Water Bridge Ferns

The ferns by Middle Bridge grow happily at the water's edge, and mark the start of the path through Middle Garden. I wonder how many tired gardener's footsteps this bridge has experienced in its short lifetime? Far too many to even hazard a guess.

 Rusty the dog is off somewhere on a mission.
Middle Bridge - 2008

Many cats and dogs have made crossings of Middle Bridge, too. Rusty the red Border Collie, the 2008 Moosey dog, would do a mad dash over the bridge when chasing a pigeon or a duck off the property. Pebbles, my current black and white Border Collie, always likes to go first. Once, in an effort to beat her sister Winnie, she indeed did fall off the bridge - splash! into the water.

 This bridge is now part of the main route to the Hazelnut Orchard paddock.
Middle Bridge - 2002

The waterside ferns look so beautiful when fresh and green, but every two or three years I give them a serious trim.

A Functional Name

Sorry about the bridge's rather functional name. It was the first bridge constructed over the water, and went through the middle of everything. Hence it's name, Middle Bridge. No imagination! Middle Bridge divides the area over the water race into two different gardens - Middle Garden downstream, and the Dog-Path Garden upstream. The archive photograph (below) was taken early in the garden's development, in the year 1998. The plants alongside the bridge, like the Yellow Wave Phormium, have filled out since - trust me!

 Early years!
Middle Bridge - 1998 to 2008