New mirrored trellises add depth to a blank wall
There’s something new in the side garden. Yes, the Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), my favorite native ornamental tree, is blooming and wafting the sweet fragrance of grape Kool-Aid through the air. Does anything say springtime in Austin as much as that smell?
But something else is new. And I’m not talking about the 3-inch layer of live oak leaves on the ground.
I’ve hung five mirrored-acrylic trellises along the long brick wall at back of the garage. I’d been looking for something to liven up that boring stretch of brick and add the illusion of depth to a side garden of bowling-alley proportions when I saw some DIY mirrored trellises on Design Sponge.
I didn’t take smiling in-process pictures like author Grace Bonney did (I would have looked a lot more grumpy at certain points), but you can see hers and read her how-to if you’re interested in the nitty-gritty. Update 3/22: That link is broken and I can’t find her how-to post anymore. My only addition to her instructions is to drill through the plexiglass very carefully so that you don’t crack it. I learned this the hard way.
I bought inexpensive wooden trellises at Home Depot and cut the legs off before painting them. Mirrored plexiglass isn’t exactly cheap, but it is lightweight and you can drill through it to attach it to the trellis, which is handy. I found it locally at Regal Plastics, where it can be sized to your exact specifications. Regal suggested coating the cut edges of the plexiglass with silicone caulk for durability outdoors, but I found it didn’t easily stick. Plus I was making an unholy mess of things. Since they’re hanging on a shady wall and under an eave, I’m hoping they’ll have sufficient protection from the elements as-is.
My plan is to stain the lattice fence that borders this space the same color as the trellises: Sherwin-Williams Black Alder. That will unify the square lattice on each side and give the whole space more depth. This is the entry to the back garden that I take visitors through (the other side is a working space with trash storage), and I want it to look as appealing as any other part of the garden, not just a pass-through. Plant choice is very simple, mainly grasses, yucca and hesperaloe, and shade-tolerant herbs and perennials due to frequent deer browsing, so I’m going with mass plantings for impact. Visible here: bamboo muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa), wide-leaf giant hesperaloe (Hesperaloe funifera ssp. chiangii), Texas betony (Stachys coccinea), and Berkeley sedge (Carex divulsa). Planted around the Texas mountain laurel, in the 2nd photo from the top, is inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium).
I’m pleased with how it turned out and can now check one spring project off my list. I have many still to go! How about you?
Update 8/15: I’m sorry to report that the acrylic mirrors have bowed and sagged, even with plenty of screws to hold them in place, causing a slight funhouse-mirror effect. Therefore, I’m giving a thumbs-down to this project and recommend using regular glass mirrors instead. Live and learn!
__________________
I’d love to have your vote in the Better Homes and Gardens 2015 Blogger Awards. Skip through to the Gardening category, select Digging, and then skip to the last page for your vote to be counted. You can vote as much as you like. Thanks for your support!
All material © 2006-2015 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Very nice. What a great idea. Narrow shady side of the house gardens are tough to do.
They can be. The fun thing is that they are often so overlooked that even the simplest changes have great impact. —Pam
This is gorgeous, Pam. Such a creative idea.
Thanks, Gina. I’m glad you approve. —Pam
And the mirror may scare away the deer.
From your lips to God’s ears. —Pam
I like it a lot, Pam. Interesting that you call Chasmanthium “inland sea oats.” We call in “Northern sea oats” here. Common names and all that… 😉
I think it really needs a new common name that reflects the widespread distribution of this North American native! —Pam
Nicely done! I too am working to enhance our “around the house” 360 garden tour for a daylily club visit in May — lot’s to do. Yesterday I went over your earlier winter evergreen posting with friends — what a great resource to be able to type in “evergreen” and have that posting come up to help us pick something for their northwest hills garden.
Your garden already looks so great from every angle, Tom. But I know well that there’s always something more to do. I’m glad my evergreen post is coming in handy for your friends! —Pam
I LOVE this. I have a solid brick wall along the garage side of my house for which this project would be perfect. Do you mind me asking (ballpark) how much the plexi mirror was from Regal so I can start saving my pennies and nickels for my next garden project. Thank you!
Gina, my dear supportive husband reads my blog, and so in the interest of marital harmony I’m afraid I will simply have to refer you to Regal for a quote. 😉 Good luck with your project! —Pam
That’s a really nice idea for that area. I also like your mass plantings. I ended up covering up one of my bamboo muhly grasses during freezes this year to see if it made a difference. Fingers crossed. As for my spring projects – just get the yard in shape for the garden tour at the end of April. The rain keeps foiling those plans. Too wet to plant, even too wet to walk about the yard. So now I’m all about adjusting my expectations. 🙂
Jean, it must be stressful to have a garden tour to prepare for and a cooler-than-normal spring. I’m sure it will all be beautiful in the end, and even if things aren’t as far along as you’d like, the visitors will all be in the same boat and understand. Weather is beyond any of our control. —Pam
Thank you SO much for posting this! I have a large mirror in my garage that we took down when we revamped our bathroom, and I’ve been trying to think of a way to incorporate it into my garden. This gives me ideas!
When we took down our large bathroom mirror in a remodel, we hung it vertically at the end wall of our walk-in closet, visually doubling the space and bouncing light into a dark space. It was a serendipitous perfect fit!
I do like seeing mirrors in gardens, but keep in mind that mirrors can fool birds into thinking there’s open space, leading to fatal collisions. My hope is that placing trellis over the mirror will prevent or at least lessen that danger. Maybe you could have trellis built or cut to fit over your mirror for bird safety too. —Pam
Love it! Once the fence is stained, it’s really going to define and unify the space. I am really excited to see the finished result!
