In the age of trillions of garden magazines and TV shows telling us what the trend for landscaping is, sometimes it’s just fun to go quirky! I have collected a few pictures in my travels that may give you some ideas for a different look on your garden and life!

Board Fence- No pickets

This first fence is made of flat topped redwood where pickets are cut off square and arranged with varying heights.  There is a real casual air to this design. It looks like the neighbor found some boards, cut them and slammed them up with a few nails. It was in an exclusive area in California so the artistic spontaneity of the fence was definitely planned.

Use an Old Tree Stump

Do you have an old tree stump you just don’t want to pay to take out?  How about using this idea of incorporating an old stump with a fence/gate.

I guess it will rot someday, but at that point you could just pay to grind the rotted stump out and put in a regular post.

I think it is totally cool and saves some money.

Hummingbirds Anyone?

Can you see the red hummingbird feeders between each window on the upper story of this hotel?

God bless the guy who changes out the sugar water for the little hummers every few days.

Scrabble on Stone?

This is an idea I would love to incorporate in someone’s yard, if they thought they would use it.  The inlaid stone into the terrace can be for scrabble, chess or checkers.  This one is congratulating a wedding couple at their brunch after the wedding day.  What fun for the kids and grandparents-   be outside and play a board game.

We Could Learn Something from this Redwood Tree

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn to go with the flow like this redwood tree’s root system?  This tree was growing just fine, using what Nature gave it to be strong.  Unbelievable.

Not Every Plant is Perfect (but that’s OK!)

I was dead heading a perennial garden last month, and came across this mutant white cornflower.  Isn’t it cute!  I think the whole plant is a mutant.  Talk about hybridizing.

Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.