We associate the word maze with a road full of nooks and crannies that are difficult to overcome, dead ends, with a dark and mysterious atmosphere.These associations are based on the history of huge, complex structures that were built in antiquity and covered tombs or treasures.
The maze is one of the most complex and wildcard symbols. It was and is used in religion, art, mathematics and logic.Our ancestors believed that the labyrinths would protect against evil spirits that get lost in their intricate corridors, that the spirits of our ancestors live there who cannot escape from them …Contemporary labyrinths act as a tourist attraction.It is also a good way to organize a small space for long walks, which will help you calm down and detach yourself from everyday troubles.
A tradition dating back to antiquity
The history of the maze is very long and extremely rich. The most famous is the Cretan labyrinth, according to myth built by Daedalus on the orders of King Minos, in which the monster Minotaur was imprisoned, demanding blood sacrifices.With the legendary labyrinth, some historians associate the ruins of the Minos Palace, discovered in Knossos, a complex building full of corridors with a very intricate layout.In King Minos' chamber there are allegedly axes (labrysy), used to defend against the Minotaur - hence this chamber and the entire palace were called labyrinthos.
A mysterious structure is a three-story structure called Hypogeum, discovered in M alta at the beginning of the 20th century. It is a complex of corridors and caves in which as many as 7,000 were found. human skeletons.Unfortunately, to this day nobody knows what it was used for.The largest and oldest structure of this type was the Great Labyrinth in Egypt, located on Lake Mojrisa, near the City of Crocodiles.It was described by Herodotus, a Greek traveler and historian.
Most likely it was a granite structure stretching from east to west for a distance of 25 km. She counted 3 thousand. rooms on two levels and had many movable walls. Legend has it that people who got lost there were dying of hunger and exhaustion.The search for the remains of this enormous structure is currently underway.
The first so-called the classical (Cretan) labyrinths consisted of one spiral road that led to the center and then to the outside. It was impossible to get lost in them, they had no alleys. They were created wherever humans appeared - from Asia, through Africa, to Europe and South America.They were made in various ways: as paintings on the wall, patterns laid on the floor, made of stone or earth on the shores of lakes or seas, as well as carved in the rock.
Later, the Romans modified the pattern of the maze, giving it a square shape and wrapping the path so that it passed successively through the resulting quarters of the full pattern. Such a long and fascinating history of labyrinths also translated into the art of gardening, and probably already in the Middle Ages, hedge labyrinths appeared in the courtyard gardens of the monastery.
In the Renaissance era, garden art flourished, and with it garden labyrinths, which were of different heights.The lower ones formed patterns on the ground floors and served as decorations, the tall ones were a place for games and trysts. They were made of yew, boxwood, beech and hornbeam bushes.
Labyrinths today
The turbulent history of Europe has wiped out many labyrinths. Fortunately, however, they have not completely disappeared from our gardens. They now appear in various forms in parks and private gardens, and even in urban spaces, kindergartens and playgrounds, in zoos, amusement parks and in open landscapes, e.g.in the fields of crops (Kurozwęki and Kobierzyce - corn field).They are less and less often squares or circles, because they refer to places where they arise, tell stories or are simply beautiful patterns of winding lines.They are a great form of fun for children and adults.
You can also try to set up such a maze in the garden. First, we need to determine the surface, because the layout of the paths will depend on its size and shape. Let us assume that the hedge will have a width of min. 60 cm, the path for one person must also be of this width, while for two people it is necessary to count 1.2 m. On graph paper, you need to create a scaled mesh of hedges and paths - the easiest way to cross at right angles. Drawing a maze can be difficult and time-consuming. The computer will do it faster and better.
There are many free websites on the Internet that draw, or actually generate any shape and size of a maze in a fraction of a second - just tell the machine how big a hedge you want to get. One of such sites worth recommending is www.mazegenerator.net. On the page, we enter the size of the labyrinth, choose its shape and click generate. If we are satisfied with the effect, we can download the labyrinth to a PDF file and then print it.
After designing the maze, you need to calculate the length of the hedges in order to calculate the number of plants. The hedge must be compact. With a width of min. 60 cm should be double-breasted. In the case of a common privet (the cheapest), 7 seedlings are needed per running meter. We place them in two rows alternately in the so-called "Checkerboard".The spacing of cuttings in a hedge, depending on the species and their age, is 20-50 cm.The paths between the hedges can be grassy. If we want hardened, let's put them on before planting the plants.
Proven plants for green corridors
A garden maze can be created from any type of hedge shrub. One of the cheapest and most popular is the privet, a deciduous shrub whose leaves fall in winter.When planted densely and often cut, it will create opaque walls.You can lead it as high as you want.The privet shrub is not demanding to cultivate. The traditional deciduous hedge shrubs used in historic gardens are hornbeams and beeches.
The latter have quite high requirements as to the habitat, because they grow well in fertile and moist soils with an admixture of calcium. They also require moist air for he althy development. The beech tolerates slight shading.
Another species that is often used in hedges is dogwood, that is dogwood. It grows in sun and partial shade and has no great soil requirements.Of conifers, the common yew is the best shrub for formed hedges, although quite expensive.It is worth remembering that this is the most shadow-loving species.
From willow vines and shoots
Labyrinths can arise not only from hedge bushes.For this type of planting, you can even use creepers or live willow shoots. The latter should be placed in the ground and intertwined. After rooting, the shoots begin to release leaves and grow.This maze is cheap, but requires systematic braiding of new shoots and pruning to keep it looking neat.
Hedges that have already reached their target size should be cut once a month, only then will they have perfectly geometric shapes.You should not forget to fertilize the shrubs in spring, June and at the end of July.Watering is also an important procedure, because such a large number of plants gathered in a small space is quite a competition, especially in the case of young plants in the first years after planting.
