of depth?

garden designed by Alex Smith