Garden Design

We’re visiting Lindsey Cline’s garden today.

My husband and I bought a log cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia about eight years ago. The property was a field of Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum, a highly invasive annual weed), which we transformed into a cottage garden with many edible and pollinator plants. Along with owls, raccoons, and turtles, we’ve learned to garden with deer and groundhogs. Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum species), muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris Zones 5–11), boxwood (Buxus species and hybrids), and spicebush (Lindera benzoin, Zones 4–9) are some of my favorites and link the garden together.

the back gardenThe back garden includes a garden pavilion and beds with blueberries (Vaccinium hybrids, Zones 5–9) and jewelweed (Impatiens capensis, annual).

a single potted pansy blooming on tableA single potted pansy (Viola × wittrockiana, cool season annual) blooms on a table just beyond the back stoop of the house.

shade garden plantingThis beautiful shade garden planting uses a variety of different textures and colors of foliage (most of them native species) to create a wonderful composition that needs no flowers.

fire pit with a view of the cabin The front of the cabin lies just beyond this very appealing firepit.

gourds on the front porchFall display of gourds on the front porch

path leading to the gardenFrom under the grape arbor, the path leads on to the rest of the garden.

hammock featureA truly wonderful garden feature is hammock in which to lie back and enjoy it all.

wild geraniumA native plant garden features the flowers of the wild geranium (Geranium maculatum, Zones 3–8), which is native to wooded areas of eastern North America.

raised bed gardensA gate leads to some of the raised bed gardens.

A shaded corner of the garden.A shaded corner of the garden

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