Sorry I have no pictures but...
I have a fairly large arbor that will hopefully be draped in Abe Darby (still on the small side) and I have a large tera cotta pot on a plenth with firecracker plant in it on axis with the arbor. There is a large pick pet rose and small Bon Siline behind the plenth. Hopefully there will be a nice red brick wall with blue stone capitals and cast iron urns filled with sedums and the like behind the plenth roses and perennials... one day... soon. There are generous (hundreds by seed) plantings of foxglove (hope they bloom ok), hollyhock, yarrow, oriental lillies, shasta daisies, dahlias, plenty of shrubs like oakleaf hydrangia, camelias, ect... I could go on and on. hope thats insiring!
-Jason

P.S.
My garden has an informal english design and its a tiny garden (800 squrare feet; give or take) tucked away in the corner of the property close to the house about 150 feet from the patio and porch area.

When I fenced in & landscaped the rear yard around my deck, I wanted some sort of a water feature primarily for the sound of moving water, it ended up being the focal point for the back yard.

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No, but I would have had if I had bought that sculpture to place at the end of the driveway. And if even one of those Cornus controversa variegata or C. alternafollia variegata had lived. But I AM going to try again. These focal points are in two different "garden rooms" and both cannot be seen at the same time. Perhaps, because of the size of your garden, you will need more than one focal point?

At the foot of the hill, in the back section of the garden, in the center of the yard (left to right) is a maple tree that I have highlighted by surrounding it with moss while the rest of the area is under-planted. The problem with this is that, although pleasant, it is not stunning (it sounds like you want something stunning) and also the tree was hit by lightening and may die. It will be a few years before its fate is certain but at this point it does not look good. Such is the life of a gardener. I have no idea what I would do then but have time to think about it.

Cath

Yes. But, I am in danger of over doing it.
My garden is tiny, and I have tried to split it up into even smaller areas.
The problem, is not having separate areas. More, that each one having a focal point, or structure, can make the garden overall feel too busy.
I remember, years ago, visiting a garden open to the public in England. It was separated into different areas. The first area had in it a whimsical statue. It was quite well made, and funny. I thought, what a good idea!!
The next area had a different whimsical statue, as did the next, and the next, and the next, and so on, all the way through the rather large gardens. By the time I had gone all the way round the gardens, I was ready to scream! It was definitely overkill.
The gardens were beautifully planted, however I don,t remember a single plant, but I do remember those annoying statues.
One of the things I love about your garden Ingrid, is it's beautiful, calm serenity.
Here is one of my arbours. I have two!
Daisy

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Rocking chair and pithoi.

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Another pithoi. There were six large pithoi, left in the garden by the previous owners, when I moved in!

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Part of the pond.

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Tiny pergola, waiting for the climbers, to grow tall enough to clothe it.

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Planted pots, as a "wall", alongside where the ground drops away sharply, to the neighbouring property.
(Sorry about the extension lead)

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Belle, our mobile focal point!

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Yes, but my focal point turned into a "folly". When I first discovered antique roses, I was given cuttings of Secret Garden Musk Climber by a kind forum member and was told it would get huge--20 feet when mature. So my husband built me a 20-foot tall arbor over the drive-through gate to my side garden. My daughter instantly dubbed it "the goalposts", and now that's what everyone in the family calls it. The two SGMC did not like the all day full sun on that arbor, and hit a maximum height of 4 feet and just quit growing, so I moved them to a partial shade location, and they're doing much better.

In the meantime, I still have the goalposts. I have planted Reve d'Or on the goalposts, but I don't think it will ever cover that arbor, so I'm going to have to hire someone to take the goalposts down to a more reasonable height. However, I don't know how we will designate that garden afterward, because now it's "let's walk over to the goalpost garden" or "I need to weed the goalpost garden."

I guess another alternative, and it would be a whole lot less work than shortening the structure, would be to remove the roses and plant a Sky Vine or a Red Passion Flower on it. Either one would cover it easily. I'll have to think about that--but I really want roses on it. And now that I have written all this, is goalpost one word or two?

Plant a banksie lutea on it! It easily will get over 20 feet, and it loves sun & heat. Also thornless, and I am told that in warm climates it repeats a little. It is beautiful even when not blooming. The big low down canes have peeling bark that is interesting, too.

