I need garden junk ideas-theme help!

11 years ago

I have decided to make one of my beds a theme bed.

Short version of background story:

We just bought a small cottage on Lake Ontario, this is our year round home. You can see our thrifty, junkmarket, vintage cottage style theme going on here: [url]http://eclecticcottage.blogspot.com/[/url] . I have several beds, one of which has garden junk (discarded bench, wood totes, a barrel, an old school desk, a basket as a planter, etc). I plan to use "junk" in all of the beds and garden areas at some point.

My new bed, the theme bed, has me stumped for ideas for some reason. The theme is "lake/beach". I am gathering a list of plants with names that fit the theme. It will be @ 6' deep, 10' wide and gets mid day and afternoon sun. It is on the side of the Cottage and doesn't get much foot traffic, it will be between a flowering quince and a picket fence for our veggie garden, with no current plans for a walkway (just grass).

So far I have:

Sea Shell Cosmos

Yellow Sand Coreopsis

Sand Love Grass

"Nautical" and "Beach Comber" mix petunias

Lake Currants

Cottage pinks (Dianthus)

Summer Breeze Hosta

Beach Music Day Lily

Great Lakes gold hosta

Coastal Mist bearded iris

Toy Boat dwarf Iris

Beach Dance iris

Ship Shape Iris

Lake Effect day lily

Lakeside Pebbles Hosta

Aye Captian day lily

Great Lakes Gladiola

Sea Lavender

Sea holly

Queen O The Lakes rose

Sea thrift

Rosa rugosa/beach rose

Now I need to work some good junk in there that fits the theme. Or I'd like to anyway. I am also thinking of building a bird bath with a driftwood log as the base and casting my own concrete top (I can't think of anything else to use for the top). I can always go with found objects like I have (I haven't bought any of my junk except the desk, for $5, yet). I just watch for people throwing out interesting stuff, lol. I am trying to collect stuff for it. So far I have a bunch of fishing poles, a few nets and a boat anchor. I just really can't think of what to put in there, or how to use what I have! HELP!

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Comments (9)

eclecticcottage
Original Author
11 years ago
I guess url tags don't work, huh? Let's try that link again, lol.

Here is a link that might be useful: cottage blog
luvs2click
11 years ago
An old weathered piece of snowfence such as you see at the beach for drifting sand would look good, along with ornamental grasses. Some coquina rock (compressed shells) would look great also - we brought some big ones home from Florida once and I love it. Some old weathered arrow shaped signs on a post would be neat too - pointing different directions with words on them, lake, beach, lighthouse, marina, etc.
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We have plans for one our our website. We had planned on starting last fall, but winter arrived early and it had to be put on hold. As soon as the snow melts, we are building this greenhouse if it's the last thing we do...LOL. Here is a link that might be useful: Our Greenhouse Project
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How about a planted shoe for each of them? The kids could get involved by bringing an old shoe they can no longer wear. I find hen & chicks grow the best in them, but probably any sedum or succulent would work. Maybe you have some growing in your garden. Now I would have NO problem filling 17 little shoes out of my garden - I have them planted in everything! Some kids might not be able to bring a shoe, others will bring more than 1. Cut a hole in the toe area, fill with dirt, and plant. I'd love a gift like that! Maybe you could even come up with a little poem or saying about "no one else can fill your shoes" or something like that. They could be tennis shoes, boots, etc. - whatever the kids can bring. Arlene Here's a sample:
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We have property on the river and the banks were quickly eroding. We bummed tombstones from the local quarries(misspells, etc) and used them as bulkheading of a sort, eventually covered them in soil and planted marsh grasses to protect the shoreline. Throughout the time we had goats there as well, as each would pass away, the kids and I would have a service for them and bury them nearby. I often wondered years and years from now when someone is researching the area and uncovers the stones and the bones IF they will speculate about WHAT kind of creatures that were buried in THAT graveyard...... OR WHY we honored our goats with tombstones, etc......
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Maybe not unusual enough, but these were hits with my great niece when she was younger. We just named things as we came upon them. I used to hide some clay animals amongst the veg & fruits, so we've played hide & seek with them over the years. Then she began calling an area the kitten bed or the hippo garden. I brought them to the backyard for this year, but next year, I'm putting the animals back to the veg. garden where one animal per bed so that we'll refer back to the animal residing in that space where I want my son or hubby to go pick lettuce or pull some onions for dinner. Much easier for the ungardeners to find what is needed. Strawberry Garden - kept a deep crock 1/2 buried in the bed & filled with clean water during the ripe berry season for easy dipping clean before eating. She wanted whipped cream at first, but I told her these berries were best dipped in water. After tasting them she agreed. Fairy Garden - planted miniature plants in a pot just for her along with some fairy toys to keep it interesting. Pizza Garden - of herbs & tomatoes for topping on pizza. She expected to see pizza (bread dough & cheese) and I found an article that had the plants in the shape of pizza wedges, but we didn't have space to plant them that way. We did pick the herbs for pizza, but the tomatoes weren't ripe when she visited and she wisely didn't want a green tomato on pizza.
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sunnyca_gw
11 years ago
Some old rope hanging off an old post with anchor at other end, BB painted to look like beach ball, couple of pairs of brightly colored flip-flops at edge of bed. Sounds like fun theme!! Jan
jeannespines
11 years ago
Oh...lucky you, sounds like a beautiful place & cottage home! We have an above ground pool so I use nautical gardening in front of the pool deck ...here's a pic where used 3 old posts w/rope...been out there about 10 yrs next to shop bldg ...the ball fountain we made pouring cement into a cut-open basketball, buried a feed tub, added a pump, grill grate & piled rocks around the ball on top of grate...works great, too!

