A serene grotto

22 May '07 7:36 am

A garden I visited - in one corner has been created a lovely grotto.You enter through an archway.Rocks have been beautifully arranged to look natural,and ferns,grasses and bromeliads are planted,as well as other little treasures. This could give ideas for a corner in dappled shade.Here you could put a little greeting, statue,or another idea.
I wrote about this garden at more length in Winsford's website.
Dixie.

22 May '07 12:09 pm

Very nice grotto there. My grotto will be down the side of my house on the north side. It has the morning sun and is in the shade of the house until the sun is about to set and then for a brief time the evening sun shines there.

I would like to do the same sort of thing with the natural rock, but I think I am going to sculpt my rocky outcrop from cement and other materials. This way I can form the environment exactly as I want it with a bigpond (well, big for gnomes) and waterfalls and places for plants. I also would like a place to sit and have tea or cold drinks.

Dream a dream and then build it.

Christopher

22 May '07 3:10 pm

Garden gnome's Good Grotto:
How exciting,GG.I remember you mentioned it last week.Your new forge might well be very handy to produce some of your ideas.In the one I saw and admired,I felt the archway entrance was a perfect frame for it - with creepers over it ,it could be almost a secret garden.There were little mosses growing too,and you could stand flower pots here and there.If you could have water there it would be perfect.Keep us in the picture!
Dixie.

22 May '07 7:20 pm

Hi Dixie. I took a pic for you to see what I have to work with so far as space goes.

You can see my pile of bricks and a bunch of dirt Deb sifted from her planters. Those will be moves and this wall is open to what ever I want to do. The fence to the right is the north fence. Down by the wheelbarrow is a big gate, because some times the dog has to stay in either the front or the back yard. If you look to the right of the wheelbarrow you can just see the north fence garden and on the left of the barrow, between it and the pine tree is our old lady wild rose, a long time resident of the property.

I have some lattes pieces 2 feet wide that I am going to paint and put on top of the fence for more privacy and there is a path planned that will run right through here joining the front and back yards. I also have saved the old bath tub that we took out when we moved in and I plan to use that for the start of my pond.

So things are coming together slowly. Now with your pic you posted I am thinking how nice it would be to have an arch or rather, an arbour over the area where the big gate is.

All food for thought.

Christopher

23 May '07 7:45 am

Other people only see a grassy path and bricks etc,but people in Moosey's have the wonderful ability to visualise concepts.Is that the shady side of your garden,Christopher?
Will you use the bricks for something?
I have another photo for an extra idea- I should think you can do electrical stuff.
If you look in this picture,she has placed a soft light in the grotto which she turns on at night.(In front of the little fountain).
I bet it will be fascinating when it is finished,and will attract people who pass by.
Dixie

30 May '07 10:04 am

That's lovely grotto and I love the idea of having one myself. Smile

Whether I'll get round to it when I have so many other areas crying out for attention... we'll see...

30 May '07 11:25 am

Hi Dixie, Yes, I can do electrical work. Lights will be a part of the grotto. so will water in some way as yet imagined. All I know is I will use a sump pump to elevate the water and I want to make a false rock wall by building a wooden frame and then covering it with wire mesh and then cement and carve a rocky structure in the wet cement. I have a big pile of odd chunks of Styrofoam that I brought back from the dump and I can use this to help flesh out my rock wall so the cement will not be too thick. I have some ideas about how I can use gravity to move the water around. I want a shallow spot for birds to bath in and a pool for some fish and of course watter falls-a-go go! The bricks have a predestined use as a raised planter for Deb, although that planter could be part of the grotto.

I can't wait to start on this project, but first things first.

Christopher

30 May '07 1:30 pm

Great concept,Christopher!
There is a zany place on the Coromandel peninsula,NZ which has all sorts of inventions made from nothing much -I might have mentioned it before.
Have a look at Waiau waterworks.co.nz -lots of ideas for elevating water.
I know what you mean about ideas racing ahead of the immediate future ,so it takes an effort to get one thing finished before starting on the next !(I'm guilty of too many ambitions)However never letting your dreams die will keep you young for ever.
Dixie

A serene grotto

A serene grotto

Good Grotto

GG's GG

My space to dream about

Terrific

I grotto dream

Got it!