What Was It? making garden art out of junk

by DIG-IT

by Rosalie Stanley

One thing led to another after my fathers watering can turned into a water feature. My husband and I had just finished building our new house and needless to say there wasn’t much money left over for landscaping.

I wasn’t short of plants since I’d been propagating, collecting and purchasing them while the house was being built. The blank slate was quickly evolving into a garden; however, I couldn’t afford to buy any garden art so I’d have to make some.

As I was walking around my parents property one day some of my fathers junk behind the barn caught my eye. There were many pieces of rusty metal stacked in a pile near the old hay rakes and plows that had seen better days. Of course you could identify most things but as I picked through the pieces I had to ask myself, 'What was it?'

Once again sentiment came into play and I knew something had to be done with some of this old stuff. Once again I packed home a bunch of worn out, rusty, broken items and waited for inspiration.

A few days later I was gardening for an elderly couple and spotted a worn out railroad tie that was headed for the burn pile. Ah, the bells went off and the old tie went home with me that afternoon, saved from a fiery death. It was old and the stuff I had collected was old too. A perfect match!

After selecting a site, I dug a hole and planted the old tie. Then I placed the old items and secured them with nails or wood screws to the post. I secured a bird house that I had made on top and called it complete.

I was very proud of myself but didn’t know if anyone else would appreciate my efforts. As it turned out, almost everyone thought I was clever and the tired old items provided conversation in my garden.

It’s been four years since the first totem went up. Now there are three and miscellaneous pieces are tucked in here and there among the plants. They are a reminder of days gone past and provide interest in the garden even in the dreary days of winter.

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published April 21, 2008