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The Circle of Thyme Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi
A Rustic and Twiggy Garden Structure
Building rustic garden structures out of twigs is a lot of fun; although short lived, the process of constructing a gazebo out of branches is a great weekend project.
We started this twiggy gazebo after deciding that we wouldn't build a woodshed, after pouring the footings for one. That's just the way we roll...
We had a few larch poles, and the foundation was already there.
Originally, Mike had poured some small footings.
Each footing had a piece of rebar in the middle of it before the cement dried, so the poles, with a hole drilled in the bottom of each one, fit over the rebar.
Diagonal bracing usually gives more strength to a structure, so that's what we did here. Each brace was cut with the ends on a 45 degree angle, to keep the whole thing straight.
Finished; Miller Time! A few furnishings and places to sit, and other decorations make it complete.
Eventually, we found a Papa San chair that made the perfect dome shape to keep the clematis vines from dangling down too far.
Of course, there were handy bits sticking out to put hanging baskets on, or even wind chimes.
My favorite blue clematis quickly took over - it takes center stage in June.
We had a lot of fun building the Chapel, and used it as a backdrop for many family pictures, and as a peaceful stop along the garden tour.
Sadly, the snows of the winter of 2012 were too much for the sticks on the top, and it succumbed to gravity.
One day, there will be a new replacement; for now, it's got the diy patio pavers that we built another time; that's a whole other story...
Update: there is now a replacement gazebo, built with poles and much heavier timbers to hold the weight of the snow. See more about it here.
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