OUR FIRST COURTYARD GARDEN.

While I am on the garden theme, let me continue with showing you the former courtyard garden. It's a lot different from this one we have now. The space there was very different, being a long narrow rectangle along the entire side of the house. A small covered breezeway runs along the center of the strip and it is also the access from the garage to the living room, plus it had a door and windows to the master bedroom.
So I wanted a courtyard that softened the straight lines of the space. John and I picked out a natural Tennessee flagstone called Crab Orchard, and had it laid in an irregular pattern with curving lines and spaces.

This made for a much friendlier look that the original rectangle box. The other situation that required a solution was that the neighboring house that provided the perimiter wall of the courtyard across from our house, has windows overlooking the space. And in order to block the view, a tree needed to be installed in a space where the distance between houses is only ten feet across. This clearly excluded most tall trees which have a girth wider than ten feet. This led us to discover the beauty of bamboom and we are both so glad we did. Not only does it provide good tall screening with a very narrow diameter, it is also one of the most pleasing plants one could experience. When the breezes blow, the leaves of the bamboo make the sound of a gentle rain, and the tall stalks dance in the slightest wind.

We eventually planted more right along the wall behind the bamboo in this photo, and it all has multiplied beautifully this year and has created a wonderfully mystical space.
It seems from the comments we have got, that people are quite afraid of bamboo and believe that it will simply take over. However, we found that if you don't want a particular shoot of it, you can easily get rid of it by stomping it over onto the ground. It dies, and that is that. Also, we have been told that in August you should root prune the perimeter of the space in which you want it to grow. It will send up shoots inside that line. We shall see.

This garden was the scene of many wonderful gatherings in the short time we lived there and John and I both have very fond memories of the space.

When I recall being at that house, I think of the garden.