I like 'anchors, too ... old rope, large seashells & mermaids! Can't believe you found all those plants w/names for your theme! Have fun! Jeanne S.

{{gwi:149896}}
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
11 years ago
You often see a life-preserver on a post at a lake. That might be a cute way to store your hose if need be in that area, hanging in a coil on a hook, to resemble a float. Even with the sign "life preserver" - a cute pun.
Michael AKA Leekle2ManE
11 years ago
Just a thought, how about an old, falling apart wood john boat/canoe? Something that isn't really water-safe. Cut it in half length-wise and set it against the back edge. You can either have the inside of the boat facing forward and fill it with plantings or flip it the other way, so that the hull is facing forward. Use a jigsaw to cut gator bites/ stump holes in the hull and place plants there.

I am actually going to be doing something similar in my bed, but I'll be using the prow of a wooden boat instead.
nonacook
11 years ago
I have had a whole boat for a number of years, but for some reason it dries out FAST.
And I have several sets of posts from downed electric
poles (thanks to hurricane Ivan)
Speaking of which, I need to be out weeding around
the boat, so I can put down plastic and mulch.
But here I am as usual, sitting at the PC and
Dreaming about OTHER things I want to do out there-HA.
eclecticcottage
Original Author
11 years ago
Lots of great ideas here, thanks!

Yes, we are extremely lucky to live here. It took us about 10 years of searching to find a place that we could afford and didn't need so much work that it wasn't worth it.

Flip flops! That reminded me, I have these forms to use to make flip flop stepping stones!

I've updated my plant list, too bad some of the lilies are SO expensive ($40 for one-that would be Cottage On The Lake-yikes!!)

"Nautical mix" petunias
"beach comber" mix petunias
Coastal Mist bearded iris
Toy Boat dwarf Iris
Sandy Beach Iris
Beach Dance iris
Ship Shape Iris
Ships Are Sailing Siberian Iris
Dover Beach Iris
Lake Effect day lily
Aye Captian day lily
Beach Music Day Lily
Moonlight Sail Day Lily
Celestial Shore Day Lily
Sailing Along Day Lily
Aye Captian day lily
Cottage on the lake day lily
Gull's Way Daylily
Queen O The Lakes rose
Rosa rugosa/beach rose
Cottage Rose
Lake Ontario hosta
Lakeside Breaking Waves hosta
Lakeside Pebbles Hosta
Lakeside Shoremaster Hosta
El Capitan Hosta
Summer Breeze Hosta
Great Lakes Gladiola
Sea Shell Cosmos
Yellow Sand Coreopsis
Sand Love Grass
Lake Currants
Cottage pinks (Dianthus)
Splish Splash Larkspur
Lobelia Regatta "Marine Blue"
Lobelia Regatta "Blue Splash"
Perennial Gerenium "splish splash"
clustered bellflower "marine"
beach pea
beach bluebells

I already have Dover Beach (iris) and Rosa Rugosa thanks to a plant swap over the past weekend.
concretenprimroses
11 years ago
I think toy boats as planters would be nice. Someone here covered pots and maybe bowling balls with big thick rope wound around. They looked very nautical.
You could glue sea shells or mussel shells to the outside of a shallow bowl to use as a bird bath. Concrete might be too heavy for a drift wood base.
Have fun,
Kathy

I need garden junk ideas-theme help!

Comments (9)

eclecticcottage
Original Author

luvs2click

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I need garden junk ideas-theme help!

Comments (9)

eclecticcottageOriginal Author

luvs2click

Related Discussions

sunnyca_gw

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eclecticcottageOriginal Author

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eclecticcottage
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