Garden labyrinth - do it yourself! Green maze - a classic of gardening art Hedge maze foe

Probably, every owner of a suburban area seeks to create something original and outstanding on it, something that would distinguish it from neighboring properties. What could it be? The fountain is already throwing transparent drops into a small pond, an alpine slide is hiding between the trees ... Along with these already traditional garden elements, there are others - unusual, mysterious, and therefore extremely attractive. Let us recall at least the medieval garden labyrinths that frame the paths of luxurious palaces and houses of the nobility. Such a labyrinth (albeit of a rather modest size) can be afforded by any connoisseur of beauty, who has his own piece of land at his disposal. How to make a labyrinth in the garden with your own hands, we want to tell you.

Any labyrinth is a complex area with intricate paths, passages leading to a specific goal - the center of the whole composition. Garden labyrinths do not have to be huge, there are also quite small, emphatically simple shapes. In addition, a variety of materials can be used to create them, ranging from traditional hedges to unusual stone paths.

If children are growing up in your family, then be sure that the labyrinth will henceforth become a favorite place for their games - it is so interesting to hide and catch up with each other in it! Well, adults will be able to leisurely walk along the intricate passages, immersed in thoughts and dreams.

Curved lines and contrasting colors give this labyrinth a special charm.

Interlacing passages of any kind will fit perfectly into a regular garden; in a landscape garden, it is best to organize a stone or fantasy labyrinth.

Determining the composition of the maze

Before you start creating a labyrinth, you should decide on its location. The composition of most labyrinths can be viewed in full only from a height, so it’s great if the site has a hill with a gazebo or a two-story house, from the second floor of which you can admire the surrounding beauties. As for the placement of the labyrinth itself, the best place for it would be a site near a recreation area or a playground.

The simplest form of a labyrinth is a twisted spiral, where all the paths meet in the center. It is more difficult to create compositions with dead ends and multiple exits. As an illustrative example, you can take any drawing with a European park labyrinth and, simplifying it a bit, create your own scheme.

When creating a composition, pay attention not only to the interweaving of moves and paving of paths, but also to the central platform - the "heart" of the labyrinth. Here it is desirable to arrange a recreation area, for example, put a cozy pergola or wicker chairs with a table, plants in containers. An interesting flower bed, a sculpture, a small pond with a fountain, a sundial can also become the center.

European labyrinth garden - an example to follow

Consider the most common types of labyrinths in landscape design.

hedge maze garden

The tall hedge maze is undoubtedly the most tempting option, but also the most time-consuming. Shrubs or trees that form passages in such a maze will require constant care and regular shearing. Yes, and the area for such a luxury will require a considerable amount, it is clear that six acres will not work. However, if you have a rather large plot, and there is a desire to maintain the shape of the hedge, then such a labyrinth will certainly become a favorite place for your walks. Surely, not only your children, but also grandchildren will be able to play tag, running along intricate passages, because a hedge planted correctly, with proper care, does not lose its attractiveness for decades.

For a labyrinth from a low hedge, the overall pattern is important

To form a hedge labyrinth, brilliant cotoneaster, common privet, small-leaved elm, evergreen boxwood, and common laurel are suitable. If you don’t want to wait a long time for perennial shrubs to grow, you can create an express option from fast-growing annual plants, for example, broom kochia, which reaches a height of 1 m. It will quickly create a dense green mass and lends itself perfectly to cutting. The only drawback is that such a fence will have to be restored every year anew, so it is only suitable as a temporary option.

Flower maze in the garden

A very popular and different type of labyrinth is flower plantings in the form of a spiral. Flowers for such a flower bed are selected compact, regular shape, with erect stems. Plants should clearly follow the aligned outlines of the labyrinth spiral, so sprawling and prone to growth species are not suitable for these purposes. The tendency to self-seeding is another feature that makes planting in a maze of beautiful cross-sowing plants, such as poppy or escholcia, impossible.

Self-seeding these flowers will quickly turn the clear lines of the maze into a smudge. Better turn your attention to compact annuals or perennials - bush petunia, snapdragon, salvia, coleus, border rose.

