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Giving your garden a name

personalized garden sign
We've been thinking for some time about a specific name for our garden and still haven't come up with anything that Deb and I both agree on. It's a very personal decision as you hope that the name you give to your garden is one that is memorable but also encapsulates the mood that you have worked so hard to achieve.

Many gardeners use names that are well known such as Rivendell or Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings). Others use names that describe what they grow like this one pictured or Lavender Fields. Others describe their position such as the Scottish term Braeside (literally meaning "the side of a hill"). Still, there are some gardeners who use a word that will convey an emotion like the Hebrew word Shalom ("peace") or Happy Valley.

No gardener wants to be pigeonholed incorrectly for their garden so a name is a very important piece of their identity. If you borrow a name from another garden then people categorise you as boring or uncreative and assume that your garden is the same. If the name is "cheesy" it also says something about the gardener.

If you want to give your garden a name then I would suggest that you ask yourself the following questions;

  1. Is there anything specifically unique about your garden? I don't know of any other garden in Busselton that has a deciduous magnolia tree so that is likely to feature in our name. While in other parts of our country they grow prolifically in Busselton they're a rarity. Find something that only your garden has whether it be location, plant type, colour, garden theme...the list could go on.
  2. Is there a message you want to convey? Do you want to say something to people as they crawl past your garden? "Welcome" is a common theme so is "Shalom" as I mentioned earlier.
  3. Do you want it to be humorous? I love walking past a garden that has a humorous name. It always gives me a warm feeling about the garden and the gardeners as they show the world that they're not too precious about their garden.
  4. Can you borrow it from another garden? If you've travelled the globe you may have come across an obscure garden name that fits your garden while still seeming quite unique. The other benefit of a borrowed name is that it may conjure nostalgic memories of your trip and create great conversations as friends ask how you decided on that one.

Whatever the name you choose make sure you've "worn it for a while" before rushing out to get a personalised sign created to hang in the front yard.






Comments

My husband and I have been toying around with naming our house, which is something that is common in water front property here in the US.

Ours isn't waterfront property though, but I like the idea. It sort of makes your house (or garden) a little more yours.

We lived in England and all the houses had names (no street numbers). My neighbor's house was called "Grass Deep." I loved this name. The funny name was a few streets away on Keepers Lane. They called their house "Finders" (Finders Keepers!).

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