Every Garden Begins With a Gate

The Gayla Pink Apple

 

 

My garden club friends always say...every garden begins with a gate.

As you know by now, I spent a lot of time with the Garden Club ladies at the Little Rock Council of Garden Clubs (LRCGC.)  At the time, there were 20 different garden clubs associated with the organization.  You can imagine how many gardeners that equals.  Being with these dedicated gardeners and flower show judges, etc. with so much knowledge and expertise was a real blessing - yet, sometimes it's a little bit of a curse, too.  I'll explain...

 

I will always remember the ladies saying "every garden begins with a gate" which meant that the entrance to ones garden should be addressed.  Kind of like interior decorators addressing the front door -- entry to your home.  So, the curse for me is that the gate to my backyard was pretty hideous.  I couldn't ignore the fact that the garden club ladies always said attention should be given to the entry aka the gate.  Therefore, I couldn't let my gate go unattended, now could I?  Of course not, so I attempted to improve on a gate with few good aspects from which to work with.

Before Photo - pretty pitiful

The old chain link fence and gate are an eyesore for sure.   Years ago, I planted trees and shrubs on all three sides of our yard for a quick fix to create privacy.  I guess since we didn't see the fence, the gate didn't seem to matter.  I'm not sure why we didn't later put up a wood privacy fence - probably same reason our yard was neglected for some many years.  No one spent much time in the yard - therefore, it wasn't a priority.  Kind of out of sight, out of mind. 

At this point, I'm not interested in putting up a wood privacy fence - I have privacy via greenery - trees and shrubs.  Besides, I like the somewhat 'natural' look and feel of trees which create privacy.

Installing a new gate was not an option right now.  So, not to be out done, paint!  Why can't I paint an old chain link fence and gate!!! 

A coat of black paint is an improvement, but still needs something...

So, I painted it black.  Frankly, for a quick fix, I like it.  I see this as doing the best I can with what there's to work with!  A decorator once told me, if you can't do fine (expensive), go fun (economical!)  So, that's exactly how I look at this.  I couldn't install a new gate, so painting the old one with a coat of black paint was how I decided to give the gate its' redo. 

Bench added, but....

A little concrete bench - a gift from a dear friend -is added.  The bench looks new in the photo, but it's not.  I guess the sunlight makes the top of this bench appear very white - when it's really quite worn. 

The entry to my garden is looking better, but...  maybe a couple pots to finish off the redo and defining the space.

The new entry...

I feel like the garden club ladies would be proud that I addressed the entry.  Afterall, "Every Garden Begins With a Gate!"  Even if it's not a fine gate, it says hello, welcome to my garden.

Gayla