Garden Design

We’re in Sweaburg, Ontario, visiting with Alice Fleurkens. We’ve been to her garden before (Alice’s Front Garden in Canada) so check out the earlier posts if you want to see more.

stone garden bed with creeping evergreen plantThis is the first year in about six years that I have been able to do more gardening again. It is so enjoyable to see the garden grow.

various shrubs in the garden bedThese shrubs now require a drastic pruning every year. And the Siberian iris (Iris siberica, Zones 4–8) has found itself a spot where I don’t really want it, so later it will have to go.

close up of deep red coral bellsOh, how I love coral bells (Heuchera hybrids, Zones 4–8), even though the ants are attacking them left and right. It seems to be their favorite plant for making ant hills in.

mulched garden bedA lady gave me some golden-orange heuchera. It is very small this year, but it is coming along.

front yard garden bed with large stones around the edgeThis grass was also given to me. (Sorry, I don’t know the name of anything.) We had a great big cedar in front of the basement window and decided we wanted it gone, so my husband very cleverly cut it down himself.

garden bed in front yard with birdbathThis garden goes all the way down the hill. I planted some more grasses in it, and the bleeding hearts are doing fantastic. They had to be covered with blankets a week ago because we had frost, and they froze in other years and so did damage to the hostas and lilies. They did not die; they just looked ugly for a while.

close up of garden bed with lots of foliage plantsThere is no mulch in the garden yet. But maybe we will still mulch or maybe not. We are undecided. It is expensive.

wider view of garden bedMore heucheras give color in the garden.

foundation garden bed with small plantsThere was another cedar there in the corner by the door, but it was hitting the roof and did not look very good, so it is gone too. There is a nice hosta and some Miscanthus grass, which does not seem to be doing too well.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

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