Inspiration Is Everywhere

Sometimes inspiration for a new garden bed or structure comes from odd places. Something catches your eye and you start to think about how you can adapt it to your own situation. It might be a while before the inspiration clicks and the finished product might not look too much like the original, but the link is there.

One very unlikely inspiration came from a section of freeway architecture. Travelling to Melbourne from the north, along the Hume Freeway, when you get close to the city there is a section of road lined by very large, blue rectangular poles surrounded by low-growing shrubs. I used to look at it admiringly (Melbourne has the best freeway archecture around) and ponder on how I could adapt the idea to a very small garden scale. Eventually, rectangular blue pots edging a section of garden bed emerged. I wish I had a photo of the original freeway architecture to post here, but anyone who has travelled that section will know it.

Another inspiration came from the Cranbourne Botanic Garden. We saw a black wall-type structure, reminiscent of the old-fashioned shadow boxes. It had coloured glass in some sections and ornamental features in others. Fortunately, both Rodney and I liked it and he was more than willing to translate the idea into our own feature wall edging the deck.