A Stone Soup Garden

The two concepts of “stone soup” and “creativity from without” are related to one another in that artists/designers create and design not through ideas that were predetermined but instead; through influences from their surroundings. Both concepts are analyzed and shown through the evolution of what I will refer to as a “stone soup garden” created and designed by Bee W. (Real name not provided)

Bee is something I would call an environmentally responsible landscape designer; one who utilizes local materials that others would otherwise discard into landfills. Upon looking at Bee’s “stone soup garden” and further discussion of how this garden came to be, I quickly figure out that most of the materials are recycled goods. While the artist Andy Goldsworthy creates works of art through the influence of nature, Bee creates and transforms her garden with the influence of her neighborhood.

When this garden first started out, Bee confessed to me that her initial intention was to have a typical suburban garden designed like those of the 70s, but it slowly transformed into a garden meant to attract wildlife (i.e. birds, bees, etc…) One of the biggest impacts that led to the creation of this environmentally friendly garden was the acquisition of free mulch from an arborist.

If one were to take a walk around her garden, they would be able to find mulch everywhere- the front yard, the side yard, the back side yard, and of course the back yard. The mulch has since served three main purposes:

1. It reduces weeds without the use of chemicals

2. It decreases the need for watering because it retains moisture

3. It creates compost, resulting in improved soil.

In addition to the mulch, many other parts of Bee’s “stone soup garden” were the inspired and influenced by the resources surrounding her. Since Bee had been given more mulch than expected, she further expanded her garden by building an urbanite wall surrounding the mulch. This wall was created as a result of a local resident removing his patio and giving away the concrete. Though the pieces of concrete were not idea, Bee effectively created a wall with the pieces by spending hours chiseling the concrete pieces into the desired size.

Many garden designers do not utilize the concept “creativity from without” as recently, garden pathways are built from fancy materials specially ordered and made for that purpose. Bee was able to create a tasteful walkway from pavement pieces.

There are many more areas of Bee’s “stone soup garden” that are influenced from materials locally. There are many designers who create stone soup projects with not really any purpose of meaning to it however, Bee was able to create a stone soup garden that not only has a purpose- be environmentally friendly- but the garden can actually create soup as well! Her garden yields many fruits and vegetables including corn, squash, tomatoes, figs, basil, mint, lemons and much more. This stone soup garden is one that is a unique design all on its own that gives back to the environment and society.

All Photography is by yours truly.