Let Relics Tell A Story

The folly was invented to build "new" ruins into 18th century English landscape gardens. Copies of Roman temples and tumbled castle walls brought romance of the ancient world into the modern one. This same idea can bring a sense of history or perhaps just a feel for the ancient to new landscapes as well.

This lovely garden of succulents features a whole bevy of large pots and urns. They are rustic earth tones with some well worn glazes for a real feeling of age. Key to achieving this same Old World feel in your garden is understanding how relics are presented here. At center with the opening toward us is the typical way to give new life to a broken or chipped pot by partial burial with plants flowing out like water. Its match lies half buried on the right in a totally different aspect. At far left are tall urns, positioned to lean against the palm tree trunks as though just unloaded and left. A third pot with aged glaze adds blue to complement the yellow.

A vintage Spanish bungalow is ideal for antique or faux aged ceramics. If the relics are arranged together just so, they become a suggestion. Groups of pots tells a much greater story than a single high profile urn. How they lean or lie down contributes even more details. Let your landscape tell a story with subtly arranged relics that lend romance of the ancient world to this subliminal tale of 21st century garden design.