Welcome to the Secret Garden. A little slice of paradise, to get away from tomorrow's problems, today.

It really just started with me wanting to recreate my pomegranate tree (and the red pumpkin pieces came in perfectly). Since I used Technic pieces to best resemble the actual tree, the model would of course not stand on its own, so I decided to build a base for it. I used that technique I first got to experience myself with another Lego set, where you build a part and then set it into the main part sideways. It might be called SNOT.

But a tree with a base alone didn't look right, so the base needed a deck to go around it. Then the deck demanded entrance and exit, and those in turn required a baseplate, to give the entire set more stability. Of course, with the baseplate came a lot of free space around the deck.

At that point I started pondering what other elements would go well with a secluded garden, trying to balance practicality, aesthetic, and enjoyment, all while staying within the BDP guidelines. I designed the lotus ponds; another favorite of mine. I started out with four, one on each corner, but soon realized two would be more adequate.

Then on the other side I planted an herb garden, flanked by two more trees. A small citrus and a larger avocado. I decided long and hard on what to do with those trees; an earlier draft had a tree house in the taller one, but that ended up too cluttered. Ultimately I went with the most obvious (and comfortable) option: the hammock. A simple design that gave me the opportunity to use some hinges and give the set a flexible component.

The space between the lotus ponds was the hardest for me to fill. I ended up with an elevated garden bed because I wanted to raise the usefulness of the model (like, if you were to use this as a blueprint for an actual garden), but I also designed a BBQ station and a Hot Tub that would fit into the same spot just as well and could technically be included in the set to make it more modular.

Next up was the succulent garden, which I think looks just gorgeous, especially the big one cactus, which is supposed to be a dragon fruit. To make the garden 'secret', I put an arbor on the entrance, an eerily magical passage hung with greenery leading directly to the heart of the garden. For the exit I thought a simple gate made with small palm trees would suffice, imagining in an urban setting it would probably lead to a back shed or something,

To give the whole scene a more lived-in feel, I added the ladder and the baskets with tools and picked fruit in the end, and of course the cherry on top is the little blue bird.

I had a lot of fun designing this model, trying to give it as many unique details as possible while also maintaining an overall style and not sacrificing practicality for gimmicks