There is often no need for a huge barrier to keep people or livestock in or out. A narrow piece of red tape stretched between posts keeps horses in a field, a kerb raised just a few inches keeps people on the pavement and cars on the street. A Ha-Ha will keep farm animals from straying into your beautiful new garden. There’s a horizontal line just behind the urn in the header photo above. That’s the Ha-Ha. Here’s the official description on a sign at Levens Hall in Cumbria, England.
And here’s the ditch… you have to look carefully at the turf to see it. The good quality lawn in the foreground ends in a diagonal line. That’s the ditch. The ground behind is a metre or so lower. From a distance you wouldn’t know there was any boundary there at all.
I’m joining in with the Daily Post Photo Challenge today which is Boundaries.
Could you use a Ha-Ha in your garden?
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend. Gillian
I can’t imagine that the ditch would stop animals… It must be a very steeply pitched, either that or the animals aren’t all that motivated! 😉
Yes it does stop cattle and sheep. Probably not deer or anything that can leap though. In the parkland the ground slopes gradually towards the Ha-Ha then there is a vertical stone wall topped with turf.
That makes sense. 🙂
So interesting to read about this natural boundary. In Canada, I, also, wondered if cows would say uh-or when they encountered one. 🙂
It’s a very clever device to make large gardens look even bigger. I’m still wondering about the cows! 🙂
Think sometimes with a ha-ha, the view from the outside into the garden shows you more of how it works. It’s not really meant to be seen from the garden out. The idea being quite similar to the borrowed landscape in Japanese gardens
Yes that’s the general idea… it’s there but you could easily miss it. I’m quite intrepid but didn’t jump into the park to take a picture in case I couldn’t get back into the garden. Unlike a deer I’m not that great at leaping. Ha ha.
Thank you. As you said, I’m sure a different angled shot would make it clearer.We don’t have them on this side of the pond. 🙂 Here in New England, we had miles of stone walls, as the retreating glaciers left tons of rocks in the soil, which had to be moved to plant fields.
Sounds like fun! Good for the figure anyway.
Sounds like a picture from the west of Ireland. Maybe an idea for a Looking Good in the Garden post some Friday? 😀
Lovely idea. Looking forward to that already.
Such a British term, the Ha Ha. I first read about it in one of Jane Austin’s novels (can’t remember which). I love it! Nice post!
Thanks Tina. I’ve only seen a couple… there’s a nice one at Hidcote too.
In a way it’s almost like the infinity pool concept but for gardens. Not identical but definitely parallels in the sense of visual vs physical boundaries
That’s it exactly Ella. Then they can approach/stand at the view pint and look around at all the land they own (which goes on for acres) without anything blocking the view.
This reminds me somehow of the idea behind infinity pools by the sea. Visual continuity but a necessary boundary. Not exactly the same but something in it perhaps? Nice post anyway xx
We’ve got a reverse Ha-Ha here… everything finds it’s way into our garden sooner or later!
Haha! Or should that be Ah-ah?! X
I don’t think a Ha-Ha would stop the badgers and foxes from their nightly rounds, shame because they both leave unpleasant reminders of their patrols …. The only things that stops deer here are 6′ fences or enclosed spaces, until we installed double gates and so ‘air-locked’ the entrances they’d sail right over the top of the original 5 bar gates. It was quite a sight! A nice topic, boundaries, I enjoyed your post.
Impressive to see deer leaping but not such fun to deal with them treating your plants like a buffet.
I wonder why it’a called a Ha Ha!
HA HA ditch. That’s brilliant. Beautiful photos 🙂
Thanks Heather.