What would you want to see in a grotto?
What beautiful plants do you imagine surrounding Mary?
We may have the opportunity to makeover this grotto area?
Looking for inspiration and vision for it. Right now it has a bunch of Yews, that are way overgrown( as seen on the right hand side ) which pretty much block the view of Our Lady. Someone also let the Ivy grow way out of control, and it has taken over a lot of the rock.
The pavers leading up to Our Lady will likely stay.
I feel she needs a bench to sit on, kneeler, or both.
It is in deep shade.. flanked by stately Maples and Pines.
Would love for you to leave links to your favorite grotto's in the comments.
Wisteria and climbing roses?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds lovely.
DeleteI don't have a lot of experience with grottos but my college campus had one and I loved the bench. I would often stop off and pray the rosary.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a bench !!
DeleteI agree with Madeline, definitely a bench would be lovely. It would provide an invitation to stop and spend some time there.
ReplyDeleteAre the yews coming completely out or being trimmed back? I think I'd have some sort of evergreen as a background and all year color.
Since it's shady, azaleas would do nicely for some Spring color and give you some year long greenery.
Also, have you looked and sites about Mary Gardens? There are many plants that have Marian meanings. A couple of good sites are:
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/m_garden/marygardensmain.html (look for the link 'Mariana I' in the middle of the page for a list of flowers and their meanings)
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/May2000/feature2.asp
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/cw/post.php?id=502
I can't wait to see what you come up with!
The yews are overgrown, beyond trimming. I will check out the Mary gardens. Right now it's trying to figure out how much they can spend ( or they can get a donor to pay for )
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