Designing a shady garden retreat
Do you dream of a secret garden? Find out how this dream came true for Jeanne Sammons and what it meant to her. Then create your own.
Jeanne’s log swing
Jan told us, “Almost 20 years ago my hubby and I planted hundreds of pine trees on three acres of field ground. We were done pasturing horses or an occasional calf, tired of making hay and ready for a change. As the pines matured over ten years, I dreamed up the idea of building a small log cabin in the middle of those beautiful pines! Well, the cost factor did not allow that dream become reality so I decided I would build my own ‘Secret Garden in the Pines.'”
Jeanne’s secret garden in the pines
“The first addition was a ‘log’ swing, of course, since I wasn’t getting a log cabin! My hubby and I laid some patio block, recycled some huge logs for a hopping trail for the grandkids and planted some prairie flowers. I could sit out in my haven, listen to the sounds of the birds and not see anything but Nature.” Jeanne said.
Keep my shady secret….
“To the right of the swing, an old door, some cherubs and an orb made of rusty barrel rings.”
Barn door is background for a few rusty treasures
“Over time I added an old barn door adorned with flea market celestial treasures. Then a friend found the perfect concrete birdbath at an auction that fit right among the pines! In the last years, the trees have grown so tall that suddenly I could see more than just Nature. So last year I started planting more shrubbery among the pine path leading to my Secret Garden hoping to hide the peeking view of man-made buildings. With a little persuasion my hubby helped me hook up my old claw foot bathtub from another location and drag it out with the ‘Gator to the pine path.”
‘Framed’ birdhouse. Can you see it?
“Here’s another view of that same path area I’m working at…Willow easel with an old barn wood frame…it’s framing a white shutter birdhouse made four or five years back,” Jeanne told us.
Jeanne’s clever easel to frame the view of the pines
“..this area needs some good height to help block view from my Secret Garden Log Swing, which would be in the grassy area to the right…(you can’t see it here) I didn’t want to use ‘rocks’ as I don’t like those slinky creatives who live under them,” Jeanne said.
Quiet and serene….
Jeanne confided, “As I would relax here in my Secret Garden…it would be so quiet …you could see some prairie flowers and cup plants growing alongside the swing …others like yellow and purple coneflowers, bee balm were growing behind the swing…my celestial old barn door was there…whiskey barrel rings sphere on the path…lots of pine needles and birds singing!”
Flower garden and hoppin’ logs on a rainy day…
The ‘tub garden’ evolved over time
New tub area to screen Jeanne’s secret from the house.
“I’ve moved some stuff near the path to my Secret Garden Log Swing area…the big White Pines have grown and now my ‘secret’ garden was not so secret anymore (you could see the house!) …so my husband and I moved old clawfoot bathtub out there and I planted a few Hostas one Fall, figuring that the deer would feed as they trotted thru my path! I needed help with the tub plantings! Nothing was ‘working’ yet! All shade and I want height so I planted some Ferns and a Coral Bell…and looked for sculpture of some sort …maybe a shrub?”
The pump flows into the tub, of course!
A stepping stone path, each made with a round stone and ‘petal’ shaped edgers all around.
Secret garden vignette showing Jeanne’s tool mailbox
“So, this ‘secret garden in the pines‘ just grew and grew with ideas shared by Flea Market Gardening friends, for example, the recycled ‘tool mailbox’ I added one day. I always loved flower gardens and prairies and pine trees, so I found the best of these three worlds in this place I called my outdoor church, where I can sit in the log swing, meditate and feel close to God.” ~~ Jeanne
Jeanne Sammon’s tub ‘scene’ updated
Jeanne’s butterfly gifts
Jeanne said to us, “I was always adding to my Secret Garden … one harsh winter killed the perennials from a previous year so I replanted some others the next summer. I added some ‘stained glass’ butterflies from some beloved friends along with my own to create the look of a stained glass arbor at the old tub.”
Secret garden: Beautiful place of solitude, peace and natural beauty
Prairie: Great natural meadows of long grass and native wildflowers
Jeanne and Larry and Nellie, too!
See all of Jeanne’s secret garden:
