Creating a ‘vintage’ style garden

Giving your garden an ageless feel

Some garden scenes just have a soft look of days past,..there’s nothing to show from what era they come….ageless and a bit misty like they appeared out of the past.  How can you get this look in your garden?  See how in this three part series.

Part one:  Creating Period Garden Vignettes

First, look at your collection of those vintage Flea Market finds or gardening antiques so close to your heart. Which ones have the oldest look to them?  See what these gardeners have created:

• Try to have nothing in your garden scene that shows the current times. Would it be an 80 year old watering can that a grandfather used? Or a faded set of motel chairs sat upon by a beloved grandmother and her friends?

 

Arlene Brenneman says, “I have a secret to share about this container,… the sky blue lobelia was a huge hanging basket at a local nursery. I think it cost $10 and was very full. I figured it up and it was cheaper to buy the beautiful already established basket and replant it into my container than to buy enough plants to make it look this good. I do it every year for large containers. There, now my secret is out! My galvanized mop bucket with red geraniums featured here earlier was the same story – a large hanging basket replanted = instant gorgeousness.

 

 

• Certain flowers, in a cottage rambling style can bring back memories of a childhood garden, long in the past. We grow the flowers that mean the most to us and ones that our mothers or fathers grew.  Geraniums, roses, peonies, wisteria all last for years and years sometimes in a garden, giving it a sense of age of longevity and familiarity.

 

• Hand tools worn  by the years, rusty tools long retired after ages of toil, old sprinklers, vintage aprons, flour sack pillow fabric and aged clay pots,…wheelbarrows we rode in as a child, broken but not discarded, still find a use in our vintage gardens.

 

• Edit your garden so practical items, like hoses and electric cords are hidden. Stash away any ‘rats’ nests of clutter. Edit your vintage garden down so a person seeing it wouldn’t know it was not long ago.

 

Shelly Novotny, “I did this last year(photo above), using some inexpensive purses from thrift shops. Just realize that they may only last one season. They get wet and weathered. But it is cute!”

 

Photo Tips:

• One way to get a vintage garden look is through the photographs you take!
• Edit out anything in the scene that clutters or distracts, like those hoses and tools.
• Take advantage of a cloudy bright day to get a soft light on the garden.
• Use a photo editor to reduce contrast a bit or use soft focus.

To create a vintage look to your garden, it takes a bit of skill to ‘stage’ or style your garden as well as choose the plants and flowers,…you gather your ‘props and treasures and arrange them just so, pleasing yourself in your truly individualistic garden. If you have a garden scene like this to share, please post it on our Facebook page and label it Vintage Garden.  ~~ Sue

More vintage style gardens:

Part Two –  Creating a vintage Flea Market garden: Ancient beauty

Dreaming of my vintage garden

French twist

Meeting Debbie McMurry