Written by Heather Zubiate
This is what the cottage garden entrance looked like about 4 years ago.
Well, there wasn't much of an entrance really, the garden was all open, and the grass was all the way up to the patio, so there was really no direction for foot traffic. Later we added the fence dividing the walking path from the orchard, the side bird house fences in order to help direct foot traffic under the metal arbor, thus making a deliberate entrance into the cottage garden. We planted a bower vine to climb the arbor on one side, which is finally taking off, and a honeysuckle (peaches and cream) on the other side, which didn't make it. So in its place, we planted star jasmine, which will take a while to catch up to the bower vine. Over time, the grass was starting to look really bad, the ground was hard packed so the grass started to die and give way to weeds. And so I decided that something had to be done!
Well, there wasn't much of an entrance really, the garden was all open, and the grass was all the way up to the patio, so there was really no direction for foot traffic. Later we added the fence dividing the walking path from the orchard, the side bird house fences in order to help direct foot traffic under the metal arbor, thus making a deliberate entrance into the cottage garden. We planted a bower vine to climb the arbor on one side, which is finally taking off, and a honeysuckle (peaches and cream) on the other side, which didn't make it. So in its place, we planted star jasmine, which will take a while to catch up to the bower vine. Over time, the grass was starting to look really bad, the ground was hard packed so the grass started to die and give way to weeds. And so I decided that something had to be done!
Enter my inspiration image. This is the kind of path I will have leading into the cottage garden, starting at the arbor. I like the rubble look, but I will also be adding some concrete stepping stones I made by using decorative glass and pebbles. I'll show that later on. Oh the suspense I'm building here!!!
Right now, I'm at the beginning stages, which involves the arduous task of excavating. This part is not fun at all; it is a LOT of back breaking work! I now understand why those big bulldozers seem to be just randomly pushing dirt around. It's not random dirt pushing, they are breaking up clumps, grading, leveling, and even compacting the dirt. Dirt is HEAVY, in case you didn't know, and I'm sure to loose a few pounds. Not to worry though, I'm sure I'll gain it back in no time.
I've removed some dirt to get down to the level I need to be at and I will eventually add sand. The sand will help make leveling the field stones, brick, and stepping stones easier. I think I will cement in the brick edging, that way there will not be any movement over time, and will help keep weeds from creeping into the path between the bricks.
I've got the ground pretty much where I want it, all level and tamped down, now all I have to do is cement in the border bricks. Then I'll lay down some rosin paper as a weed barrier, and pour in a 2" thick layer of sand, and then start placing the brick, river rocks, and stepping stones into a pattern similar to my inspiration photo, and fill in with smaller river rocks. I will keep you posted on the path progress.
Until next time dear reader...
Until next time dear reader...