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Brian :-)
Here's a little inspiration for you.
This is our Tuscan themed garden that was inspired from photos of gardens in Europe and is made of rustic materials to give the feel that it has always been there.
When we first bought our property in Dural NSW, it was just overgrown grass and remnants of the previous tenants who had a thing for horses.
There was buried star pickets, bits of wire in the grass making it hard to mow and big Scotch thistles everywhere. No doubt lots of snakes but we were probably too excited and naive to worry about them. Thankfully we didn't meet.
Along one of the boundary fences was an old corrugated iron shed that was the makeshift horse stables. It was rough as guts like so many old stables on acreage properties.
This was to become our Tuscan themed garden with a heavy timber arbour and feature gates above the veggie patch. The chook pen would be an important part of the design and had to be built strong to protect the girls as we had had heartbreaking experiences with neighbours dogs and foxes breaking in at our previous property. Not something you want to go through twice.
I'm not going to post all the photos showing the crazy hard work it was to put all those posts in, the amount of digging, jackhammering slate, working in the heat and being covered in dirt and sweat.
For now let's just enjoy the finished result because that is what inspires each of us to have a go and dream of something crazy and make it happen.
(Maybe on another post I will share those behind the scenes photos)
This is a part of the garden I am very proud of. It started out as some sketches and weekends spent finding all the materials to make it happen.
Those posts you see are like railway sleepers but longer. A railway sleeper is limited to 2.4m long which makes it too short for a post when concreted in so we had to buy old bridge timbers from the same people who sell the sleepers.
They are hardwood and very heavy but look fantastic and age very slowly but gracefully.
Galvanised fencing wire was attached to the top of the beams and an ornamental grape vine is growing along them. This vine sometimes gets a bad wrap because it is vigorous... but I reckon it's just because people are a bit lazy. They want the lush look but dont want a plant that grows lushly!
Just like a vineyard, you cut the vine all the way back to the main stem line during winter when it is dormant and then let it reshoot again each year.
In the photo below you can see how hard it has been cut back and the new shoots appearing at the start of spring.
It's easy to say that's too much hard work whilst sitting on the couch scrolling through instagram and wishing our life looked like those we follow and admire. Creativity, hardwork, courage and a little crazyness is what makes those beautiful things happen. As gardeners we have the ability and drive to do that and make the world a prettier place.
I tend to forget the hard work it took which is a good thing otherwise I would never start the next project. It's a bit like how women go through childbirth in extreme pain.. and then sign up for it again a year or two later! We are all a bit nuts.
Those windows I bought off a bloke out towards Richmond for about $500...