It is important that flower beds clearly follow the contour of the labyrinth.

The color scheme of such a labyrinth should be as clear as possible and preferably uniform, otherwise the borders of the flower bed will be visually blurred and not perceived as a whole. If the labyrinth will consist of two interlocking spirals or lines, then in this case it is quite possible to apply two contrasting colors for them.

A labyrinth of flowers can serve as an ordinary flower bed, that is, it can be intended solely for viewing, or it can be a place for walking. In the latter version, paved or gravel paths are laid between the flower ribbons, which also repeat the passages of the labyrinth.

stone labyrinth

Stone labyrinth - creating a magical element

You can make a labyrinth of stone, then it will look like the remains of an ancient magical structure. Just like a flower bed, it can be created only for viewing or it can be a large-scale walking place. The decorative spiral is laid out with small pebbles of the same size or masonry-side. Large boulders or stone walls create a walking version of the labyrinth. If you wish, if you think that the stone maze looks too gloomy, you can "revive" the silent boulders by planting plants between them. If the labyrinth is created from small pebbles, then all kinds of stonecrops, young and other "alpines" will be the best choice for its gardening. A stone wall can be transformed by ampelous or climbing plants, for example, dichondra, ivy, parthenocissus, clematis, honeysuckle, morning glory, kobeya.

Fantasy labyrinth.

This is the most unpredictable version of labyrinths, where clear lines and certain laws of geometry do not triumph. It does not require a pre-planned scheme and the presence of a center, because the stake is on the maximum intricacy of moves, unexpected dead ends, turns and intersections. A walk through such a labyrinth should turn into an entertaining journey when you don’t know what will meet you around the next corner.

Entrance to a fantasy garden-maze - in this, indeed, you can get lost

The fantasy composition is interesting in that it can become not only one limited element of the site, like other options for labyrinths, but occupy the territory of the entire garden along with a recreation area, a playground and paths. The main condition is that all transitions are small, often alternating with turns and loops. Thus, being in a labyrinth, you will not see what awaits you even at a distance of several meters. A similar compositional solution is created using arches, pergolas, trellises with climbing plants.

Bushes and trees, as well as hedges, grow freely here, growing as they please, to hide everything that is a few steps away. Behind every turn of such a labyrinth, you can place something pleasant and unexpected: a comfortable bench, an unusual flower bed or a sculpture.

Having created a labyrinth with your own hands, you will never regret your decision, because this element of landscape design will always attract attention and will certainly become your personal pride. And do not be afraid that the path to this dream can become difficult and confusing. Any labyrinth always has a way out, you just have to try a little and find it!

Hello!
Today I want to tell you about another exhibition in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Crimea. This is green maze, open to the public at any time of the year!

The ticket price is:

But since the labyrinth is located on the territory of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, you will also have to pay for its entrance.

How to get there

If you want to visit the Green Labyrinth, you will have to give up imported excursions and get there on your own. Since the programs do not provide for a stop at this exhibition.

Can be reached by:

• Bus.

Buses 29 and 34 go from Yalta, stopping right in front of the entrance to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden.

• By car.

We drive the address into the navigator: Nikita village, Nikitsky descent 52, and calmly we reach. You can park at the entrance to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden.

The labyrinth is a hedge of tall laurel bushes. Like in the movie Triwizard Tournament with Harry Potter, Only on a smaller scale.

Because the area of ​​the Crimean labyrinth is 1500 sq.m.

At the entrance they give tasks. You need to find a treasure chest, a pool of goldfish, fountains, and of course the exit from the labyrinth. At first, we were skeptical about the labyrinth, thinking that it was purely child's play. Five minutes and we'll find all the rooms and exit the maze.

But no! We strayed there for about thirty minutes, constantly coming to a standstill! Everything is very well done! You need to go into all the tracks and check, even if at first it seems that there is a dead end. Because coming closer, it turns out that there is no dead end there.

On the way there are benches, statues, flowers and trees.

There were several traps. Two of them were poured with water (a little), and two more were frightened by sounds. Not scary, but a couple of times was really very unexpected!

