Our front yard from the street
On Saturday, June 17th, the Delaware Center for Horticulture featured our suburban garden on tour. It was the fruition of preparing through seven weeks of drought, record high and low temperatures, smoke and then torrential downpours the week of the tour!
Our garden was still lush and ready thanks to established perennials, shrubs and trees and quite a bit of hand watering. I plant intensively so the weeds have difficulty taking hold, and the appearance of the garden is more natural. The only gardener here is me, but in the last few years I do hire help for tall trimming and ladder work.
Many friends across the internet who could not attend asked for a garden tour post. So, if you missed the in-person tour, here’s the virtual one for you!
A quick garden history ~ when we bought the house there were a few shrubs and some big trees. Both side yards and the whole backyard were nothing but English Ivy and Pachysandra. After the fifteen years I have been gardening here, I have beaten most of those invasives back into submission. But they pop up here and there, so the battle is never completely won.
We have two big Lab-mixes, so part of the backyard is fenced, mulched and just has dog-proof trees and shrubs. There is no grass at all in the side or backyards. I scalped the ivy, laid pathways and built up flowerbeds since the ivy roots were so big. Raised beds and a variety of planters and repurposed containers complete the garden areas. The front yard grass area has been over seeded with clover for the bees and soil health.
This is primarily a picture post of the garden highlights. I have captioned the area of the garden for each photo. So, grab your favorite beverage and settle in for lots of garden shots!
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Front Garden ~ Bench & Bird Condo
Front Garden ~ Bike Planters
Front Garden ~ Butterfly Weed
Front Garden ~ Habitat Sign, Bronze Fennel and Hostas
Front Garden ~ Plume Poppy
Front Garden ~ Ladybugs for the kids
Front Garden ~ Succulent Bird Bath
Front Flower Bed ~ Shasta Daisies
Front of the house ~ from the driveway
Along the driveway ~ Cast iron frog and Jumpseed
Along the driveway ~ Rusty Birds
Along the driveway ~ Rusty Flowers
Along the driveway ~ Step Stool Birdbath
Fire Pit Fairy Garden ~ along the driveway
Along the driveway ~ Dragonfly collection
Front flower bed ~ Bowling balls covered in glass gems & pennies
Glass window on the front porch
By the front walkway ~ hypertufa planters with succulents
By the front walkway ~ Drought free flowers!
Right side yard ~ Gazebo Garden & Bee Hotel Stump
Right side of house ~ Our Gazebo
Right Side Yard ~ Fairy birdbath planter
Right Side Yard ~ birdbath & Oxalis
Right Side Yard ~ Flora (a scarecrow lady)
Right Side Yard ~ Flora by the Gazebo garden
Planted birdbath by the Gazebo
Right Side Yard ~ Plate Flowers
Right Side Yard ~ Birdbath & Victoria Lady Fern and Pulmonaria
Right Side Yard ~ Birdhouse Trellis with Lonicera
Right Side Yard ~ Tool Totem
Right Side Yard ~ Seed Spreader planter & Birdbath
Right Side Yard ~ Frog collection
Right Side Yard ~ Back of the gazebo
Right Side Yard ~ Monarda & Impatiens Balfourii
Composting area & wheelbarrows by the Garden Shed
Potting Area behind Shutter Fence
Birdhouse Ladder on fence ~ backyard
Right side backyard ~ Veggie Garden
Right side backyard ~ Ladders & shade garden
Right side backyard ~ Birdhouse Ladders
Right side backyard ~ Wheelbarrow Planter
Right side backyard ~ Wagon Planter
Right side backyard ~ Tire Rim Planter
Right side backyard ~ Shutter Arbor
Right side backyard ~ Shutter Fence
Right side backyard ~ Flower Plates
Right side backyard ~stone birdbath and hypertufa mushrooms
Potting Sink Water Feature by greenhouse
Inside the greenhouse ~ summer
Inside the garden room/greenhouse
Inside the garden room/greenhouse
Workbench ~ Inside the garden room/greenhouse
Repurposed Windows Greenhouse & coldframe
Repurposed Windows Greenhouse
Greenhouse area ~ outdoor entrance
Greenhouse area ~ wheelbarrow water feature
Fenced dog area ~ gate by the greenhouse/ bedspring trellis
Fenced dog area ~ our deck planters
Fenced dog area ~ Tara the Tetradactyl on her nest
Fenced dog area ~ miniature hostas planted in a strawberry planter
Fenced dog area ~ firepit & fenced perennial bed
Fenced dog area ~ wood & pipe fenced perennial garden
Fenced dog area ~ Mahonia shrub
Left side garden ~ gate to the fenced dog area/backyard
Left side garden ~ vintage gnomes & frog
Left side garden ~ froggy birdbath & hydrangeas
Left side garden ~ Old wheelbarrow & ladybugs
Left side garden ~ spider plant on an old ladder
Left side garden ~ Rustic collection covering utility meters
Left side garden ~ foliage garden
Left side garden ~ Bottle Tree
A wonderland to behold. Thank you for sharing your beautiful gardens and home.
Thanks so much, Nancy! I’m happy you enjoyed the “armchair tour” :)
Wow! I am blown away by the absolute beauty of everything! You have paradise in your whole yard. What a labor of love! Thank you for sharing all of this - it’s absolutely amazing!
Thanks, Diane! I love to “play” in my garden!
Beautiful. Thanks for this virtual tour. So many plants, so many “things”, so many wonderful places to sit and enjoy. But do you ever just sit and enjoy? I wish I had 1/10th of your incredible energy.
Thanks, Betsy! I’m not so good at sitting. Just about every time I sit, I think of something I need to do! Glad you enjoyed the “tour”!
Just amazing! Whatever do you do in the winter, to stay sane not being able to be out in all of this? :)
I love all the whimsical elements! You have a wonderful garden to explore - thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for taking my little tour!