Last year I completed the grotto for our Mary statue, and I think it was one of my most favorite creative projects.
We ended up putting Mary on our patio, and painted the furniture and a wall to match the colors of her grotto (thank you nesting instincts for such wonderful productivity!), and planted flowers in pots all around her feet.
It’s my favorite spot in our yard, though I think it’s about to have some competition.
Gianna has been wanting to create a grotto of her own, and we were gifted an old claw foot tub from our local Buy Nothing Group last year (more on that below), so we decided to ask for a St. Joseph statue to go with it. And not only did we end up getting one, but we were also offered a beautiful Mary statue, almost 4 feet tall! How could we say no? So now we are planning and working on not one, but two grottos! And wasn’t Mark just thrilled when there was a separate post of a neighbor giving away stones. . .
The Beauty of the Buy Nothing Group
I am a huge proponent of Buy Nothing Groups. Our town has a very active one, and it’s a place where neighbors can give and receive, as well as borrow and share. We have loved being on both ends of the equation- lending out a carpet shampooer and tools, giving away unused kitchen gadgets that will get much more love elsewhere, and receiving kids bikes, shoes, and statues. We have met so many neighbors and helped build a sense of community that blesses our family and those around us.
If you don’t know about BN groups, the basic premise is that it is a gifting group. No money is exchanged and the giver may choose who they give to based on whatever metric they wish. Members are free to ask for items they need, whether they are looking to borrow or keep, and then neighbors chime in if they have the item in question. You are also free to post items that you have and no longer need or want to give away. In our town, most exchanges are done via porch pick up, and if you drive through the streets you’ll notice that most houses have a plastic bin on their porch in which items get placed awaiting pick up.
The BN group is always my first go to if I’m looking for something. It’s also where the entirety of materials for our first grotto came from.
Back to Grotto Building and Mary Garden Planning . . .
Anyhoo, back to our grotto plans. We are prepping 2 types this year: a natural stone grotto for our new Mary in the back wooded part of our lawn and a bathtub mosaic grotto for St. Joseph, to be located in a yet-to-determined garden spot.
(If you’re in the mood to build yourself a stained glass mosaic grotto you can check put that post here.)
We’re starting with the Marian grotto simply because we have the materials on hand. (G’s bath tub grotto will require the purchase of some tiles). We have a little ridge at the back of our yard, and I’ve dreamed of a Mary there since we moved in. I kind of thought that would be a pipe dream, because the statue would have to be quite large- but this beauty of a Mary and her accompanying pedestal make her the perfect height.
I spent a few days working with the power washer and two types of paint remover as she was covered in some chipping and peeling white paint (why oh why would someone paint an outdoor statue?!?!?). I was able to get most of it off, though there are still a few spots where the layers won’t budge even with the heavy duty industrial remover. At that point, I decided not to let my vision of the perfect be an enemy of the good and that I’d rather have her in place than worry about every last bit of paint.
We used some of the garden stones to make a winding path up to her, and placed her in between two young trees, which frame her beautifully. There are tulips and daffodils lining the path that will bloom next year along with some astilbe bulbs that we put in for this year. Our only purchase for this part has been a few solar lights to line the path, and it’s just lovely. A work in progress to be sure but, I am looking forward to more planting and filling out the garden at her feet.
Mary Garden Resources Worth Checking Out
A few resources I find helpful as we prep and plan for our Mary gardens and grottos
- The University of Dayton has an entire Marian Library, and within it is a whole section on Mary Gardens alone
- Katrina over at Rose Harrington Art has a few great posts on Marian flowers (and some beautiful art too if you’re on the hunt)
- I’ve got a Pinterest board set up with some of my ideas for our projects if you’d like to peruse it.