Mirrors in the Garden

[spindrift]

I have found a half-size gothic French 'industrial window' with mirror glass inserted where ordinary glass used to be. I think it would look wonderful on a wall in my little garden. It is made of metal which is nicely rusted or 'distressed'. The glass is set into leaded-light frames within the window.
Unfortunately it is priced at £365 and out of my reach at the moment.

I am wondering whether anyone thinks it's a good idea to have a mirror in the garden or whether it might be bad taste and 'de trop?

Any answers would be appreciated.

[bixaorellana]

It sounds marvelous, Spindrift!

There is nothing more personal than ones garden. If artists look over their shoulders for public approval before creating art, it ceases to be art.

[Deleted]

I've seen them used in the most artful,aesthetic of ways Spindrift,and, in the tackiest imaginable. It really is a personal aesthetic to begin with,as Bixa says.
Having seen your garden in the beautiful pics you shared,I can easily see it woven in. I don't know that I would feature it prominently,but,rather,have it be more of an understatement to an already aesthetically pleasing space.
Here's a pic from the garden at Madoo and how Robert Dash has one placed. The cool thing about it is one just kind of haps upon it. How it's framed by the clematis...it's brilliant.

[spindrift]

The mirror I have described seems somewhat ornate...I'll try and take a pic of it in the shop. It's large too. It's width is 95cm and height is 67cm.....

thank you.

[auntieannie]

I spent a lovely afternoon in a magical garden yesterday, and it had mirrors. One of the mirrors was encased in one of those gothic pointy forged iron window shapes.
It was a plastic mirror and the strong breeze that started later that evening showed me this was a good solution, unless you want broken mirror pieces all over the place after some stormy weather.

What I mean by that is that you may want to ensure the mirror is protected from the elements.

[auntieannie]

On a more practical point, mirrors are excellent at redirecting light/sunshine towards plants that need it.

[spindrift]

Annie, thanks... The mirror I like seems similar to the one you saw yesterday.
I am worried about where to place it in my garden. The wall I'm thinking of would be ideal for reflecting light into a dark corner. That's a good idea.
I could have my climbing hydraenga growing around it.

[happytraveller]

Jun 6, 2010 10:30:12 GMT auntieannie said:

On a more practical point, mirrors are excellent at redirecting light/sunshine towards plants that need it.

I agree with that, and they also make places appear bigger, I could imagine a mirror in the garden would look realy cool !

[Deleted]

Definitely in the darkest corner, or else in a place where the sun will reflect into the darkest corner. I think that an old blemished mirror would look best in a garden. A perfect mirror would look out of place.

[spindrift]

This is the area where I have thought of putting the gothic mirror.

Would it look too crowded in the small space? The mirror measures 93cm x 67cm...

[bixaorellana]

For the metrically challenged (me):

93 cms = 36.6 inches

67 cms = 26.3 inches

The space you show seems too small to me. Also, I'm confused about the picture. In your thread How I Designed my Paved Garden, you show what appears to be the same door in pic #3. However, the wall shown above seems to be on the opposite side of the door in the Paved Garden thread. Am I thoroughly confused?

Looking at your thread, My Paved Garden - One year growing, to my mind the logical place for something reflective would be the farthest point left, over the back of the wooden bench, or perhaps over its left arm. For the mirror you describe, perhaps the wall of the shed facing the house might work.

But really and truly, I think any mirror in your particular garden would be an extraneous and forced element. The garden is already beautifully designed for the space available.

[spindrift]

Having looked at the picture in 'How I designed my paved garden'...I see what you mean. There is an optical illusion at play.
There is the french door on the left and immediately to the right there is an add-on to the building that comes out about 7ft into the garden and in which there is the utility room with the rectangular white-framed window in the wall. So in photo 3 you cannot actually see the piece of red-brick wall on which I was thinking of putting the mirror because it faces sideways.

But you are right. My garden is small and I suspect it wouldn't benefit from a mirror addition.
And, of course, the garden light would be too close for comfort and spoil the effect.

The shed is cheap and lightly-made and wouldn't hold up the heavy cast-iron mirror and I doubt that it's wide enough. I'll check.
Thanks for your comments, Bixa.