Rustic garden delights
I’VE NEVER BEEN a fan of brown. This may have stemmed from the fact that I have brown eyes and brown hair and when I was a child my mother often dressed me in brown because she said it suited me.
My dislike continued until about a couple of years ago (nobody could ever accuse me of being fickle) when The Landscaper built some slatted timber screens around our front terrace. The timber faded to a pale silver beige, which was what I had hoped for, but the result against the offwhite house and concrete terrace pavers was bland.
I bought a tin of mid-brown stain and, with my heart in my mouth, I stained them. They looked great. I could hear my mother saying ‘I told you so’ from the afterlife.
We now have some decking stained the same colour, a timber sun lounger, and two sets of stained outdoor furniture. The new puppy is tan, and a week ago I bought a pair of tan boots and a tan handbag. How the mighty have fallen.
Now, for some reason, I’ve developed a liking for iron — possibly because when it’s rusty it’s rather a gorgeous shade of brown, and also because, well, it’s quite fashionable. Iron’s a great material to use in the garden because it’s so permanent. Certainly it rusts, but it doesn’t disintegrate with anything like the speed of timber, and it has a rather admirable tendency to retain its original shape, which is more than you can say for many garden materials (and, sadly, many gardeners). And even in a rustic setting, it has a certain elegance.
Having said that, it’s probably not the best choice for DIY projects, since it’s heavy to handle, and requires serious tools for cutting and shaping. No point thinking you can make a fantastic iron summer house with a handsaw and an electric drill.
But you can buy metal works of art, fountains and water features, firepits and basins, edgings and more from de´cor shops, garden centres, hardware stores and specialist outdoor centres. Failing that, go scavenging. An old gold-mining pan can be reinvented as a planter, a water feature, a wall hanging or a firepit. A big old iron wheel set into the grass makes a great circular potager for your herbs, and iron tractor seats can be repurposed into all manner of handy things, although it must be said they’re not that comfortable for sitting on.
Keep in mind, too, that landscaping with iron is not just for rustic gardens. Contemporary landscapes can lend themselves to the use of iron and it’s being seen more and more in garden edging, circular planters and waster features. Garden centres and hardware shops stock decorative metal screens which can be used free-standing as a backdrop to a shrub, or incorporated into an existing fence or hedge.
And since the advent of the compulsory pool fence, iron fencing has become readily available in hardware stores in various sizes. You don’t have to have a pool to buy it — incorporate it in your outdoor living area and it’ll add a sophisticated, elegant look.
We’ve used ready-made iron gates in the slatted timber fences around our outdoor living areas, and they’re good looking, practical, easy to install and not over-thetop expensive. They also work well when used to create an entranceway in a hedge, and are happy to accommodate climbing plants climbing up them. And best of all, they keep the puppy contained, but the cats can fit between the bars. Purrfect.
RUSTY PLANTS
If, like me, you’re a matchy matchy gardener and you have some ferric features in your landscape, you’re probably already familiar with brown plants. I had issues to start with, since they all reminded me of a pair of brown corduroy trousers in my childhood wardrobe, but I’m over that.
One of my current favourites is the bronze coloured flax Phormium Tenax ‘Dark Delight’ planted in a teal-coloured pot — it’s a brilliant combination. And then there are coffee coloured pansies, brown bearded irises, very dark day lilies, and even chocolate toned dahlias. Spoiled for choice.