Bridging gardens

Does your garden have a bridge?

I don’t have one. Nor do I need one. But I had a request from Kathy Purdy of Cold Climate Gardening to see some bridge photos from my nearly 65,000+ garden photos. I found a few.

Most bridges straddle a stream, whether man-made or natural. Some are a larger scale that you might be considering in your own space. Some are tiny though, and approachable for a home gardener.

So these are for my friend Kathy, and anyone else that’s contemplated having some bridge-work done.

Are there any garden features I can find for you?

Whatever it is, I may have it in those 65,000+ photos! Let me know- leave a message below. Here are other garden features I’ve assembled from my collection.

• Gardeners Should be behind bars
• Have a Seat – Garden Benches
• Garden Curtain Calls
• Fabulous Fence Finds
• DIY Fountains
• Steps and Stairs in Gardens
• Backyard Pergola and Gazebo Ideas
• Little Garden Touches
• Heaven-sent Hellstrips
• Curio Walls in Gardens

One of my favorites. This is on Prospect Street and is open for Garden Walk Buffalo. This is the tight space between two garages on a small urban lot.

Close up of the bridge above – the bridge covers most of the stream. I think the concept of “fording” some water and the sound of the babbling fountain help put a mental distance between the comfortable sitting area and the rest of the world.

Industrial chic. Found in a Garden Walk Buffalo garden in the Parkside neighborhood.

Okay, it’s still a bridge – but in miniature. This can be found in the moss garden of past Garden Walk Buffalo president Arlan Peter’s garden on Norwood Avenue during Garden Walk Buffalo.

Kreutzer Creek has a simple curvy bridge. This Cheektowaga garden is open for viewing during our Tours of Open Gardens on Thursdays and Fridays in July.

The moon bridge in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, California.

A bridge in the Chinese garden of the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, California.

Timeless stone in the Chinese garden at Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua NY.

Classic colored red in the Chinese garden at Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua NY.

Another miniature bridge, found in the Cheektowaga garden shown earlier. If I were to have a bridge in my garden, it would be along these lines.

Another view of the bridge in the Kreutzer’s Cheektowaga garden. Slippery when wet.

Rustic in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park.

A bridge to no where. It’s got all the parts, including water underneath, but is functionally useless. Found in a garden in the KenTon Garden Tour.

Garden author Felder Rushing on the bridge shown in the lead photo, Atlanta.

The Japanese Garden at Butchart Gardens, Victoria BC, Canda.

The lead photo. It’s a bridge in a Monet-like garden over a man-made stream in the garden of a Arthur Blank, a Home Depot co-founder in Atlanta, GA.

The bridge over a stream on the lake where I grew up. Friends and family made the bridge as a gift for my dad’s retirement. The other side of the bridge was my aunt and uncle’s lakeside property. It got a lot of traffic. Sometimes sober.

Wouldn’t you like to have this covered bridge in your garden? This bridge in Williamsville, NY, crosses a natural creek and ties the property on both sides of the creek together. As a matter of fact, the family pool is on the other side of the creek (you can see a bit of it in the background) from their house.