As you all know I create inspiration books for all of my projects. When I was imagining the garden for the beach house, I kept clipping photos of stone patios. I’m not sure why they appealed to me so much — especially in a beach setting, but I had my heart set on a big old round patio made from large granite rocks. Easy yes — well, no. All my clips had beautiful blue granite stones, however all the natural stones surrounding my house were pink. The decision to be made — go with my favorite dreamy blue stone or match the existing pink stone. I begrudgingly went with the pink stone - in the end I felt the stone needed to feel authentic to the property and the surrounding natural environment. Lesson #2 – stay true to your environment.
Finally, the actual garden — I decided that I wanted a natural feel of a country garden that surrounded the stone patio, an oasis apart of yet separate from the sea just a few feet away. My inspiration book was filled with high beach grasses blowing in the wind, lots and lots of Hydrangea in pink, blue, and purple, and finally fuchsia beach roses — the perfect and necessary addition to a seaside garden. I actually was able to incorporate all of the above — it turned out that I did have some control over this situation!
The final piece to the garden puzzle was the fence and trellis. John and I agreed on the fence, a traditional white picket one — but had differing opinions on the trellis. John wanted an arched trellis; my inspiration book was filled with squared off versions. John won this one — I couldn’t find the squared off style in the right size for the space we were working with. In hindsight, I believe John was right, the rounded arch is a perfect frame for the garden and sea behind it. Lesson #3 — Even if your heart is set on something, be open to other options.
The garden turned out to be the easiest of the house projects. Once I was engaged it actually wasn’t scary at all. I still have moments when I feel that Mother Nature is not my friend, but for the most part the garden is behaving, following the rules, and I am in charge again - YAY!
- Jaqui AKA Mad Renovator