There were also hints.

The inside of the labyrinth is very beautiful!

We found all the rooms.

Swimming pool with goldfish.

If you look closely, you can see a fish.

According to tradition, since the time of Ancient Egypt and Greece, a labyrinth is understood as a piece of terrain with paths, paths that create an intricate pattern and at the same time lead to the central part. A hedge of plants planted in a similar form began to appear in medieval gardens by the middle of the 15th century. Surely all lovers of Jerome K. Jerome remember how his heroes wandered through the labyrinth (by the way, rather big - about 500 m long) located in Hempton Court. It is interesting that although it was created already in 1690, you can still follow in the footsteps of the funny characters from Three in a Boat, not counting the dog.

A hedge in a similar form is not alien to Russian gardens; in the estates of Arkhangelskoye, Kuskovo, Peterhof, alleys of neatly trimmed bushes formed a clear pattern. Over time, hedge compositions became more complex, creating intricate designs. Changeable fashion for some time forgot about labyrinths, but today they have again become an object of interest for landscape designers.

Labyrinth at home

If the size of the site allows, then it is quite possible to create a garden maze, and this idea has many advantages:

• this is an original, unconventional arrangement of the garden;
• a great means of entertainment for home and guests;
• good for children's development.

Labyrinths come in different types, for example, a fantasy or flower garden will become a harmonious part of a landscape garden, almost any option will organically fit into a regular garden. Planting material for creating such a landscape element is not a problem to get, the range of plants on the market is very wide, so you can always choose plants suitable for the planned border or wall height.

The plants that form the hedge determine the size of the composition, you can create a children's mini-version with a diameter of up to 2 meters, or from a diameter of 10-20 m, from which you will not immediately find a way out.

Plants for the labyrinth garden

A small children's labyrinth can be created even from annual plants (curly parsley, marigolds), flower pots, small stones. Well, for a large one they use shrubs. Such shrubs are selected, cutting and pruning of which is not associated with great difficulties, and this is necessary to give the labyrinth a certain shape and regulate the size of its walls.

For a medium-sized decorative composition, plants up to 50 cm high are chosen, for example, you can advise undersized spirea, calyx St. John's wort, boxwood, alpine currant. The listed species grow in the middle lane. If you aim at a large labyrinth, in which even adults get lost for some time, you will have to pick up trees that grow up to 3 m. Designers recommend using wild rose, Thunberg barberry, hornbeam, mahonia, Tatar maple, yew for this purpose. The boxwood already mentioned above is also suitable, you can still take hawthorn, irga, medium forsythia.

It is worth trying and choosing combinations of shrub species in such a way that their flowering periods do not coincide, then your garden maze will be in bloom for most of the year.

The traditional form of the composition is a circle, but it is quite acceptable to arrange a labyrinth garden in the form of a square, a triangle, or in the form of letters - the initials of a person. You can come up with a lot of interesting options, connect your children to this so that they also participate in the process. A simple circuit includes an entrance, a couple of turns, an exit. Among the simple forms, one can name a spiral in which all the paths close in the center. You can choose a through scheme without a pronounced center, and if it is, then place a fountain or a cozy gazebo in it, or even a pond or patio.

labyrinth shapes

In addition to the aesthetic value, the labyrinth is an excellent means for spending leisure time, arranging all kinds of competitions, competitions, which will be especially attractive for children. In dead ends for children, parents can make a cache with prizes, phantoms. And adult participants will have a chance to find here a volume of poetry, a glass of cognac, a guitar, etc. In general, with the desire and some creativity, the labyrinth can be turned into a great place for entertainment.

Choosing a place for composition

You can only look at the labyrinth from above, so it is advisable to arrange it next to a hill from which it will be possible to enjoy its view from above. The second floor of the house can also become a viewing point. Usually the labyrinth is located in a recreation area, not far from the playground, as for children it has an attractive power and becomes a favorite place for their games.