Me too, Lori. My daughter and I were all set to stain the fence over spring break, and then we discovered fire ants living under the caps. Argh. I put out fire ant bait and am waiting for them to “pass on.” —Pam
I’m jumping ahead a bit, because I simply love the idea of that fence stained the dark color. When you do stain the fence will you do both sides? If not are you worried about the color seeping through and showing in places on your neighbors side? Of course I’m asking because I would love our side of our rather open fences to be stained similar, but I don’t want to make my neighbors side look bad.
I will do both sides of the lattice fence, Loree. It’s so open that I don’t think it would work to just do one side, plus it’s my fence so I don’t need to worry about asking permission. I bet you could make a sample mock-up of your fence style and stain one side to see how it looks on the back. Good luck! —Pam
Jumping in here to say that I stained only one side of my fence the dark blue, and also did a friend’s fence dark green, and as long as you’re careful while painting, it won’t show on the other side. I used a wide angled brush and not a roller, if that helps.
It looks good, Pam! I love using mirrors in a garden – I had 2 in my former garden, although I haven’t found appropriate spots for any here (yet anyway). That Sophora is wonderful too, even if I can’t smell it.
I’m doing more planting (later than I’d like, especially with another March heatwave headed our way), filling in the gap created by removing a tree (in response to a neighbor’s complaint about impairment of her view), as well as some of the remaining gaps in my “new” front garden.
Thanks, Kris. I’ve been keeping up with all your posts and know what a dry, difficult spring it’s been for you in L.A. I hope you get some relief soon. —Pam
Those mirrored trellises are a WOW. I love that idea. It looks great especially in this situation. Do I ever have projects to do in the garden. It will take a month just on clean up let alone any foofing I want to do around the garden.
I’m doing a lot of clean-up still too, Lisa. Our live oaks (we have 30 on our lot, not to mention all the neighbors’) drop their leaves in spring over a very messy two-week period as the new leaves emerge. Following that will be their big pollen drop. The garden is just smothered for at least a month every spring, even as flowers and new growth are emerging. I find it frustrating enough that I’ll never have my garden on a spring tour. Fall only! —Pam
It looks great, Pam. The black symmetrical form of the trellises, really sets off the beautiful french blue of the mountain laurel. Regarding projects, yes, most of my projects will be completed intermittently until we have consistently mild weather. It’s snowing again now, but that’s normal for us in March. We have no snow on the ground now, and what is falling is melting fast. It’s a good thing because we need the moisture for the plants. Anyway, the projects will start in earnest soon. Happy spring!
Thanks, Beth! I admire your patient attitude as you await spring. You’re right that moisture for plants is a good thing, even if we have to put off our gardening for a while. —Pam
Landscape uplighting would be awesome on those mirrors!
One day landscape lighting will be on my to-do list. 🙂 —Pam
Nice job! I need to replace the privacy fence in the back garden, and I am not looking forward to it.
I hope it goes more easily than you expect, Les. —Pam
Really great idea and execution, Pam. I’m envious. As far as spring projects, I haven’t been able to do any of them because the ground is too wet to dig. Now everything is out of dormancy, so I may have to wait until Autumn. It looks like one of those years!
It’s hard to complain about the rain, but it is holding me up on a few projects as well. Next up: painting those danged stucco walls! —Pam
What a wonderful idea and so thinking outside the box. That you could take some simple trellises and fix them up to look so magnificent. Don’t be surprised if you hear a lot of pecking at the windows. I am always hearing the cardinals at my little ‘windows’. I even had an anole doing the same thing one day. That last shot is the best.
Thanks, Jenny! I’ve always admired your mirrored, window-like boxes on your outer wall, especially the way they match the design of your front door. —Pam
I love the idea of mirrors in the garden. I have a stack of old broken ones I plan to put them up on walls, fences etc… They even work well when almost completely hidden by plants.
I love a mirror on an ivy-covered wall, surrounded by greenery. And small windows are best, I feel, in order to protect birds, so your broken ones sound just right. —Pam
I thought I saw sometihng new with the garage side, probably missing your mention of it in the past. A good touch with the Sophora, it really adds depth.
Never a wood fence for me, hopefully!
This side garden is a couple of years old, still getting established. I put the fence in last year, and the trellises just went up. As always, it’s a work-in-progress! —Pam
I’m sensitive to oak pollen so my projects have to be done before mid-March or wait until early May. I get frustrated annually but having to wait and think things through a few more weeks probably saves me from making at least a few mistakes. During my pollen down time I take a look at painted birdhouses, trellises, etc. to see what needs refreshing, play around with decorating pots, and try not to imagine how many grasshoppers are growing to maturity at the cost of new Spring growth. I also stare out the windows a lot…
I really like the trellis idea and especially appreciate your reminding folks that birds can be at risk from upright reflective surfaces. One idea I saw used somewhere for garden mirrors was stenciling on a vining pattern that broke up the reflective surface just enough to help our avian friends.
That’s a great idea, Deb. Yep, having dead birds would be too high a price to pay for a pretty mirror in the garden. Hope you get lots of good ideas figured out while you wait for the oak pollen to subside. —Pam
What a great idea! I love mirrors in the garden, but wouldn’t you know I don’t have any. I really need to remedy that. My house is brick too, so I definitely have a few blank walls that could benefit from such a stylish upgrade.
I sense another project in your future, Ally. —Pam
I love this! And I love the lattice fence — can’t wait to see how it looks with the dark stain. That mountain laurel is just gorgeous, and the dark color really does show it off.
Thanks, Luisa. A background of dark stain or paint really does make plants look good. —Pam
Looks good.