AN ARTFUL APPROACH
THEIR FIRST TASK WAS TO CLEAR SOME SPACE. Out went rocks, weeds, more rocks, matted undergrowth, spindly saplings, and choking vines. Finally it was time for the novice gardeners to create art, using earth as a canvas and painting with plants.
Or in this case, plants plus birdbaths, bowling balls, septic-tank parts, urns, fused-glass artwork, stone pavers, pottery, birdhouses, benches, stone walls, glass mosaics, vintage signs, chimney flues, and the occasional mirror, window frame, and fireplace screen.
“I really like junk,” says Barbara Henderson, laughing as she recalls the gradual accumulation of—let’s call it found art that now decorates the gardens she cultivates with her husband, Doug, just north of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
A fiber and textile artist before she started arranging leafy hostas, flowery annuals, and begonias
