New Bonsai Garden Display Progression Thread

[Cadillactaste]

Dang...looks AMAZING! If you do any large rock features. Please bury them a bit into the ground so they look planted and established. And not just placed there. A tip I used in my hardscape yard. And everyone comments it looks natural.
Love what you have done already!!! I so admire ones who really focus on anesthetics showing their trees off.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Mine go on benches on the patio and deck. And a few now scattered by waterfall and on the stone wall..older photos. ?

 

[Lars Grimm]

Dang...looks AMAZING! If you do any large rock features. Please bury them a bit into the ground so they look planted and established. And not just placed there. A tip I used in my hardscape yard. And everyone comments it looks natural.
Love what you have done already!!! I so admire ones who really focus on anesthetics showing their trees off. View attachment 241673View attachment 241674

I might not do any large rock boulders around the display right now, but this is good advice for my front yard! I have a 100% native pollinator garden I have been building.

 

[Lars Grimm]

I finally got my act together and started working on a pergola. I chose the simple linear design as it is the most modular. I may add one or two more components and I am considering changing the dimensions. The posts are 4"x6" with the tops set at 8 feet. The long axis beams are 2"x6" but I am considering going up to 2" x 8". The short axis are 2"x4" which I think are fine but they are 3 feet in length to be the exact same width as the bench. My goal is to block midday sun so I didn't want them too big. Here are a few pictures.

 

[eryk2kartman]

Thats really nice set up, well done!

 

[Deleted member 21616]

looking great!

get some moss growing between and around those stepping stones!

 

[Lars Grimm]

looking great!

get some moss growing between and around those stepping stones!

It's tough, I need to relevel them first, but my back is going to hate me. I have to find the kind of moss that doesn't mind getting completely scorched...

 

[Lars Grimm]

Added the second and last pergola component. I also swapped out the crossbeams and went from 3' lengths to 4' lengths in order to provide a little more shade protection. Now the trees will get part shade for the hottest part of the day. I now essentially have 3 different levels of shade depending on the needs of my plants.

 

[Lars Grimm]

Today I moved a half dozen medium sized boulders into the garden area. My goal was two-fold. First, I wanted to lend a sense of permanency and age to the garden. All the stones were found on the property and I dug them down a couple inches so they don't look like they are sitting on top of the ground. Second, I wanted to break up some of the straighter lines along the garden path. So, I removed some of the PA bluestone and inserted some rocks. This won't meaningfully mess up the walk paths, but I think gives it some more interest. I'll likely tinker with the placement of a few of them and maybe add 1 or 2 more. My plan for the winter is to extend the pergola across the path in front of the shed. I'll also plant some ferns next to the monkey poles and rocks. The pergola and benches will also get stained.

 

[eryk2kartman]

It coming along nicely, great work!

 

[Lars Grimm]

I decided that the pergola was too small and my trees were not getting enough sun protection in the summer (I only grow deciduous). I also wanted to make the space feel more intimate and self-contained. So....I ended up extending the pergola all the way across. This required me to dig up and remove a couple monkey poles (only 100 pounds each with the concrete....). I really like the look of it though. Opinions and thoughts as always are appreciated.

 

[nover18]

I decided that the pergola was too small and my trees were not getting enough sun protection in the summer (I only grow deciduous). I also wanted to make the space feel more intimate and self-contained. So....I ended up extending the pergola all the way across. This required me to dig up and remove a couple monkey poles (only 100 pounds each with the concrete....). I really like the look of it though. Opinions and thoughts as always are appreciated.

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Looking good! I'm betting it will be hard to resist the urge to build more benches! How deep did you end up burying the pergola posts?

 

[Lars Grimm]

Looking good! I'm betting it will be hard to resist the urge to build more benches! How deep did you end up burying the pergola posts?

They are 24" down and each have about 125-150 lbs of concrete in them.

 

[BuckeyeOne]

I like it much better than the single row.
I'm contemplating a similar feature but in the reverse. It will extend from my second story deck about 10' out and then open to the yard.
The overhead structures always gives sense of security, as well as providing protection for the little ones!!
Nice Job!!

 

[Lars Grimm]

New Years week means no work for me but the kids in daycare! I spent some time staining the pergola to match the fence and adding some decorative bases to some of the posts. They match the shed and the house. I think they make it look more formal and differentiate the pergola from the monkey poles. I also relaid all the stones to make them level and have started to collect moss to fill in the gaps. I'm debating what color to stain the benches. Likely it will be something darker brown to offset the brown/orange of the fence and pergola.

 

[coachspinks]

Really nice set up!

 

[Sunwyrm]

It's tough, I need to relevel them first, but my back is going to hate me. I have to find the kind of moss that doesn't mind getting completely scorched...

Awesome setup! Could you get some sedum or other groundcover in between the stones that'd tolerate the sun more than moss? I have red creeping thyme that loves our summer sun.

 

[Lars Grimm]

Awesome setup! Could you get some sedum or other groundcover in between the stones that'd tolerate the sun more than moss? I have red creeping thyme that loves our summer sun.

That's a really interesting idea. I hadn't thought of sedum or creeping thyme. I'll have to investigate further. Does it hold up well to foot traffic?

 

[Sunwyrm]

My red creeping thyme does pretty well although I don't step directly on it, my dogs do. The woolly thyme I tried did not.

 

[Lars Grimm]

I went ahead and stained the poles and benches. I chose a semi-transparent stain so that you could still see some grain in the wood. The dark brown color offsets the orange/brown fence and pergola. I think it will also make the color of my glazed pots and deciduous trees really pop. The benches should also last a lot longer.