Are you missing out on your garden during the day?
Plant a moon garden.
How often do you spend your weekends knee deep in potting soil and lawn mix, just to head off the work at the crack of dawn on a Monday morning?
What is the point of slaving away in your free time to create a perfect garden, but only your dogs and neighbours get to enjoy it during the day…With sunlight hours getting less and evenings starting sooner, why not rethink your landscaping to give yourself something pleasant to look forward to when you drive through your gate.
What is the point of a moon garden?
A Moon Garden, also known as a twilight or night garden, is a concept that started in the world’s warmer regions. Imagine being unable to enjoy your garden during daylight hours due to the excessive sun and heat, and then excitedly waiting for the moment when it cools down enough after dusk, to venture out into the cooler refreshing night air… for a stroll in your moon garden…
Gardening for silver light (entice all your senses)
The idea grew from there and people started specifically gardening for moonlight. Silvery foliage, white blooms and fragrant night-flowering plants all added to the alure of a night garden. Traditionally, moon gardens have even been built in the shape of crescent moons. You can play around with this and choose a leaf, an oval or a star shape for yours. A night garden should be multidimensional. What you miss out on in colour and sunlight, make up for in fragrance, sound, and shape. Gardenia, Jasmine and Roses can all create wonderful scents as they bloom at night. Play around with water features, rustling grasses or even wind chimes to add an auditory component. The colour of the leaves and blooms would shine silvery white in the moonlight, and the night flowering plants would attract a different kind of pollinator.
Stand up for the forgotten pollinator…It’s not just about the bees.
We keep going on about planting a garden that supports pollinators like bees and butterflies, but what about that furry cousin, the moth! Moths are great pollinators, but due to habitat decline and pesticide use, they are disappearing. These creatures are beautiful in their own way and particularly enjoy night flowering jasmine and other swoon-worthy moon-blooms.
We are going for sparkle, not sprawl…
For a moon garden to reach its glorious glow potential, it needs full moonlight access. Before you plot out your new garden, take a walk on your property and mark out spaces that get full moonlight, but aren’t exposed to outside lights, streetlights, or your neighbour’s security lights. Keep in mind that your chosen plants will also need to grow during the day, so unless you stick to only shade plants, ensure that your MOON garden gets six to eight hours of SUN-light each day.
Not all shades glow the same.
Keep your moon garden small. Curate your chosen plants and remember to keep similar shades of light colours grouped together. A radiant white arum lily will dim even the most beautiful light pink rose’s shine when they are planted next to each other.
Don’t let the weather chase you away (get ready to cosy up)
We know it has been a bit frosty the past few weeks and winter is coming but this shouldn’t dissuade you. Your moon garden can be a year-round escape if you just gear your self for it. Yes, a stroll through the glowing plants and fragrant notes is perfect, but there is nothing wrong with enjoying your moon garden from the comfort of a patio, or even a bedroom. Planting your garden so that it is visible form somewhere you can cosy up is a lovely way to extend your time enjoying it. What could be better than sipping a cup of tea as you watch the moths flutter around your Jasmine, while you are wrapped up warm in bed?
