Spoon Sound
It’s fun to re-appropriate common objects for an artistic and functional use within the landscape, but what about in the soundscape? Check out this fountain made of hundreds of spoons at Spoonbar in Sonoma County’s Healdsburg. It’s a domino affect and lesson in physics, with silverware: water trickles down each spoon, causing it to tilt and drop water on the spoon below. And on,…
Reclaimed Containers
Using reclaimed wood is another way of incorporating an ethic of no-waste into your garden. The look of planter boxes built from reused wood can span the spectrum from super rustic to more chic and sleek. One of our favorite places, Building Resources — San Francisco’s treasure trove of reused construction materials – made this box of old doors. This, obviously, falls under the…
Wild Wood
Using untreated, naturally-worn wood in the garden can offer a sense of warmth and a seamless integration into the surrounding landscape. This is almost a no-brainer, considering wood-as-a-building-material was once wood-the-body-of-a-tree. At Merritt College’s permaculture garden in Oakland, an herb spiral is shaped by short, uneven pillars. The wooden outline can also double as seats while the gardeners pick their thyme and oregano! This…
A Concrete Matter
In the ever-expanding world of re-used materials, “urbanite” is a cool sounding word that refers, simply, to broken up concrete. Pieces of what was once flat, smooth sidewalk can now, once deconstructed, be stacked like bricks to create a vertical wall or foundation. This example of reuse is pretty significant, considering concrete is an incredibly energy intensive product to make. Plus, I must admit,…
Big (Bright) Bang, part II
More color! This wine barrel embodies simplicity and purpose: painting the metal bands yellow to accent the yellow flowers of the thunbergia vine took about fifteen minutes yet has a significant impact on the design. It’ll be great when the vine covers the back wall … A favorite spot in the Mission: Choosing an understated shade of green for the structure (which actually houses…
Big (Bright) Bang
If you keep up with our posts, you’ve probably noticed that gardening in urban spaces can require a bit of resourcefulness: work with whatcha got. In a boring space adding color can dramatically change existing walls (and boxes, containers, decks, etc) fast. And luckily paint is pretty cheap and easy to deal with. Paying attention to the visual realm of color choice can make the…
A Winning Wall
We here at Small Spot Gardens always have our eyes on fences and walls. How to re-create these ubiquitous and usually boring structures into something with a little more life? This wooden wall incorporates a few elements that make it more worthy than the average barricade. The gently undulating curve at the top is unexpected and well done – curving the edges allows for…
Old Windows + The Outer Sunset = Happy Plants
In permaculture, there’s a principal that goes something like, “The problem is the solution”. This little greenhouse pretty much typifies that concept. The “problem” here being the Outer Sunset’s characteristically foggy clime. There are some far out gardens in this neighborhood, for sure. But the grey is prohibitive to many would-be gardeners. The “problem”, Part II: Our landfills are clogged with construction materials. Luckily,…
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