The Harcourt’s installed a walled picnic area. The enclosure has a stone floor and short stone walls, with gates at each end. The former owners told me when they moved in it contained a 12 foot picnic table. The far end had a stone barbeque, the prior owners dismantled. The picnic table is long gone and so is the tree that graced the far left corner. It was supposedly an enormous maple tree that came crashing down in a storm.
When I moved in, it was covered in weeds and brambles. The floor was not visible and the entire site was hidden behind two enormously overgrown and badly shaped yew bushes. In the photo, the bushes appear green in the center from the ivy, both english and poison ivy growing on the bushes. The branches had limited growth except for at the tips. The bushes had to come down.
Initially, I thought I might be able to trim the bushes to make them look better. It was hopeless. They were far too gone to make them look attractive. I arranged for a basal prune! (I learned this term from a horticulturist years ago). A polite way of saying, chop or cut them down.
With the bushes out of the way, I repaired and painted the gates. The brambles and weeds were all removed to expose the floor. It was stark. Many people who visited asked me if it was a cemetery.
We bought a beautiful large urn in Kingston, NY. It is cast iron and late 19th century. It weighs a lot. But, despite its size, we still brought it home in the trunk of the car. A coat of white paint made it stand out.
Along the sides of the stone enclosure I planted perennials. Gaillardia, Lupines, and Gazania – all grown from seed. It still looked stark so I bought some stone and started to expand the stone enclosure to make it less cemetery in appearance and more like a formal perennial garden. We added curved beds at the corners and the back. Next year I will plant many more perennials and annuals.
The yard is landscaped in what is generally called the English style – sweeping vistas and expanses of lawn. There are no formal areas, no straight lines. The picnic area has given me a place to add a little bit of symmetry and balance to catch the eye. It also forms the entrance into what will become the woodland garden.
Now the real reason why we haven’t put in a picnic table and had sumptuous summer entertainments. Rocks attract critters. Snakes in particular love rocks. They are cool underneath and when the sun hits them they are warm. Imagine if I was sitting at the picnic table and said. “Please pass the snake, I mean the potato salad!” Would you like to come for a picnic?