Jackie

Ingrid, I 100% agree with Mendocino rose. The defining feature of your garden is the beautiful, no incredible backdrop. I'm not sure you could, or better should, create something that would compete with what you already have. Maybe some small features like Daisy has--but you have some things like that.

I can't BELIEVE you think your garden is not spectacular. I see pictures and feel envious. Your garden is amazing and doesn't need something to detract from the peaceful beauty that you've already created.

Just my opinion, far away garden friend. Hope you're not mad.

Jackie, they don't bloom well down here. My mother has two, and they bloomed reasonably well after last year's winter from he**, but after a normally warm winter, they have a scattered bloom, and that's it. Nothing like the pictures we see in other areas. Apparently, they like cooler, less humid weather than we have. Any other suggestions?

Ingrid, I agree, your gardens are lovely, and your surrounding vistas set them off to perfection.

My garden came with a defining feature - the 106 year old Queen Anne Victorian house. Here are some pics of various areas - not really rooms - in July mostly, so pls forgive the lack of great bloom:

Here is the front of the garden looking from the sidewalk, now and in Spring - the "stone" wall is original:
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Here is the back patio:
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Here is a corner of the house with the chimney:
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Here is a little side garden with birdbath:
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Here is a "feature" - the sidewalk! Our house has about a third of a block frontage on the street:
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Here is an area way in the back of the lot (what you can't see is the "debris pile" and the old old incinerator that has been turned into a container in which to make compost. The hydrangea hedge is twice this big, and flourishes under the shade of a huge old scarlet oak tree:
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This does not include the front of the house, or the other side garden, but you get the idea -

Jackie

0.0 What are those roses you have pictured?! They are amazing for mid-summer!

Oh my gosh, I cannot believe these beautiful, gorgeous pictures!! After gasping in admiration at your gardens my second thought was of the incredible amount of work both of these gardens took and must still take to maintain them. Daisy and Jacqueline, thank you for showing us these fantastic pictures. Daisy, those pithoi would cost an arm and a leg if you could even find them here. No way would I have left them behind but they suit your garden perfectly. Your view down to the sea is spectacular! Your comments about the open garden in England were so funny. Too much of a good thing can definitely grate on the nerves, especially when it's "whimsical". Jackie, I don't know when I've seen such a wealth of bloom. If this constitutes a "lack of bloom" I can't even imagine what your spring flush looks like. More pictures, please. I do agree, your exceptional house IS the focal point.

Thank you all for your kind and generous comments about my garden. What really struck me was that you had put your finger on something that I hadn't thought of, which is that the background could be the focal point. The more I think about this the more the truth of it becomes apparent to me. If I try too hard in the garden I may very well end up spoiling the serenity of it all. It's different for you Pam, since your situation is on such a vast scale and the statues and other objects serve to humanize it and give it order and cohesiveness. I don't have 40 acres and over a thousand roses and it would be very easy to spoil a space of less than two acres which is already dotted with huge boulders and has two houses. We still haven't figured out what the smaller house was supposed to be which is 900 square feet and has two large rooms and a bathroom???? (We're hoping to turn it into a three-car garage.)

I can't tell you what this means to me. Once again you've set me on the right path. Sometimes the most obvious things elude me and this was a big one. Hugs to all of you.

Ingrid

I can't remember. Does your garden have a fountain? The sound and sense of water might enhance the serenity of your garden without detracting from your spectacular views. A simple fountain would appeal to senses other than sight which is already engaged with your views.

Cath

Cath, I have two birdbaths but no fountain. I had considered a fountain but decided the one place where I thought it would work was too small an area and put the birdbath there instead. Now I regret that and wish I'd done the fountain instead. Of course, I could put the birdbath somewhere else...now you've got me thinking......thanks for the idea!

Ingrid

Jackie, I have been hoping you would post pictures of your home with the climbers. Absolutely stunning. We need spring flush pictures next.

