`Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,’ the poet Robert Frost wrote. And that goes double when the wall is the back of a garage or neighboring apartment building that intrudes into an otherwise tranquil and well-designed garden.
An enterprising gardener can turn the irritant into an asset by using a little imagination.
“Instead of the garden ending where the dirt ends, you can incorporate something like an ugly wall into the landscape,” says Cindy Bronski, a partner in Christy Webber Landscape Management, a firm based in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. “You expand the garden and pull the whole scene together.”
The range of materials possible is limitless. Whether it’s standard trellises, custom-made optical illusion, or salvaged junk, just about anything that you can hang on or stand in front of the wall can detract from its blankness and lend a sculptural element to the garden.
Bronski has seen walls studded with everything from old license plates to a collection of children’s toy dump trucks (That one is at her house).
“If you like looking at it, it will probably look good in your garden,” she says.
In some cases, it may not be possible to hang something decorative directly on the wall–either the wall is property of a neighbor who will not agree to let you drive bolts into the surface, or you are hesitant to interfere with the brickwork. But that shouldn’t deter you. A strategically placed trellis, its feet firmly stuck in the ground, can work visual wonders, even without vines hanging on it.
Another option is to place one or more large pots near the wall, and use them to lift up whatever other wall-covering objects you’ve found or devised.
When looking for materials, the garden itself is a good place to start, Bronski suggests. Collect a good-sized pile of twigs and small branches, then tack them together with finishing nails to create a rustic trellis or free-form twig sculpture.
“Using something natural like twigs helps continue the feeling of nature up onto the wall,” she says.
Salvaged materials–such as old gates, fences, lamps or urns–can also improve the look of an otherwise bland wall. Just like a big, open wall inside the house, an outdoor wall can become a kind of exhibition space for a treasured object, but unlike the indoor display, this one’s appearance will evolve as the seasons change and plants grow, bloom and fade.
Another approach to the intruding wall is to enhance its very wallness by adding a false door or window.
Laura Swaski, botanical director at Jayson Home & Garden, a store in Chicago’s Clybourn corridor, suggests creating an artificially aged door, window or shutters this way: Buy it new at a home-improvement store, then paint it quickly, without regard for complete coverage by the paint. After the paint has dried, use coarse sandpaper or a wire brush to beat it up a little, giving the paint an aged, distressed look.
Add window boxes or even a mailbox filled with flowers, and the wall becomes a friendlier neighbor for your garden.
Closed shutters or a door create the illusion that the neighbors have locked the place up tight. A window enhances the open, summertime feeling, but it’s a harder trick to pull off because there ought to be something to see on the other side.
The effect can be enhanced with curtains or even mirror glass in the panes. A mirror is a nice touch because its reflection makes the garden seem larger–just as it would indoors. But be sure to position it out of direct sunlight so it can provide a cool, inviting reflection and not a hot burst of annoying glare.
For an optical illusion that lends a more formal look, there’s a line of tree silhouettes from the Kinsman Co.’s Garden Catalog. At heights of 4 and 5 feet, they have the outlines of a formally trimmed fruit tree, an upright cypress or a pear-shaped bay tree.
A row of these silhouettes placed along a wall creates a graceful end to a garden vista. (Prices are $47.95 to $77.95. Call 800-733-4146 to order the catalog or the silhouettes.)
Alternately, Swaski suggests a row of tall, handsome urns lined up against the wall, “to show them off against a hard backdrop instead of losing them among the foliage.”
Finally, if any of these ideas seem a little too busy for your serene green space, consider adding to the green with a simple touch: Paint the wall green. It can create the illusion that your garden’s backdrop is an endless acreage of green, instead of the ordinary garage that’s really there. Bronski’s advice: sponge-paint the wall for the look of dappled shade.
