This is not, I’m afraid, a snowdroppy post. Surprise!
It’s not even (despite preferences) a helleboring post.
No, it’s a what do you think? post.
Some of you good friends will remember this Big Decision. About what to replace some dying trees in our avenue with. Your previous thoughts and ideas were useful but nothing quite hit the spot. Or it hit the spot for one of us and not the other. Decisions were made and abandoned in apathy. Then – new thoughts led to:
Two possibilities. And we are now finding choosing very hard. Mistakes are costly and embarrassing. And involve work – never a thing to be taken lightly…
The old tree trunks will be parted with, very soon. They are a sad reminder of what was, and what was good but is No More.
So – possibility One. A series of 6 foot by 2 foot double sided mirrors – 4 to either side of the path. Angled slightly differently to maximise the different reflective results. Expensive but can be done, framed in metal with metal supports into the ground. We’re told they may kill birds, as indeed our windows do sometimes, and that would be a sad cost, especially given how much effort I take to look after our bird population. But it could be exciting.
OR – possibility Two: 8 polished steel balls, about 18 inches across, on top of suitably sized telegraph poles, the poles all cut to different heights to offer a variety of reflections and to mitigate any possibility of them looking like street furniture. Or lollipops. I’m currently excited by these.
What do you think? (please don’t suggest we plant replacement trees – too hard to manage in a meadow and to keep uniform. Nor anything else growing, for the same reason. And current preference. And – sorry, Jessica….)
Hi Anne…I think option 2 has more potential …but… I think posts maybe a little, can’t think of right word..but no. However, what about some form of wavy wall, with the balls placed at varying points, and maybe floating seats inserted both sides for people to sit and reflect on the reflections??
Nice thought – but it’s critical not to lose the openness to the meadow, so anything which cut it off (as in wall) wouldn’t work. Problem with posts???
Yes…maybe not telegraph posts…something less solid. Wrought iron teepee style or similar, something sturdy yet something you can see through. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out..
I think I would choose the steel balls over the mirrors purely because of the risk to birds, we’re losing enough of them as it is. That choice may raise the issue of endurance, even stainless steel rusts, so you may have to replace them after a few years. Mind you the mirrors would too probably. What about wooden sails that revolve in the wind? Or plain coloured 1m long vertical flags which would be removed in winter/bad weather?
Thanks! We love reflections is why. Re birds – wonder if you’d also tell us not to get a cat? #justasking
I’d prefer the balls over the mirrors. I like the simplicity of this idea whereas the mirrors sound a little OTT for a meadow. They would also be low maintenance. If you were feeling reckless at any point, for a change you could always paint the poles…..
I like that idea. (I’ll probably have painted everything here one day)
Anne from all the way across the world I am thinking steel balls too but wondering if they could float on slender posts more like the stems of dandelions. Very meadow inspired and sculptural. Any way, whichever way you go it does sound very exciting.
O, that’s an interesting thought! Thank you. Xxxx
I’m with the consensus on balls. I was also thinking the slenderer the poles the better, so I am with Jennifer on that. The big question is how high? And how high to be too vulnerable to wind? I just don’t know but if you could get some a little above head height it would offer a different reflection to some almost at ground level? I also wonder whether to scatter across the meadow rather than in a line. balls don’t have to be the same size either.
OK – food for thought – especially how to do slender and it be affordable and not municipal looking…The rest also for discussion with Charles… Thanks!
Have you considered removing the straight path altogether? Something wandering through the meadow?
We started with it like that, many years ago – and didn’t enjoy it. It was one of the great moments of satisfaction when we introduced the straight avenue. I find that clean lines, straight or part of a circle, work well for us with parts of the garden that we might be tempted to see as ‘natural’. (they’re not, of course)
Gazing balls yes but telegraph poles???? Anything thicker than scaffolding poles would be too thick for an 18″ ball. Even then, will not two straight lines of balls on straight poles look like lollipops? Seamless stainless steel will resist corrosion but fixing the balls to posts will mean creating points of corrosion (drilled holes for screws, for example). Perhaps think more about what the balls go onto. Doesn’t have to be poles. Something like peony supports cradling them? Or maybe some lumps of stone with dents carved in the top to take a ball? Let the balls create the continuity in the design and different supports create the variety. If it has to be poles, at least think about having bends in some of them.
As we consider it, and realising that the bird bath is in the same view, we think we might replicate the oak railway sleepers that we used for the bird bath, with the ̶b̶a̶l̶l̶s̶ spheres sitting in a slight dip at top. Though stone is an interesting idea I think getting any decent size would be beyond our budget. Thanks, John! Xxxx
I really like this idea. You could even try the sleepers painted black, as you have done elsewhere with fences and so on. I think I like the idea of the black receding to increase the impact of the reflective steel.