Garden Design

Today we’re in Sweaburg, Ontario, visiting with Alice Fleurkens. We’ve been to her beautiful garden a couple times before (see Alice’s Front Garden in Canada), and it is always a pleasure to visit.

large panicle hydrangea at the edge of the front yardIt has been a difficult year to keep the garden looking nice, even though I enjoy it as much as ever. It has been hot and dry, and watering is certainly no substitute for rain. But this hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata, Zones 4–8) seems to have found a spot it likes. It has been moved three times (I think) but is finally happy.

sloped front yard garden bed along a drivewayThis is the low-maintenance section, which needs only a little pruning in spring and not need much water.

front steps with plants on all sides and a container of colorful annual flowersI do enjoy my annuals and plant them right into the planters. They last longer and get much bigger.

shade garden bed with lots of folaige plantsThis is my favorite shady spot in the backyard. The moles have been eating the hostas, but luckily not all of them. They also destroyed one sedum. Nothing ever seemed to bother the sedum until now. It is falling over little by little, and some of the hostas died off leaf by leaf. Any advice on that would be appreciated.

garden bed in the middle of the lawn with a large evergreen in the centerI planted these hostas to hide the ugly bare underside of that huge spreader. They apparently love that spot, because they took off like crazy in a matter of two years. There are no moles in the front yard.

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