How to Design a Mary Garden

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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Design a Mary garden and continue a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages. You'll want to consider choosing plants for their symbolism as well as bloom color, season and leaf shape. Leave space for a statue of Mary or Mary and Jesus as a focal point in the midst of your historical garden design.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Select a sunny site for the garden since most of the plants associated with Mary are flowering plants that require sun. Measure the site to calculate the number of plants you'll need to fill the space. If you're short of space, you can design a miniature Mary garden in a container.

Step2

Locate an outdoor Mary statue (see Resources below) or wall plaque and place it carefully as the center of the Mary garden. Add small animal statues if space permits. Encircle the garden with doves, rabbits and lambs, facing the large statue of Mary.

Step3

Review the list of plants associated with Mary on the Mary Gardens website (see Resources below). Note the plants that grow well in your area.

Step4

Decide if you want plants that bloom most of the year or during particular months, such as May, the month especially dedicated to Mary. Limit a small garden to a particular season, such as spring or summer. A larger garden can provide blooms throughout the year.

Step5

Select an evergreen plant, such as rosemary (Mary's Nosegay) and ivy (Where God Has Walked), to repeat in the garden design. Use the evergreen plant in odd-numbered groups of three, five, seven or nine to form the backbone of a large garden. This repetition provides a strong design element and continuity to the garden whether the other plants are blooming.

Step6

Choose the remaining plants from the plant list based upon their blooming season, height, size and name. You'll be intrigued by certain names, such as Lady's Veil, Mary's Crown, Mary's Gold, Our Lady's Shoes, St. Joseph's Staff, Infant Jesus' Shoes, Where God Has Walked and Trinity Flower.