Ingrid,
Something about your post puzzled me for a while, but I think I finally worked it out. Your "focal point" is, I think, two different things: one is the striking and defining feature of a given garden; the other is a feature that draws attention in a given garden and around which other elements in a garden are planned. What I got from many of the comments posted here is that not every garden has a focal point as in the first definition; nor does a garden necessarily need one. Our garden doesn't have one, and I think it does fine without it. In fact a single defining feature by drawing attention to itself would distort the effect of our garden, which is large and has considerable variety.
Focal points in the second sense we do have. Some are accidental: this spring I was admiring a solitary wild pear in bloom viewed from the perspective of a long path along a curving rose bed; but I didn't plan the effect. I did plan the rustic steps leading down to a tongue of grass flanked by a rose bed and a mixed hedge, and at the end a lavender clematis growing through a cage with behind it a yellow-green thuya shaped like a candle flame. The thuya's a bit ragged; the lavender of the clematis has a discordant shading of pink; but I was trying.
This second kind of focal point can be many things--structures, says DH, with some justice; or a plant, a pot, a fountain; but it does help organize the garden.
Melissa

Melissa, Very perceptive. In that case, I guess the paths with the benchs at the end are sort of defining features in my gardens. I was hoping for an inviting look--something that would draw you in to the middle of the garden instead of just viewing from the outside. It works with me--not sure about how anyone else feels, but in a way, I guess that doesn't matter much.

Of my 3 primary garden areas, only one has what I would consider to be a focal point, although it is a background focal point (thus, is it focal?)!

I have a large tree right before a right turn from the main driveway to the driveway up to the house. In front of yet still under the tree are 3 almost life size statues of deer - a standing buck, standing doe, and a laying down fawn. Then in front of them I am continually adding to an evergrowing triangular rose garden with them at the back of it - but I'm trying to plant so that the deer are never hidden and can be seen all the way up the driveway. They are my favorite "not living - visual" on the property.

When I think of "focal point", I think of a feature that draws your eye to it. Not every garden needs one, especially if you have a gorgeous landscape backdrop, but it does help define areas and give your eyes something to rest on.

I have about three different areas/rooms and each has a different focal point. Here is one of my newer ones, a sundial:

In other areas I use pillars, birdbaths, benches, and trellis supporting climbing roses.

Oh, my gosh, Daisy, I can see why you moved to Crete. What a lovely garden you have!! I inadvertently clicked on "something" while reading your post which took be to your photo album. What an exhilarating experience!! I can't put an ocean across the street from my garden, but now I know what a garden should look like. Yours is perfect, and the glimpses of blue sea are breathtaking. I don't know if those glimpses qualify as focal points since they actually "distract" from the garden, but they add to the heavenly experience of being in your garden. I think Ingrid's desert vistas do the same thing. As long as the views aren't completely hidden, I don't think it's possible to outdo the powerful pieces of nature like sea and desert. Instead of Pam's statue at the far end of a path, Daisy and Ingrid have windows into the surrounding landscape. That's a focal point. Whether it's hilly terrain extending off to the horizon, blue sea, a huge boulder or a distant mass of bloom on the far side of the garden, that view can be framed with height and color like a doorway that will draw you toward them. Structures can be positioned with those views in mind. It doesn't have to be a man-made focal point IF you've got something better.

Jackie, how wonderfully your Queen Anne home graces your garden. Just as with the sea and the desert, no mere plant, or dozens of plants, no matter how large could possibly overpower it. Grand statements are your long suit!

I do love Daisy's peaceful garden pool with the formal stone (marble?) slabs edging it and the delicate water lily blooming - a marvelous juxtaposition against the rustic backdrop of hillside, native plants spilling down and piled stones. Refinement and wildness done beautifully together.

Wirosarian, what a unique water feature you made. I don't know a bit about it, but it seems very oriental to me and a lovely addition to your garden.

In light of all this beauty I'm going to have to rethink my garden.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

I've been posting on this one in the rose discussion forum but I thought I'd check in here. Everyone has such love features in their gardens! I love all the hardscapes and water features especially. Gives me ideas!

I don't really have any one focal point. I have tried to tie the hardscapes together so that your eye travels around the yard to each section smoothly. But usually whatever perennial happens to be having it's day becomes the focal point. The hydrangeas on the North side are a mass of mop heads. On the South side right now it's the hibiscus that take center stage. The roses are a little drab right now because it's the heart of summer and it's been baking hot and dry. But come fall they'll shine again!

Seil, that's a good point about whatever's blooming being the focal point. Sadly, I don't have much room or money for other focal points. :((

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Focal points are a double-edged sword: they are able to make wonderful additions to the garden, but they need to be well placed, in the right scale with the garden, and -even more important- to be "alone" in the picture you're creating.
One definite feature should be a focal point, many different features -if not carefully disposed as they don't bother to each other- should produce nothing more than a ugly mess of stuff, getting a confuse picture, rather than a eye-catching one.

