If a If you are a romantic, then a garden with a touch of abandonment is your style. Flowers of delicate colors and simple shapes grow in it, stones covered with moss lie, benches are hidden in the thickets, on which, as if no one has sat for a long time, in general, notes of nostalgia sound distinctly…
Nostalgia for the blessed days spent with my grandmother in the village, for my youth with wreaths of wild flowers, all this is pleasant to remember and experience again and again.
Often it is these memories that prompt an adult to become the owner of a plot outside the city and grow a garden.
The romance of an abandoned garden will leave few indifferent, but to achieve this effect in a new garden, it is worth learning special techniques. After all, you won’t be the same as just throwing your offspring to the mercy of fate in order to achieve the desired effect 🙂
To artificially age the garden will help the use of a certain type of material for its decoration:
- no tiles on the paths, except that it imitates stone or old paving stones,
- paths without borders, and so that the elements do not creep along the edges, they are fixed with cement mortar,
- bulk paths and their combination with stone or brick are welcome,
- dig very large stones into the ground under the trees, in the shade they will quickly overgrow with moss, naturally, one of the paths should lead past this scenery,
- concrete also tends to “turn green” in the shade when in contact with the ground, so it’s a good idea to arrange steps from this material in the garden or install a decorative concrete bench.
But the most «old» element in your garden will still be a wall of stone or brick, stylized as ruins. And here everything must be taken into account: what to make the masonry from, what additional decorative elements will be present in it, and even what color the masonry mortar should be.
I’ll start with the last question. In the old days, lime mortar was traditionally used. It is very light, not white, but not grey, like cement, slightly yellowish. You can achieve the desired effect by buying white cement and adding a little ocher to it (powder dye based on iron oxide — sold in building supermarkets, ask for a dye for concrete).
You can make it easier: paint over all the seams with an aqueous solution of lime, some will be washed off by precipitation, some will remain, but in general the picture will turn out to be quite natural.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW: imitation of old masonry is always sunken seams (deep grooves) between bricks.
Now about the masonry itself. The material should not look modern, and therefore clinker bricks are not suitable. Suitable rubble stone, shell rock, sandstone and used ordinary brick.
Blocks of shell rock before laying are treated with a hammer: they tap on the ribs to make chips.
Theoretically, the same can be done with a new ordinary brick, but in practice it just splits, so it’s not an option. Unless to finish it with plaster and imitate its destruction.
Now about the decor. Rosettes made in historical styles (hunting scenes, floral motifs, heraldry, etc.) must be treated with a hydrophobic compound after installation, because they are plaster and will not pass the moisture test.
Imitation of openings for any purpose from the entrance to the window is only welcome. Arches made of concrete elements imitating stone, welded structures with the shape and pattern of Gothic windows, and even simple “boxes” made of timber will emphasize the effect of abandoned antiquity more strongly.
And I also recommend leaving it in the masonry «pockets» — large gaps where soil can be filled. Over time, plants will settle in them and your decorative ruins will look absolutely natural.
To imitate the ruins, you do not need to lay a foundation, the more unsteady the foundation is, the more natural the cracks in the walls from soil settlement will look.
Any, even a decorative wall, can play an important function in organizing the space of the site. For example:
- serve as a beautiful frame for a garden gate,
- be both a support and protection for some varieties of apple trees and peaches,
- finally, serve as a wind screen.
What else to read on the site:
Pavilions made of stone and brick are a specific object. And it’s not just the texture, massive buildings look harmoniously on large areas, surrounded by tall trees, or next to the same monumental residential building.
Beautiful benches and benches
Oh, how good is the rest in the summer garden! Especially if it’s a hot afternoon, and in the shady coolness under a tree, a comfortable bench is comfortably located …And even if your garden is small, you should not limit yourself to just one such object for a short rest. Because there are benches…
landscapes with a large height difference, located on a slope, can be safely called an ideal springboard for the fantasy of a garden architect. This is where you can apply a lot of ideas, sometimes the most unexpected. It should be noted that garden stairs have a lot of differences from interior ones.