{"id":3142,"date":"2023-03-29T11:46:44","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T17:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/?p=3142"},"modified":"2023-06-01T08:42:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T14:42:32","slug":"a-garden-where-there-once-was-none","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.happysimpleliving.com\/a-garden-where-there-once-was-none\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Hidden Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you ever wanted to create a hidden garden<\/strong> in your yard? Perhaps you’d love a private spot where you could relax and recharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me show you the secluded secret garden we created, using mostly manual labor and free materials. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to make a DIY garden nook in your own yard! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My son and I tackled a big project several summers ago. We had a vision to create a cool, shady hidden garden under the trees for a small table and chairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The location was in a wild, overgrown area of the south side of the house that had always been a jumble of weeds and vines and bushes and sapling trees. The space was completely unusable, and here’s the “before” photo:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Demolition Day, my son used a handsaw to cut and clear all of the trees and bushes. I was his assistant, dragging and piling the branches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After several hours, much of the overgrowth was gone and a sense of the new garden begin to take shape. It was a very therapeutic day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, we dug and cut and yanked out smaller stumps and roots. I spent many hours on my knees hacking at the hard clay soil, and began to sense a spiritual parallel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I prayed for clearing of my own “deadwood,” and the weedy, overgrown places in my heart. I asked for help to let go of some things that weighed on me, and asked for healing of past hurts and disappointments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one especially difficult point during this time of hacking and introspection, the ground was so hard I felt like there must be a brick beneath my spade. And guess what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Digging<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was<\/em> a broken brick buried in the ground!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the stumps and roots (and brick) were cleared, I prayed for inner peace to foster quiet time and reflection, and a new place for creative ideas to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A neighbor was giving away an eighth-ton of rock, so we loaded three buckets in the back of the Toyota and drove the four blocks to his house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over three days, we made numerous trips carrying manageable buckets of gravel and spread it in the new place under the trees. It was just the right amount of stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hung a string of lights overhead and a feeder to attract hummingbirds<\/a>. A bright green metal table and chairs fit right in the space, and a coleus plant added color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coleus<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our dear friends Debbie and John brought us several plants in memory of my son’s dad and my former husband who passed away<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lovely perennial plant is “Sea Heart:”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sea<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A stray hollyhock seed blew in and planted itself at the entrance of the garden,  where it bloomed with the showiest fuchsia blossoms all summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hollyhock<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The garden is such a peaceful place to drink coffee and listen to the birds and write in my journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several friends visited throughout the summer, and the space was as cool and pleasant as I once dreamed it might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Friends<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tiny space will always need maintenance. Vines try to creep back in, and weeds push up through the rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But now there is a small garden flourishing in a place that was once neglected and overgrown, and I am so very grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you<\/em> find a clearing amidst the noise, space to grow, and unexpected beauty in the days to come.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My Favorite Bistro Table and Chairs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This table with two folding chairs is perfect for tucking in a small space, like a secret garden. Made of powder-coated steel, the set comes in other colors, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

—> Check It Ou<\/strong>t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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