The last time Gardening Gone Wild chose to feature front gardens as part of Garden Bloggers' Design Workshop, I confessed to the world that my house had a Green Mustache. After much hard work, we've eliminated the Mustache, raised the level of the bed, and installed a retaining wall. The retaining wall isn't quite finished. After I add more gravel and more topsoil, I'll put on the top layer of recycled concrete. I've decided to reduce my anxiety level when work needs to be done on the house, such as painting the window frames, by designing a catwalk so that my plants will not get stepped on or broken by those focused on the task at hand.
The catwalk is paved in gravel to slow down the flow of rainwater to allow the soil to absorb it all, as I learned to do from Marcus de la fleur's Pilot Project. The garden also needs more larger rocks for the top layer.
I think I'm going to install a few raingarden plants in this area, something that can be trampled a bit. The fountain has been installed, but we still have to put the pump in it. I placed it on a thing I found in the back corner of the back garden. I don't know what it is, but it feels like porcelain. We had to have an outlet installed on the front of the house, which was done this week.I wish I could say I've drawn up a design or planting plan for this garden, but I'm really a "by the seat of my pants" designer. I need to see how things look. I like the Wisteria macrostachys 'Blue Moon,' which I'm training into a standard, in the center.
I also like the Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey.' I'd like to add two more of those. It's turned out to be too shady for the Peonies, so they'll have to be moved.
The color scheme is ruby/chartreuse/purple. The plants installed so far are, in addition to the Hydrangea and Wisteria: Aquilegia 'Sunburst Ruby' seedlings, Viola 'Mars,' Heuchera 'Frosted Violet,' and for continuity from the garden across the walk, Phlox pilosa 'Eco Happy Traveler,' which has pink flowers, but they don't clash with the Aquilegia.
I don't know what to plant behind the fountain.
There isn't room for a shrub. I'm thinking about moving the fountain towards the center of the garden to allow room for something larger to go on the left end, which is in full sun. The rest of the bed is in partial shade, with only a few hours of direct sunlight in the middle of the day. I'll be putting succulents into the retaining wall, and Callirhoe involucrata to spill over the edge. Beyond that, I have no clue what I'm going to do with it. I'm open to suggestions.
In the immortal words of Rocket J. Squirrel, "And now here's something we hope you'll really like." This is a garden in Barrington that Trudi Temple designed for her daughter's family, who have now moved to the East Coast.
As it is on a corner lot, it actually has two front gardens. I took these photos in May. Note the seating areas, the use of stone, and the interesting mix of conifers. Not your standard "Yew and a lawn" front yard.