The Growing Arbor

It seems like just overnight the arbor was filling in, the beans were blossoming and hanging everywhere, tucked under the leaves and hanging down through the wire above my head, it was like a dream. I couldn’t believe that little idea to attach 2 pieces of old fencing wire would turn out to be a work of art in the garden. Each time I went out to collect beans I felt like I was in a different world away from everything and nothing else mattered except being in that moment. The most amazing part was that I could walk through the arbor and reach up over my head to pick them. The next time I do this I would change a couple of things. I didn’t account for the fact that the weight of the cantaloupes on one side and the beans on the other would cause the arbor to lean a bit. At this stage I did find a post and hammered it in on one side taking care not to disturb the plants that were already rooted beneath. Another thing I might have done differently is to make the spacing between the two boxes wider, but since the arbor was really an afterthought in the design one day and never planned, it was not perfect. In order to make this space wider I would need to remove the dirt and move the boxes during the winter, but not sure Im feeling up to that. 

So what I learned from this was that I absolutely love the style and the overall feeling of the space that I created. This design also created a nice privacy screen from the front section of the yard which is where the cut flower garden begins. It also provided a sense of seclusion and privacy and sitting there in that area you could witness the hummingbirds that used the arbor as a shelter and was pure entertainment as they would fly overhead zipping all around, through the tunnel and rest on the vines of the beans then off to the other side in the cutting garden to feast on the zinnia flowers!

Providing shelter to the birds and the other critters in a garden is the most rewarding feeling in the world.

I will post a video clip of a hummingbird so you can hear how busy they were:)

 

 

These were the beginning stages of the arbor. I would sit here after working all day in the evening, put my feet up and would imagine the future garden 

Here is the hummingbird video clip