Is there ANYTHING better than Spring????? I wanted to take a minute to share my yard with y'all today.
A little background - prior to building this house 10 years ago I have never owned a home before. I was always a renter. Since I was a renter I was very limited as to what I could do to personalize any place I have lived. There were lots of things I was VERY excited about when hubby and I started building. But there were TWO things I looked forward to more than anything else - painting the walls something OTHER than white and gardening in my very own YARD!
As I was walking home from the bus stop a few mornings ago I came up to my front yard and I am absolutely in love with it!
I did quite a bit of garden design when we moved in, then we had a baby instead and well, you know how that goes. Everything else takes a back seat! So last Spring we began on the next phase of my front garden vision. The front was lined with a row of boxwoods all the way across - I hated them! So OUT they came!
Yep! Hooked 'em to my truck and OUT they came! We replanted a few things and then some accidental pumpkins sprouted and I wanted to let them go so they took over the whole thing and we sort of put additional planning on hold.
The other thing I hated? The porch railings. I prefer open porches with just the columns - reminds me of the south so this year OFF they came! All of our planting has been chosen for it's shortness - I love the open-ness when sitting on the porch now!
I just love it! I put in the low stone wall around the tree last year too.
This year I cleaned everything up and added in a few more evergreen type bushes and new perennials and annuals in the bare spots. I really wanted my evergreens to be more interesting than just green like the boxwoods so I found this cute little bushes with teeny pinecones. The flowers are Lantana - LOVE Lantana but it is an annual this far north :(
See the evergreens on either side of the steps? Also more interesting than plain boxwoods! They are not only variegated in color with the green to yellow but the foliage is pretty and lacey/delicate - reminiscent of ferns - another fave of mine but the front gets too much sun for ferns so these were a good 2nd choice. We decided we needed a little bit more evergreen for the front for winter time so I added a few more of the yellow green bushes. Everything is small now but will gradually fill in.
I designed and planned out the whole garden myself when we moved in and the re-vamp this time around. It takes a lot of research but I am QUITE pleased. All of the plants are able to withstand drought because we are occasionally on water restriction here during the hottest part of summer and I have it arranged so there is almost always something blooming from spring through fall.
I have extensive plans and ideas for the back of the house but unfortunately they come faster than the time/money/energy does!
Anyone else enjoy gardening?
I always enjoy looking at pictures of people's landscapes. Yours is beautiful and hope you will post pics of your backyard when you get it done!
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Darcy