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Community Corner

Our Gated Community: Home to Swingers, Heavy Metal and the Remote-Controlled

The common denominator: Pintles and gudgeons and hinges, oh my!

A gate is like Spanx. It’s a great way to keep your private affairs neatly tucked into your grounds. Returning home from traffic-clogged visits to Whole Foods, Rite Aid, the gas station, Gelsons, , the bank, and Rusty’s Pet Center I hear the remote controlled security gate clank closed and breathe a big sigh of relief:  the outside world won’t be flipping me the bird for at least the next few hours.

But I harbor a love hate relationship with my security gate. 

One time, the electric eye gate went on strike and smushed the side of our booger-grey Accord as my husband tried to pull out of the driveway.

After that trauma, I amended our earthquake/Armageddon drill.  When temblors strike,  we first of all grab the dog, but I’ve now changed the second item from HAUL that hundred-pound box of mementos (CDs and videos that document my husband in his rock band, a really old flash drive version number 20 of my novel, photo-booth wedding pics we took in downtown Chicago on a January blizzard below-zero day, a roll of quarters, and pictures of my dear departed hounds.) to GRAB THE REMOTE so that we open the gate before the electricity fails.

The landlord assures us there’s some overide button. Really? Because when I’m in full panic mode, I won’t be looking for a stinking button.

At their best, gates, whether arched, wood, scrolled iron, whitewashed, craftsman, Spanish or contemporary, express the world view of their keepers. 

Come in.

Stay Away.

Gates also offer opportunities to enhance the composition of your garden. Even the most humble gate can be embellished with decorative pintles (a pin or bolt), gudgeons (the circular fitting for the pivoting of the pin) and hinges.

Gates suggest intrigue as in Dickens Great Expectations when Pip was brought to the big gates at Miss Havisham’s estate; they symbolize conquest during wartime, as when Parisian protestors stormed the fortified Bastille fortified gate. And gates dare invite gate-crashing escapades;  hide guest houses; and lead into city gardens like Les Jardins d'Albertas (near Marseilles). 

Garden Clippings spied many ways Studio City residents gated the community:

THE GARDEN GATE:
One of the great pleasures of a gate is as a framed entrance to the garden. Think of it as an accessory like a hoodie or pearls. A gate with an opening or porthole is more informal and gives passersby a peek at what’s in store. It can add architectural detail where none exists. For example, a moon gate is a traditional architectural element in Chinese gardens expressed as a circular opening in a garden wall that functions as a pedestrian passageway.  Styles range from a simple iron arbor with a gate at Bed Bath and Beyond ($179) to "Mrs. Powers" Garden Gate by MacKenzie-Childs at Neiman Marcus ($850). 

THE DRIVEWAY GATE:
Contemporary designs sport glass and aluminum class up the standard entryway, which remains popular in popular vinyl and wood versions. The object:  block the views into the rear portion of the property.

THE SAFETY GATE:
Gates keep the pool out-of-bounds for kids, and streets out-of-bounds for dogs while also preventing strangers from wandering onto the property. These gates serve as deterrents and most likely have sturdy lock sets.

THE PEDESTRIAN GATE:
We call it the man-gate. It matches the fence, but remains unlocked and gives access to postal carriers and delivery people.

Above all gates need to open and close. Everyone needs an escape route, even if we’ll all be stuck on the 101 on ramp going nowhere together.

WHAT TO DO:
For the cottage garden, paint the wood gate in a color that complements the plantings. An opening on the gate also makes it more informal and cottage-y.

To accommodate vines and make a gate less the focal point, try a trellis gate.

For the security-conscious, install decorative locks.

Crafty people, save big branches and make your own gate. Cedar limbs are a good way to go.

STEAL THIS IDEA
If you don’t have the patience for pintles and gudgeons, old gates make a gorgeous statement up against the wall of a garden.


 

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