Geographically, this element of the landscape can also be arranged between the house and the garden, vegetable garden. However, we advise you to provide a shorter bypass track with an interesting surface.

hedge garden maze

In landscape design, several types of labyrinth are distinguished according to the main "building material". A hedge up to 3 meters high is an ideal material. But remember that the external beauty of such a labyrinth is associated with the need to devote a fair amount of time and effort to maintaining trees in the proper form, including cutting and cutting branches. Of course, this option requires a fairly large area, but if you can afford it, you will get a wonderful place to walk, and your children to play.

The hedge maze is durable (with good care, of course). You can quickly create one by planting annuals, for example, broom kochia, which reaches 1 meter, is overgrown with dense foliage and is well shaped. Naturally, next year you will have to plant plants again or still start building a composition from perennial shrubs.

flower maze

This is a very original organization of the flower garden, the flowers in this case are usually planted in a spiral. Compact flowers with straight stems and regular shape are best suited. Since the flower labyrinth is low and can be seen without problems, its shape must be aesthetic. Therefore, too spreading flowers will have to be abandoned, as well as those that are prone to self-sowing (poppy, escholcia). Due to self-seeding, the composition runs the risk of quickly losing its originally conceived shape, the contours will be smeared and the drawing will lose its aesthetics.

Good options for decoration are snapdragon, border rose, spray petunia.

To obtain an aesthetic appearance, it is necessary to observe a uniform range of shades and strictness in contours so that the borders of the flower beds are not smeared. It is possible to arrange a labyrinth not from one, but from two spirals or lines, which will close in a certain place. In this, plants of two contrasting colors can be planted.

The labyrinth can become an original flower bed, from the contemplation of which one can always get aesthetic. But the flower design can be adapted for walking. In this case, paved or gravel paths are laid between the ribbons of flowers, repeating the labyrinth passages.

stone labyrinth

The composition of stones, reminiscent of the ruins of once majestic religious buildings, also has its own charm. The plan is the same - a spiral along which small stones of approximately equal size are laid out. This option is intended, rather, for contemplation, stone walls are erected for walking or using large blocks. Plants can bring some revival to the gray, somewhat gloomy tone of the stones.

Creepers, ampelous species (ivy, morning glory, clematis, etc.) will look interesting on the stone walls, and you can plant young in a labyrinth of small stones.

fantasy composition

This type is closest to the original essence of the labyrinth - structures with extremely intricate paths along which you can wander for a very long time in search of the right path. In the fantasy labyrinth, the center is not accentuated, it simply does not exist, but in abundance there are numerous paths ending in a dead end, many turns and intersections similar to each other. When you enter one, you willy-nilly begin to feel like an adventurer.

A fantasy composition can cover the entire garden along with a recreation area, a playground for children and other paths. You just need to make the transitions short and often alternate them with turns, loops. Then in the field of view there will be only a couple of meters. This effect of confusion is achieved through the use of pergolas, climbing plants on trellises, arches.

Stone labyrinth in the garden (video)

In the fantasy composition, all plants are allowed to develop almost without restrictions, so that you can walk a stone's throw from a person and not notice him behind a dense green veil.

A walk through the labyrinth will be especially pleasant if a beautiful bench, an elegant flower bed or an original sculpture awaits the traveler around the corner.

Garden labyrinths (20 photos)

Reviews and comments

Probably, everyone remembers from childhood how the heroes of Jerome Clapk Jerome wandered through the green labyrinth of Hampton Court. Everyone also remembers the wonderful myth about the frightening Cretan labyrinth of the Minotaur and the saving thread of Ariadne in love. For many centuries, people built various labyrinths - first for sacred, and then for artistic purposes.

Labyrinth - a section with specially tangled passages between cut dense greens (for example,% 20 hornbeam, lindens) inside the park. That's what the encyclopedia says. The Dictionary of Symbols states that the labyrinth is a metaphor for man's journey from birth to death. From a technical point of view, a labyrinth is a complex system of paths and passages leading to a certain goal - the center of the labyrinth.