I have many objects in the garden acting as focal points: moroccan jars in the "rose walk", grecian pots, blue-glazed enamel pots, each of them belonging to a particular "room" of the garden. They also help to give to different parts of the garden a different feel.

Mirroring grecian pots enclosing the "hot border" in early spring

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the same, from the main lawn, in june
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Moroccan jars in the "rose walk"
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Trees are good focal point (especially if you wrap them with two rambling roses LOL) , whereas different plants make seasonal highlights in several spots.

But the main feature in the garden is undoubtedly the big pool in the "pool garden" in front of the house

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Have a look at the following link for more ;o) (sorry, no pics of this year's garden on web)

Here is a link that might be useful: Again, past year pictures of

I am sorry I don't know how to embed pictures. I don't seem to manage to get an URL for them.

My rose roundel is the centerpiece of my garden. It is divided into four quadrants with roses in the same colour in each but not the same variety. The whites are Iceberg and Irene of Denmark, the pinks are Nathalie Nypels and Gruss an Aachen, the pale yellows are Jan Spek and Elina, the amber yellows are Bernstein-Rose and Amber Queen. Unfortunately, all are not doing equally well. The soil is bare in summer but covered with spring bulbs earlier. It looks very well in winter with a thin layer of snow on top of the box.

It's a very oldfashioned bed in honour of my husband's grandmother who was a garden teacher trained in Berlin in 1910. She was from the extreme south of Sweden where box topiary and box hedging is very common.

The thing in the middle is a Ham House pineapple I brought from the plant shop at Syon House near London. It's made from "reconstituted stone", an euphemism for cement I suppose.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose roundel

Oh drat, Marianne, the link won't open. It says it's private.

Morris, your garden is gorgeous! And so are those large pots! I agree with your point about not having a mish mash of ofjects that only creates a cluttered look. Unfortunately I think that may be just what I have, lol!

Seil, I published a picture of my rose roundel on a Swedish forum, perhaps it will be visible here. It's a long thread but my picture is from "Marianne i Knivsta" and as a bonus you will see pictures from Swedish gardens in summer and winter.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose Roundel

I wanted to read this post before and add mine but I had to wait till now. I really enjoyed reading and looking at everyone else's post.
The definning feature of my garden or should I call it structure is the hundreds of poles to lift the garden up and create garden rooms. Other things I have in my garden are simple steel arches leading into each garden room, weepers in certain parts of the garden, a cuby house covererd in climbers, a very big bird bath and a wide centre strip of grass down the middle of the garden.
Here are some late Winter photos.

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rosemeadow, your birdbath is absolutely gorgeous and elegant! I would love to have something like that in my garden. It makes a very nice focal point, and I'd love to see that same photo when the rows of roses are blooming.

Ingrid

My ex didn't want me to get this birdbath and it is one of the things that was the final straw in our marriage. Actually the other thing was three round bales of hay. That was nine years ago.
When I had this birdbath on the other side of my creek before I moved the garden over here, I had Ranuculas around it which looked really pretty.
When I get my new bare root roses through the mail, the roses get put in the bird bath prior to planting.

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All the large rainfall last Summer killed my perianals around the birdbath. I will have to get some more

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My girls put this statue in the birdbath some years ago, the lady is nursing a baby and I thought it was appropiate. Too bad about her neck or head and I haven't repaired it yet.

P.S. I want to say how good every ones photos are to look at, true luxery for the eyes and to imagine how it would be for other senses if you were in such garden paradises.

P.S. I want to say how good every ones photos are to look at, true luxery for the eyes and to imagine how it would be for other senses if you were in such garden paradises.

Spectacular gardens there Daisy, Jacqueline, Maurizo, rosemeadow! Thanks for posting those gorgeous photos.

No, but it ought to. My garden is pretty (IMO) but lacks design focus.

Everyone who posted photos -- I loved them, one and all. What incredible garden you have! It points out to me what it is I am missing.

Rosefolly

The photos here and on the gallery are truly an inspiration to plan and really concentrate on what I want to achieve. I have a two story hill that really needs to be terraced and then and only then have roses planted. Your photos may have given me the push I needed for such an arduous task.

Cath