An ‘overview’ of the Flea Market garden

Do you ever wish you could see a bird’s eye view of your garden?  Gardeners with a high vantage point or a second story can do this.  It’s satisfying to look down over all and think I am King,…or most likely, Queen of all I survey!

If you ever get the chance to view your garden this way, it’s quite fun to see, especially if your garden has evolved like mine, by chance!  For example, I had only two flats paths running horizontally across my garden where every other thing was on sloped land.  My garden design was by necessity.  Take a look at these garden designs by our Flea Market gardeners…

Annie Grossart-Steen’s pondside paradise

Annie Grossart-Steen named her business after the pond that dominates her garden. Pondside Primitives is her handcrafted primitive home decor business in Pennsylvania.  From here, you can notice how well the different greens look in the gardens that surround the pond.

Island garden beds belonging to Tom and Lynne Mann

This bird’s eye view of the Tom Lynn garden illustrates several island flower beds around the house. Each of these garden beds has its own character, style and function.  Two have trees as anchors for shady beds and one is a vegetable garden.

An Americana Garden

Nancy Grigsby’s Big Project

An ‘above’ view can show off planned garden design like Nancy Grigsby’s.  She says, “This is what I see every time I walk out the back door onto my deck – it’s my Colonial Williamsburg garden that my husband and I built in 2001.  It’s modeled after two gardens in Colonial Williamsburg, the layout is copied from the John Blair house and the fence is copied from the Talia-ferro Cole garden. ”

“I spent a couple of weeks climbing piles of rubble in a gravel pit to retrieve the used brick, 15 cents each, I brought home over one thousand bricks and the fence is all hand cut from raw lumber.  It’s always changing as every year I try new plants.  The center is empty now as I’m trying to decide if I want to plant herbs next spring, but my granddaughter is enjoying playing in the dirt for now.  The gate weight, upper left in the picture, was given to me by my next door neighbor.”

Sydney Minor’s garden of FMG treasures

A connecting circuit of brick paths and walkways directs the flow from one room to the next in Sydney Minor’s garden. All along these paths, her collected Flea Market treasures are revealed bit by bit.

Theresa Jones‎ says, ” The bricks are salvaged from a farm demolition, of course!”

See more of Theresa’s garden projects here,  Theresa’s look-a-like garden redo

Heather Benton used recycled shutters

Viewing Heather Benton’s garden from above, shows how effective repetition is along her fence where she put several shutters to good use, painting them in a very pretty favorite color.

Constance Ann McAlpin says ‘Our cedar arbor has a repurposed crown’

Planning a Parterre Garden

Carol Hall’s parterre garden

Carol Hall’s garden beds are determined by her paths, just like mine.  You first realize where you want to go, then the garden beds just appear from there. One path runs along the side and one winds indirectly through the garden ending up at the swing arbor.

More of Carol Hall’s garden shows how paths determine the shape of her flower beds

Mary Dunleavy‎ shows, ‘Spring in my garden’

A center lawn and a small brick patio can be seen in this ‘above’ view of Mary Dunleavy’s garden.  Roses and tulips divide them.  A purple plum and the woods beyond act a background forming a garden room.

Cindy Trubisky’s relaxing patio,…from above

Cindy Trubisky’s outdoor ‘living room’ can be seen from an upper floor in her home and allows her to place color where she wants it around the brick patio. Winter and Fall views of the garden are fun to photograph!

Cindy Trubisky’s garden in Winter

An Ideal Vegetable Garden

Christel Colla’s ideal veggie garden

Two three by eight foot beads and four ‘L” shaped ones create the pattern Christal Colla used for her veg garden. Gravel paths and stepping stones down the center add unity. Wire archways from hog panels form trellises and a place to hang bird feeders.  Do the feeders with sunflower seeds act as bribes to the birds?

Billie Hayman’s picket fence garden

Billie Hayman, from this picture, knows just where her rose colors are more appealing around the picket fence of her garden. Beds inside the fence and outside it feature her Flea market finds such as the rusty heart shaped candelabra she has transformed into a planter.

Seeing your garden or any garden from above can give you many design ideas for where traffic patterns are needed, where color goes and how to fit all your treasures into the garden.   Try it!

More on Flea Market Garden Design

Before & After entryway garden design

Jeannie’s ‘his and hers’ garden sheds

Creating a vintage Flea Market garden: Antique beauty

Healing Gardens, Part 1: Your personal sanctuary

Heart-shaped in the garden

5 ways to find and use junk in your garden