The very first depictions of labyrinths have been found in rock art around the world. Our ancestors believed that in this way you can "confuse" evil spirits and protect your home. However, even today Feng Shui experts assure that a properly made labyrinth is able to direct energy flows and perform the function of a kind of amulet. Moreover, it does not matter at all how large and intricate the labyrinth is and what materials it is made of - the main thing is only the correctly chosen drawing.

In European landscape art of the late Middle Ages, hedge labyrinths became a traditional element of palace gardens and park complexes; walking through such labyrinths was a favorite pastime of the aristocracy.

Labyrinths are still a widely used landscape design element today. At the same time, labyrinths can be large and small, simple and complex, made of a variety of materials - flowers, stone, paths, etc. The labyrinth is a real "magnet" for children - because it is so exciting to play tag and hide in it! And adults like to walk slowly through the labyrinths, immersed in their thoughts.

As a simple temporary option, you can also form a sheared labyrinth from annual plants - for example, broom kochia (up to 1 meter high), which creates a dense green mass and lends itself perfectly to shaping and cutting.

A much simpler and less space-consuming option is a labyrinth of flowers. Flowers for the labyrinth-bed should be selected not sprawling, compact, evenly shaped - with erect stems or spherical bushes, not prone to self-sowing, so that the outlines of the labyrinth are not smeared and it does not turn into a simple blurry spot. For example, actively crossing poppies and escholcia are categorically not suitable for these purposes. But any annual or perennial border flowers are perfect - for example, dwarf snapdragon, sparkling salvia, coleus, border rose, etc.

The color scheme should be fairly uniform - otherwise the outlines will also be visually blurred. If your labyrinth consists, for example, of two interlocking spirals or several lines, you can make them contrast with each other.

The flower labyrinth can be just a flower bed (a compact version intended only for viewing) or a place for walking, where garden paths are laid between the flower ribbons - in this case, the winding paths will also repeat all the forms of the labyrinth.

An interesting variant is the "disappearing" labyrinth on the lawn, which appears only in spring and is renewed annually. Such a labyrinth is made from bulbous flowers that do not require annual digging - daffodils, botanical tulips, hazel grouses.

In order to make such a labyrinth, we need a sufficient number of flower bulbs, a long rope and, of course, several meters of lawn. The laying of the flower bed is carried out in early autumn. With the help of a rope, we lay a drawing of the future labyrinth on the lawn. We cut and remove rectangular pieces of lawn turf along the contour so that a landing area is formed about two bulbs deep. The width of the flower ribbon is about half a meter (may be less depending on the total area of ​​the labyrinth). Then we plant the bulbs (preferably quite densely) and again cover them with the removed turf. Ready! You will see the outlines of the labyrinth in the spring, when shoots of bulbous plants appear. In the summer, the labyrinth will disappear from the lawn, but will again remind of itself next spring.

stone labyrinth

An interesting version of the landscape composition is a labyrinth made of stone. Like a flower labyrinth, it can be a small (for review) or large-scale (“walking”) composition.

It is desirable to select stones that are large enough, if possible, more or less the same size, shape and color. You can simply lay the stones in a chain along the contour in one row, or form a low masonry-side. Such a composition, by the way, will serve as a decoration for the garden not only in the spring and summer, but also in winter: the outlines of the labyrinth under the snow look extremely impressive.

And, of course, a huge advantage of a stone labyrinth over most other types - after construction, it will require practically no maintenance from you in the future.

You can revive a stone labyrinth with vegetation: place small alpine plants here and there, juveniles, etc. Stonework can even be turned into a "flowering wall" by planting plants with hanging stems between the stones.

fantasy maze

The most unpredictable of labyrinths is the fantasy labyrinth: there are no laws here, and the only limitation is the limits of your imagination! Unlike traditional labyrinths-amulets and labyrinths-symbols, such a labyrinth may not have any pre-planned pattern, clear outlines and a single goal - the center. The main thing here is the intricacy of the paths, the unexpectedness of turns and intersections, where you never know what awaits you around the corner. You can turn the whole garden into such a labyrinth along with a playground, a recreation area and approaches to the house. The idea is that the transition paths should be small, with frequent turns and even "loops" - so that in each individual section you can not see what is hiding a few meters away. This can be achieved through arches, pergolas, tall plants along the paths. The hedges here are not cut, they are allowed to grow freely and hide everything that is further than a few steps away. A small surprise can await at every turn: a bench for rest, an arbor, an elegant sculpture, an original flower bed, a new landscape composition.

