A Family Garden
You’ll notice the new trees and shrubs – a Leyland cypress, Japanese bamboo, a blue conifer, arborvitae and banana trees – as you approach this seventy-year old house, all added by the owners as they settled in five years ago.
When two front trees had to be removed to accommodate a remodel, their son, a high school freshman, designed the new front yard, sketching in planters, pond and border beds now filled with hostas, peonies and daphne and providing a pleasant view from living room and kitchen. With an eye to the outside, they continue to add to the garden scene.
Five years ago, they rented a bobcat to move dirt from the front-room excavation to an upper porch he designed and built, one of four outdoor seating areas in the back garden. In winter, the area is open to the sky. But as spring comes, the garden fills with tree hydrangeas, decorative grasses and colorful canna lilies that fill the flower beds. Established lilacs grow along the southern border and new blueberry bushes along the northern. Lisa’s overflowing flowering pots decorate all the patios.
A central firepit, built at a son's request to greet him and friends coming home from summer camp, replaced old fruit trees and now provides visual interest as an oasis and an evening gathering place. Banana trees, which grow from nothing to towering plants, are strategically placed to create an island of shade and quiet tropical-leaf whispers throughout the summer. The little play house in the far back came with the house and is useful now for garden supplies and tools.
The garden continues to be a work in progress, where ideas and plans come to life.
When two front trees had to be removed to accommodate a remodel, their son, a high school freshman, designed the new front yard, sketching in planters, pond and border beds now filled with hostas, peonies and daphne and providing a pleasant view from living room and kitchen. With an eye to the outside, they continue to add to the garden scene.
Five years ago, they rented a bobcat to move dirt from the front-room excavation to an upper porch he designed and built, one of four outdoor seating areas in the back garden. In winter, the area is open to the sky. But as spring comes, the garden fills with tree hydrangeas, decorative grasses and colorful canna lilies that fill the flower beds. Established lilacs grow along the southern border and new blueberry bushes along the northern. Lisa’s overflowing flowering pots decorate all the patios.
A central firepit, built at a son's request to greet him and friends coming home from summer camp, replaced old fruit trees and now provides visual interest as an oasis and an evening gathering place. Banana trees, which grow from nothing to towering plants, are strategically placed to create an island of shade and quiet tropical-leaf whispers throughout the summer. The little play house in the far back came with the house and is useful now for garden supplies and tools.
The garden continues to be a work in progress, where ideas and plans come to life.