Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
lavender_lass

Do you like to overlook your garden or be right in the middle?

lavender_lass
12 years ago

I thought this might be a fun question. Do you like to overlook your garden or be right in the middle of it all?

For me, I love climbing right into my garden beds...always have! LOL I know, it tramps down the soil, not good for the plants, better to never step in the beds, etc....but I like getting into the garden. My beds are always a little too deep to reach from the grass and I do try to step in the same 'safe spots' to avoid most of the plants. There's something wonderful about being in the middle of all the flowers, herbs, bugs, etc. and being really part of the garden.

When it comes to seating, I'm the same way. I like to sit right in the middle of my garden. My idea of a wonderful vegetable or kitchen garden is to have a table right in the middle of it all...with shade! I hate hot weather (which we have in abundance in July and August) so my idea of wonderful is a shady, covered spot to sit and enjoy my tomato, carrot or other veggie that I want to try and make sure they're 'okay' before I share them with others :)

How about you? Do you like to have your seating on the deck or patio and overlook the beds...or do you end up sitting in the middle of the garden...or maybe both? Any pictures? Here's one of my kitchen garden, and I do have an umbrella for that table (LOL) so please share a few of yours, too!

{{gwi:606285}}

Comments (11)

  • Prettypetals_GA_7-8
    12 years ago

    I love both. I really don't have any seating areas in the middle of my beds but I do have some spots to the side of a couple of them. Would love more seating spots but my hubby says "nuff is enuf"! I love to look out my windows in my bedroom too because its higher and you look over the beds on the side of my house. Sooo pretty. I ramble all through my beds all the time. I have deep beds too that I have to go into to pull weeds or just "gaze" at the pretty, pretty flowers, and even cut a few to bring in. All in all I just love to be outside all the time, in or out of my flower beds. Your pic is beautiful! Judy

  • organic_kitten
    12 years ago

    I prefer to look over the beds whether I am weeding or relaxing...but different strokes and so forth.
    kay

  • soxxxx
    12 years ago

    I ramble around all the plants weeding, pulling seedlings, checking for insect damage. Sometimes I lie down to reach for a weed under a shrub. I often wonder what a passerby would think if I were nearer to the road. Probably call 911.

    I have 3 benches and a small iron table and chairs right in the garden and three swings near the garden edges. I survey the garden from all of them at some time.

  • Calamity_J
    12 years ago

    I like to sit at the bar style table set by my pond, or the wicker set on the deck...that over looks the pond and yard!
    {{gwi:197349}}

  • luckygal
    12 years ago

    I prefer to overlook the garden at the end of the day after being in it all day.

    This pic is from last summer, the weather has been too rainy and I've been too busy to enjoy doing this yet this year. This pic was taken about this time last year from our small deck overlooking the main garden with my glass on the railing. At the end of the day before dinner DH and I would often sit here to enjoy the garden and see the improvements we had made. The garden is not as far along this year due to the cool spring.

    I try not to walk in the beds too much as our soil is so heavy. I have stepping stones here and there to facilitate weeding.

    {{gwi:706069}}

    I like the idea of having seating or perhaps a bistro table and chairs in areas of the garden but I doubt they'd be used much altho would look decorative.

  • oliveoyl3
    12 years ago

    I like to sit in the sunniest spot near the raised vegetable beds facing the sunshine looking back toward the house & front yard. We live in a clearing in the forest, so I have to seek the sunshine if I want it.

    Years ago I put a chair there & called it my office when there were just a few containers & fruit trees nearby. My kids knew that I needed some alone time in the sunshine, so it was a nice quiet retreat from being mom on duty. I have changed the gardens a lot over the years. Now there are 2 chairs, a foot stool & a side table there for my hubby & I when he has time. Usually, it's just me sitting there in the summer sunshine reading, praying, listening to my MP3 player or the birds.

    Last year, my guys laid a paver patio next to our 6x8 greenhouse. We have a small iron looking bistro set + a iron bench on the patio, so it's a fun place for us to sit & hang out. In mild weather we can eat meals there. It's sunnier than the back deck & I like being surrounded by the flower beds just beyond the paths on 3 sides.

  • christinmk z5b eastern WA
    12 years ago

    The garden is too crowded for me to climb in there too (and when I do I am usually balancing on one foot or contorting myself so as not to step on anybody, lol) so I enjoy it more from "the outside".

    The bistro set on the little patio gets shade in the morning until sometime in afternoon. Years ago the patio used to be almost double the size it is now. I never used it then and hated the look of it. Then somehow the idea came to me to cut it down in size and fill in with more plants. Now I love it! There is something comforting about being surrounded by so many plants.

    Then there is also a table and chairs set out on the lawn under the maple trees. Once the patio area is in sun this spot will be shady. Mostly I drag a chair or two around during the day depending on what view I want to admire or if I am cold and chasing the sun around the yard, LOL.

    -calamity, love the castle and pond!! Did you do that all yourself?
    CMK

  • Calamity_J
    12 years ago

    Thanks, Yes! My friend Glen helped and hubby helped too(the liner), got the rock just down the road($40), and the castle is hollow inside(wire mesh/concrete) and lights up at night!!! I gotta get it on my timer so I can just walk out enjoy it and it will go off at a certain time(don't like misquitoes)Bistro set only cost $25! Scrounged! Waterlilies are just reaching the surface now, they will be lovely!

  • Lilyfinch z9a Murrieta Ca
    12 years ago

    I prefer to sit in the middle of it all, but the way my swing is , its off to the side and i can see all of my garden. I also have 2 adorondack chairs that i move around but they stay mostly under my tree for shade. We also have chairs by the pond and a lounger on the patio next to the pond for a change of view.
    Everyones pictures are so nice!! makes me feel like im sitting there too.

  • Thyme2dig NH Zone 5
    12 years ago

    I sit on the outside of the garden. I have a farmer's porch so I overlook the cottage garden from there. There's a deck off the back of the house so I'll stand there a bit and look out and think a lot. The thinking is always about gardening.....never anything else! We did put a handful of adirondack chairs in the back so view the new beds from the other direction but this year I think we're going to move them onto the lawn. I also like to go to the upstairs bedroom or bathroom windows and peer out over the gardens to get a bird's eye view.

    The only time I'm really "in" the gardens is when I'm planting or weeding which is when I get up close and personal with most of the plants.

  • cziga
    12 years ago

    I love being in the middle of the garden too, especially when everything is starting to bloom. I have heavy clay though and have spent hours of backbreaking work trying to make it better ... so I don't step on the soil. I have large stones and stepping stones throughout the garden (most of the gardens are small but wide) so that I can walk through them without stepping on the soil at all!

    Then I also have a chair (eventually I want a beautiful stone bench) in the middle of the grass, in the middle of the yard where I sit with a drink and take a break ... and I can turn it any direction to "survey" the work I've done that day!!

    Best of both worlds :)

Sponsored
Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars254 Reviews
Northern Virginia Design Build Firm | 18x Best of Houzz