A continuation of such a labyrinth can even become ... a vegetable garden. Here, along the paths, pergolas with curly beans and decorative pumpkins and cabbage borders can line up. And vegetable beds can be made in the form of twisted spirals to emphasize belonging to the labyrinth and this part of your possessions.

Whichever labyrinth you choose, you are unlikely to ever regret your decision. A labyrinth is an element of landscape design that always attracts attention, looks spectacular and can become a real pride for the site owner. And don't let the complexity of the path to your dream scare you! There is always a way out of any labyrinth...

One of the most memorable scenes in Three Men in a Boat, not counting the dog, is the scene in which the main characters enter the labyrinth. In our review, we will talk about the most unusual and beautiful hedge mazes around the world.

Longleat (Longleat, Wiltshire, England)

With over 16,000 English yews, Longleat's hedge maze is one of the longest in the world. The length of its corridors is about 2.7 kilometers, and the total area of ​​the labyrinth is 0.6 hectares. Since the 16th century, this territory has belonged to the Marquesses of Bath, who in 1975 allocated part of the territory of their estate for a huge hedge maze. Later, the first safari park outside of Africa and three smaller maze gardens were built on the estate.

Masone (Parma, Italy)

The largest labyrinth in the world is Masone, which was built in an Italian city famous for its parmesan cheese. Curiously, the labyrinth was created as a result of a dispute between Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci and writer Jorge Luis Borges. When Ricci announced that he wanted to build the world's largest labyrinth, Borges replied that it was impossible.

The star labyrinth, which opened in May 2015, was built using 200,000 bamboo plants and spans a whopping 8 hectares. Seventy-year-old Ricci used fast-growing bamboo instead of traditional trees and shrubs to see the finished maze before he died.

Andrássy Castle (Tysadob, Hungary)

Located along the Tisza River near the Hungarian-Slovak border, the boxwood and yew hedge maze at Andrássy Castle was supposed to resemble a huge squid from above. The castle itself was built in the 19th century for Count Andrássy.

Pineapple Maze (Wahiawa, Hawaii)

This permanent hedge maze, which was the largest in the world before Masone was built, is located on Hawaii's Dole Pineapple Plantation. It is made up of 14,000 pineapple bushes that are fragrant throughout the four-kilometer path through the labyrinth.

It is often said that, despite its small size, the labyrinth in the territory of Villa Pisani is the most difficult in the world. Guides like to tell that in 1807, walking along the winding paths of the labyrinth, Napoleon got lost in it. It is not known whether it is a bike or not, but the labyrinth built in 1720 by a wealthy doge near his villa is one of the most beautiful in the world.

Every year, a so-called corn maze is created on a 13-hectare corn field. Moreover, its design changes every year - for example, in 2013, the labyrinth looked like a portrait of the Beatles from above, in 2014 - like the US flag, and in 2015, the design of the labyrinth is dedicated to the victory of the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL.

The 1 hectare Peace Labyrinth was planted in 2000 to celebrate the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (an agreement to settle the political conflict in Northern Ireland). It consists of two parts, and in order to complete the maze, you need to cross both. There is a tradition: the one who has reached the center of the labyrinth rings the Peace Bell located there.

More than a thousand Monterey cypress trees were used to build one of the oldest plant labyrinths in the Southern Hemisphere. Since the 1970s, cypresses have been carefully sheared twice a year, with each shearing session lasting a full month. Visitors need to go through two halves of the labyrinth, each with its own unique design. And next to the cypress labyrinth is another labyrinth, which was created from more than 4,000 lavender bushes.

By order of King William III in 1700, the oldest hedge maze in Great Britain was built near Hampton Court Palace. Initially, it was made from hornbeam, but then the trees were replaced with holly and yew. The Hampton Court maze is known as one of the most difficult in the world.