Entryways, Gates and Doors

Doors, gates and entryways set the tone for visitors and guests and should exude a warm WELCOME!
The simplest way is to make the entrance to your home and garden neat and tidy. It's not always necessary to have fancy pavers and wrought iron gates, but if you can afford them, they certainly add an elegant touch to the front of a house. Appropriate plantings are the next step. The homeowners above certainly had the right idea!

Formal modern iron gates define the entrance to this lovely home in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Pineapples are a symbol of Welcome, therefore very appropriate at the front gates

As this gate swings open, one notices the paving stones set between lines of aggregate and then the soft leaves of ornamental grasses and ferns lining the path.

A formal front with a balanced number of windows on each side of the door need equally formal balance in the gate, the walkway and plantings. Here the point is further emphasized with twin topiaries on each side of the black door.

The same type of symmetry and balance are at the front door of this lovely home. Mirror image plantings appear on each side of the entry porch.

The next step is the entryway into the back garden. Not all gates need to have closed doors. Here the lattice archway clearly indicates the way.

A pale aqua coloured arch sets a more casual tone, which is continued in the simple table, sun umbrella and chairs.

A vine-covered arch delineates a small circular garden from the back area.

This beautiful garden had pathways all through it, with interesting plants on either side and an occasional pergola to walk under.

A secluded sitting area can be reached through a number of arches, most of which are hidden by soft evergreens.

The entrance to some garden areas are guarded by ferocious beasts (roar!!) :)

Please check out the latest recipe for Slow Cooker Chili with Corn Bread on my Food Blog.

Mother Nature as Design Teacher

It's interesting to look at peoples' front yards and backyards. Some have been designed by the owner, others professionally landscaped. Many are great, but others somehow look "wrong".
Perhaps the proportions are incorrect: too few small plants in a sinewy shape clinging to the edge of a large house. Other times it's big boulders and rocks just plunked near the driveway, attempting to make them look natural.
So the question is: how do you make a landscape look as if it just "happened"?
Sometimes you need to observe how Mother Nature did it and the ideas are right before your eyes.

This past weekend we were at up at a friend's cottage and the more I looked around, the more I saw rock formations and plant groupings worth photographing.

Large rocks only look natural if they are buried at least halfway if not two thirds of the way into the ground.

Groups of trees in a front yard look very tidy and formal but here they look very good too, growing where the original seed landed.

Another example of how deeply rocks should be into the ground.

This grouping of a large rock as focal point, with smaller rocks scattered nearby, would probably work best in a rural setting. I loved those little round pockets of vegetation.

Due to the lack of rain, the water level of the lake is down 16"!! I have never seen this many rocks exposed at the end of the Point. But just look at the fabulous composition!

Here are some grasses on the slope of the shore.

The view down the shoreline.

It's amazing what nature can teach you about landscape design. But when I wasn't shooting pictures like crazy, it was lovely relaxing in the summer breeze just gazing out over the lake…...