When you step inside some gardens, you feel as if you’ve been transported to another world. Sue Bath’s garden is one such place, full of the most magical and specially curated items that she has spent years gathering and repurposing from found and salvaged materials. Today, she shares not only her garden with us, but her secret tips and tricks for sourcing materials.
Sue Bath’s garden is one of the many featured in The Wild & Free Garden. Her garden feels incredibly special, in a class of itself, and it all comes down to her personal style and hard work repurposing found materials.
Sue spends $0 to decorate her garden, sourcing everything she can for free. Her style is very shabby chic, but everything is very considered. You’ll see mirrors, picture frames, an armchair full of moss and plants, fountains all over the place, and of course, a bathtub to honour her last name.
What has become one of her most signature garden pieces is her chandeliers. She has over 80 of them hanging in her garden, creating such an elegant and whimsical feel.
Touring and photographing Sue’s garden was such a joy, and I knew I wanted to share as much of it as possible with you. Sue was kind enough to answer some questions and allow me to pick her brain, so you could rethink using interesting items in the garden.
Let’s begin my conversation with Sue.
How would you define your gardening style?
If I had to pick a word to describe my garden, it would be whimsical. Colourful is a solid runner-up. It has the feel of an English cottage garden as it is packed with flowers from ground cover to the treetops.
I have created many rooms to decorate with plantings, found treasures, and art pieces. It’s a garden of vignettes. As shown by the 80-plus chandeliers that drape from the trees, I believe the garden can showcase more than just plants.
All the chandeliers are painted the same semi-gloss white so that there is a feeling of purpose rather than just a collection of things found on the side of the road. To provide nighttime magic in the garden, I use individual solar lights in the chandeliers.
I am also very sentimental. I treasure the gifts of plants, artworks, and chandeliers that have come my way from friends, family, and passersby. Each one is a beautiful reminder of the people who brought them.
My garden has a name that came about in a unique way. A large rose grower gave me a gift certificate. While there were hundreds of beautiful roses, one really spoke to me. At home, I planted it at the front gate and looked at the tag. The rose was called “Once Upon a Time.” I thought the universe just named my garden.
How has your gardening style evolved?
Over time, I evolved from a garden full of anything I could get my hands on for free to a colour-coordinated, intentional space.
As my garden aged, I was able to divide my favourite perennials and use them to replace my not-so-loved freebies. This way, there were repeating patterns of flowers and colours, which gave the garden a more intentional look.
Later, I also realized that not everything I planted needed to flower. Adding beautiful ferns and hostas provides a rest for the eyes and allows the flowering plants to shine.
Another design evolution was to stick to one type of pot per area, so it had a more cohesive grown-up look. I have so much stuff in the garden that I have really kept the colours to black, white, and concrete. It cuts down on the noise.
One of your favourite materials is urbanite. Why did you start working with the material?
Glorious urbanite! It is a completely free resource and has such a big impact on my yard. My garden style is English garden, and one of the main features of the style is flagstone. I had enough of a budget to do one walkway of flagstone, but I dreamt of many more patios and walkways.
Wishful thinking on my part!
One day, I went to pick up soil from my local supplier, and I saw a guy unloading a bunch of broken concrete slabs into a stall. I asked about it and found out it was free for the taking. I couldn’t believe it. The answer to my prayers! My flagstone prayers anyway.
Your garden is very visible to people passing by in the neighbourhood. What reactions do you typically see from your community? Has your garden helped to build community in the neighbourhood?
Through my garden, I have gotten to know my neighbours. I live on quite a busy street, and I purposely put in a picket fence so I could share my garden with passersby. An avid walker myself, I really appreciate those who opt out of a privacy fence to share their view.
I don’t have a gate at the entrance to my garden because all are welcome to come and have a look. As a matter of fact, if I see people on the outside of the fence peeking in, I drop my trowel, invite them in, and give them a tour. I find delight in seeing people appreciate the whimsy.
The garden also becomes my canvas for a unique Halloween installation. It takes me a month to install, as I have made all the props myself out of, you guessed it, repurposed materials.
Every opportunity I have, I start a conversation about making something out of found objects rather than just buying plastic décor. Halloween is a great opportunity to reach them when they are young!
The neighbourhood really appreciates this effort and is quite comfortable coming in and chatting for the month of October as I set up the displays.
At Christmas, I do an elegant display. I adorn the willow with large baubles in crystal, turquoise, and silver, and the chandeliers with large crystal-like snowflakes. I also set up a forest with Christmas trees and reindeer. It’s downright breathtaking when it snows.
I have been living here for 30 years and have had the pleasure of meeting the old timers, or rather, the first timers of this neighbourhood. Many were avid gardeners and taught me a lot of what I now know about gardening. They’re all gone now, and so have their houses, but rest assured, I have a few plants from each in my garden to remind me of them.
Where do you source materials to decorate your garden with? What tips would you give to a gardener looking to stylize their garden with little to no budget?
Here’s a list of where I source my materials:
1. The side of the road. It is truly amazing what people put out on the street. I can’t tell you how many chandeliers I have acquired from this method.
2. Facebook has local “Buy Nothing,” “Free,” and “Gifting” groups. They are an invaluable resource for just about anything. Almost all the rocks in my garden have been sourced from this method. Facebook Marketplace also has a free section, which I have found useful when searching for garden treasures. I also look for local garden groups on Facebook, whose members often offer up free plants when they are dividing their perennials. I have actually made some lovely acquaintances from my interactions in my local group.
3. Garage and Estate sales can be a surprising source of garden treasures. It never hurts to ask if some of the plants outside are available. I scored a gorgeous, large concrete bird bath just because I asked if any of the garden pots and plants were up for sale. There was no charge for that birdbath because they considered it too large and heavy to move. I am blessed to have a son who is quite strong and who owns a truck.
4. Thrift Stores, especially the ones that don’t sell clothes and are more repurposed stores, are a gold mine.
5. This is an odd one, but if there is a house being demolished in your area, you can ask if you can dig up plants (I must confess, sometimes I don’t ask. I just go there at dusk and rescue what I can). On one memorable occasion, there was a home that was being demolished, with everything inside being thrown into a skiff. I spoke with the demolition manager, and he permitted me to salvage whatever I could.
What I recovered from that house was nothing short of amazing. French doors, a massive 100-year-old mirror, four chandeliers, velvet drapes, and an entire wrought iron patio set. I also dismantled the back porch, which was rimmed with 27 concrete balusters. I even found the mould to make more balusters in the basement. I called a few of the garden club members, and we dug out the entire garden. It was a phenomenal haul. I also felt so good about rescuing that garden and all the beautiful things that were just going to be thrown in the dump. What a waste.
6. Often, the places that sell soil, sand, pavers, and stone will have a dump stall where contractors deposit broken concrete. This is my source for urbanite.
7. In my neighbourhood, there are a lot of individuals who have little seed and plant libraries on their properties. It’s a great resource for seeds and small plants. I often drop off my perennial divisions there as well. Many libraries also have seed offerings.
A BIG thank you to Sue Bath for taking the time to share her garden and expertise with us. There are so many amazing tidbits in here that I hope you can use to start rethinking found and repurposed items in your garden.
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A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
