Stumpery

This afternoon, I curled up in my blanket and watched a video that provided a quick tour of the Highgrove Stumpery at  Prince Charles home, in Gloucestershire. 

I probably should have prefaced this by saying that I often hike in woodlands and I'm always intrigued by the beauty of gnarled tree roots such as the photo I took above. Here you'll see the stump has been uprooted and there are signs of decay. Autumn leaves in shades of yellow and browns have fallen into the roots crevices. We often see dead trees along the highway, such as this one that sits along the Maumee River, in Ohio. For me, dead wood and a natural setting is a fairytale atmosphere

Stumperies were extremely popular in the Victorian age. In 1856, at Biddulph Grange, Staffordshire, England a highly popular stumpery was built. Stumperies are often freely adorned with  ferns, mosses and lichens.  Ferns were an obsessions with Victorian gardeners. I purchase ferns every spring. 

Years ago, we had a small stumpery by our garden pond. Stumperies are generally made of tree stumps but can also be made of driftwood and pieces of bark. Anyway, we loved it! But we dismantled it when we dug in our new pond.

I believe this year, I will create a stumpery at the hump garden as it receives the most shade on our property. I'll use many small pieces as I find them to be easier to arrange and re-arrange. 

There are many things that grow well around tree bark such as ferns, hosta, mosses, lichens, bulbs and  fungi- like  this brightly colored collection I spotted near Adena Mound, here in Ohio. While it's quite striking in this natural habitat, I would't care to have it in my garden. Instead, our stumpery, will likely have lilies in the background and ferns interspersed. 

The snow is quickly falling and they've extended our Winter Storm Warning so I have time to plan a fairytale garden design.