Secret gardens are some of the most magical spaces. Find a small corner or space tucked away in your yard and turn it into your own personal sanctuary. Take a tour through some secret gardens to find inspiration and learn some tips about creating your own along the way.
Have you been lucky enough to visit a secret garden? As you walk along a pathway, through an ornate gate, or under a rose-covered arbour, you arrive at a welcoming spot, perhaps with a water feature or a bench, to sit and enjoy a small space that is usually beyond view.
It draws you in.
As you turn a corner or open a door, you are met with the answer to the mystery. A garden space that seems to be created just for you.
A secret garden.
Canuck Place
I became interested in the idea of secret gardens after touring the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice gardens and seeing the secluded and unique places that have been designed around the grounds for families and children.
Canuck Place is a truly moving place, filled with beauty and love for the most unimaginably difficult times a family could ever go through. The gardeners work hard to create a secret garden—or a collection of them throughout the larger garden—as a place of joy and tranquillity.
What struck me on my tour of the gardens was the small spaces; the hidden benches and covered arbours that invited you in, like a friendly hug. The volunteers work many hours to create such spaces throughout the garden so they can touch the lives of those who need it.
Secret Gardens Are Everywhere
After my tour of Canuck Place, I began to notice the secret gardens that were tucked in residential houses on garden tours, public spaces, and within botanical or public gardens.
From doors that open to an outdoor living space to quirky benches built into a hidden corner, a secret garden is unexpected, inviting, and quaint.
Each one that I have seen is completely unique, yet the common thread to all of them is that they are fiercely personal.
Modern concrete surrounded by wild-looking grasses is in great contrast to a front yard running riverbed.
My First Secret Garden
When I was in my first home and recovering from a debilitating illness, I created a space that I could use to sit out and enjoy the garden during those periods where I barely had the strength to sit upright. The backyard garden was my therapy space, where I would garden to strengthen my body and my mind. Some days I could only work for a few minutes, but just being out in the garden was healing.
I found a hammock chair and hung it up under the small deck. There was just enough room to tuck the chair in, and it was a perfectly cool and shady spot to watch the pollinators buzz and the flowers blow in the wind.
The ground below was covered in river stones and engraved rocks with words like “love” and “smile” set randomly throughout. It may not have been the most elaborate space, but I spent many hours healing in that space, and I’m so very grateful for it.
Time, Again, to Create a Secret Garden
When I moved, my hammock chair came with me, installed under an arbour in a prominent spot in the backyard. I spent many summer days cuddling with my son, and many more of them spinning him and his friends around in it. The hammock took on a brand new life.
I missed that secret place under the deck, a quiet but lively space, where the garden can be watched and enjoyed, which inspired me to once again create a secret garden, this time in the front-yard shade garden.
The garden centred around a spillway fountain and river rock bed under a large Pacific dogwood and backed by a Lace-leaf weeping Japanese maple. Even though I have studied these spaces often, I was still surprised by how much pleasure they provided.
It was a secret but not isolated—the garden welcomed family and friends to sit, talk, read, or just watch the wildlife.
The front yard was my favourite garden on the property. It had a fabulous structure and some beautiful mature plants.
When you walked along the sidewalk in front of the house, you would find a blooming hydrangea, draping Japanese maple, and colourful shade garden plants like ferns, Hellebores, and Heucheras.
Only a few people noticed the trickling sound and curiously peeked around the corner. The secret garden wasn’t much of a secret; it just felt like one. It was only a few feet from the public sidewalk, and passersby could hear the fountain bubbling as they approached the front steps.
Friends and neighbours (and the occasional off-leash, water-loving canine) would be down the stairs by the sound, see the fountain, and be welcomed onto the bench to sit and enjoy the space. Very much like a friendly hug.
Tips to Create Your Own Secret Garden
I enjoyed that garden for a decade before it was time to move again. I’m currently shaping my new space, and I have a feeling a new secret garden will take shape.
If you want to create your own, here’s what I recommend:
- Mark it with a special entrance. This can be something as enchanting as a moon gate or a clematis-covered arbour, or as simple as my pathway in front of a bench. Something that draws you to the space.
- Add a water feature. This can be a small fountain, bird bath, or even a wildlife pond. Water brings tranquillity, thanks to its soothing repetitive sound and reflective qualities.
- Include a sitting area. You want somewhere to sit to enjoy your secret garden. It’s a place of relaxation and is intended for you to rest.
- Appeal to the senses. Add fragrant flowers and herbs to smell, a windchime to listen to, soft plants to touch, and interesting foliage to look at. This will all help to ground you in the space.
- Personalize it. All secret gardens are deeply personal and very much reflect the gardener who created them. Add the plants you love, hang garden art, and make it a place just for you.
More Gardens to Inspire You
A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
