My Faerie Garden

While I have been involved in every aspect of our yard and borders, my faerie garden is totally mine. My hubby built the retaining wall (bottom of the page) so I would have a level place for my little garden. Then he planted the Chinese fringe tree (see Beginning at the Beginning) so it would have shade. I started this little garden three or four years ago; it has undergone many changes along the way. I put the “trees” (boxwoods), pine tree (Alberta spruce) and the weeping tree (Lemon Thread cypress) in shortly after I started the garden. The faeries and I are proud of our little faerie garden and I hope you enjoy looking in on their little world.

When you walk to either the front or back of our house, this is the first faerie house on the our tour. A guardian faerie lives here; she is the protector of her little world. Her home is on the corner so she can see either direction. Judging by the open door, she is not at home right now. If you continue to the left you will pass by these charming little homes. It is only late summer here so the flowers still surround them with beauty—and provide hiding places so the little faeries can peep out at their visitors but not be seen.

This is as far to the left as the faeries have their homes. You can see in this photo the beginning of the little stream that eventually fills the little pond. The faeries and I are debating whether to continue on up the hill, along our front walk, with more homes or just keep their little world the size it is now. We are all thinking it would be nice to add an extension. We will share our decision in a future blog. The second photo on this page is looking to the right from the guardian faerie’s home. This part of the garden has a little more foliage, which the faeries like. They cherish their privacy, which is why you rarely ever see faeries. Sometimes they come out at night to splash and play in their little pond.

A woodland faerie lives in this little stone cottage in the woods. She knows this isn’t a very big woods, but nonetheless, she feels safe here. Which is why she is letting you see her, sitting with her tiny cat, on her little bench under the weeping tree.

This charming little house, up on a small bluff in front of the woodland faerie’s cottage, is a little ways to the right of the guardian faerie’s home. The shy little faerie who lives here is a citizen of this little garden but would much rather not be seen. She doesn’t mind if you admire her little home, though. In the next photo, you actually catch a glimpse of a little faerie sitting on a rock and enjoying the warm afternoon sun. In the last photo, yet another little faerie is sitting on a rock outside her little home, up on the hill near the little stream. These little faeries feel comfortable and safe here, which is why they are letting you see them.

In this photo you can see a little hobbit house. These little homes are usually only seen in the deep woods. So it is a special treat to see one in the faerie garden. Everyone knows that hobbits are distant cousins of faeries. In the remote past, it is said that a faerie married a elf and hobbits are the descendants. I’m not quite sure about that; all I know is there is some kinship there. Anyway, they live harmoniously with the faeries. The toadstool houses are rumored to be homes to elves. I haven’t seen any, but the faeries tell me they are there. The middle photo shows the stream as it trickles on down past the hobbit and elfin homes, toward the little pond. The last photo shows one of the faerie homes that borders the stream and the pond. Some say that faeries derive part of their magic from water, which may be why these faeries live so close to the water. But I think they just like to be near the little pond so they can splash about at night with no one watching.

This photo shows another faerie home near the little pond. In the foreground you can see a tiny duck and baby ducklings. The little faerie who lives in this sweet little cottage loves to watch the ducks play on warm summer evenings. The next photo shows the sad state this little faerie garden was in at the beginning of the season. There was foliage here, but it had overgrown it’s area and had to be removed. This gave me a chance to redo the little garden, adding more foliage and making room for more faerie homes (they were glad about that!). I also cleaned the debris out of the stream and added a pond. The last photo here is the first incarnation of this garden, from several years ago. It has changed a lot since then!!