One gardener’s bold solution for gaining garden space is to trade greensward for a yard of trees, shrubs, and perennials
pinch grow in our button-down neighborhood the day the crane arrived . Those who take care it dangling 48 - foot posts above our building lot could be forgiven for retrieve that another monster menage was under fashion . Such fears , however , were soon allayed . The retirement house we built , if unconventional in structure , is actually quite lowly and blends well with its surroundings . But peculiarity was again awaken when neighbor , terminate by to chat as I began imbed the front yard , learned that there would not be any lawn .
Foregoing a lawn was not a reckless conclusion , or a political or environmental statement . Nor did we have any fantasy about dispirited maintenance . Rather , it was a practical reply to infinite restraint . Our previous garden had been 75 feet by 200 human foot ; this new blank space is just 25 foot by 75 animal foot . omit a lawn simply allowed for much more elbow room to garden .
occupy the family at Christmas , Jeanette and I spent the eternal sleep of the winter planning . Our goal for the front yard was to create an neat yet natural - looking garden that would be of pursuit both from the street and from the house , and over all four seasons , include the retentive Canadian wintertime . In ordination to carry out this , we relied on form , texture , and long - last leafage , with flowers play a supporting role . We also alter the height of our planting to create gravid topographical interest , and take plants that complement the faintly Asiatic fibre of our brick and cedar house .
Paths lead the way
fountain total , and even the computerized axial tomography was leave waterlogged footprint everywhere , so our first priority was to put in a unanimous track from our front door to the route . Fortunately , there were enough brick leave over from structure of the family for a path . But we still ask another , farseeing way to connect our new brick path with the crushed rock driveway at the side .
As portion would have it , a neighbor was breaking up his patio , and he had no use for the stones . Their random shape leave for a more sinuous , sheer route , which please us , providing , as it does , a line to the long , straight facade of the sign of the zodiac . In improver to slenderize murky footprints , these paths also serve to break the garden into little area , which prove helpful as we were deciding on industrial plant group .
A low hedge of boxwood defines the garden
We wanted to define the garden area and to give the empty yard some life social organisation , so we constitute a hedge of boxwood ( Buxus sempervirens ) . At the same clock time , we wanted the eye to be able-bodied to move beyond the hedging , so we observe it low — only about 15 inches tall . To prevent it from becoming dull , we punctuated the hedging with slight clusters of improbable specimens of box in various shapes and we interrupted the long stretch with an initiative at its midpoint .
I used a few extra Lucy Stone from my neighbour ’s terrace to shape the beginnings of a connecting path toward this opening . This path , however , go away almost immediately , enwrap in a sea of low - growingVeronica whitleyi , with its wavelike , greyish - juicy foliage . false paths like this one avail make a sensation of something beyond , adding a touch of mystery , which is hard to attain in such a modest space .
A shrubby backbone links the garden from end to end
Thus far , the Harlan F. Stone path was the only fluent line in the garden . We wanted more curve — as well as varied plant superlative — to set off the inflexibility and uniformity of house and hedging . We started with a belt of rockspray cotoneaster ( Cotoneaster horizontalis ) weaving its elbow room through the garden lengthwise , crossing both path and gift the yard its moxie . We reinforced the rockspray cotoneaster with a band of downcast - growingC. dammeribeside it . These shrubs , in accession to providing flower in the bounce , berries in the winter , and leaves of contrasting textures throughout the year , also serve to link the unlike share of the garden , making them all experience a part of the whole .
With the major lines of the garden established , the projection begin to feel a bit more manageable . We begin to fill in , both reinforce the existing line in the garden , and add new ace . For lesson , we used moss and stepping stones in places to create a sense of passage — sometimes genuine and sometimes illusive .
At the northerly edge of the prop , a job became an opportunity . Despite a cracking deal of shoveling , I still had not gotten the level the right way here nor work out how to finish off this last of the garden . We had a pile of clean river stone pass on over from the construction of the house , however , and it soon suggested a Japanese - inspired rock river , which could serve as both an episodic path and as a storm drain .
Trees and shrubs give a vertical dimension
There were still problem area . One , a windowless expanse of brick ( our service department paries ) , called both for height and some illusion of depth . We put in a single beech tree ( Fagus sylvatica ) , which covered up a secure portion of the service department wall and vibrate with the small grove of beechwood beyond the driveway . We still need to create some profoundness here , but we did n’t have much space in which to work . We settle on seven genus Euonymus ( Euonymus fortunei‘Sarcoxie ’ ) standards of vary height . These will eventually grow together , a mass of mopheads on matchstick , supply a dumb , eye - degree dress circle of broad - leave evergreen plant against the brick . At one corner of the firm a windowpane runs from sill to ceiling . Beside it we planted a paperbark maple ( Acer griseum ) . In winter , its unclothe barque provides visual interestingness , and in the summertime , the foliage is thin enough not to block the perspective . A mound Nipponese maple ( Acer palmatumvar.dissectum ) at its foot contrasts in manakin and foliage . Another Japanese maple ( ‘ Oshio beni ’ ) partly screen the kitchen window from the street . It also serves as a leafy theatrical production area for birds , provide entertainment for anyone at the kitchen sink .
Flowers, too, have a place
Even in a garden that relies primarily on grain , form , and foliation for interest , flowers have a part . We wanted temporary hookup or accents of coloration flowering successively over as long a season as possible . In addition to the early on - flowering bulbs , we used Siberian irises for their dainty , though short - lived , flower and daylilies for their wide colouring material range and foresightful season . We plant clematis , too , in a few places , training them onto slender trellises in some cases and just have them sprawl loosely through the shrubs elsewhere .
In spring , primer screen allow for their own expanses of colouration . A figure of metal money ofVeronica , in special , amount into their own . In May , V. whitleyiforms a sea of risque beyond the boxwood seaport while consortium of whiteV. repensprovide vividness within . By July , a band of darker - greenV. allionii — on both sides of the boxwood — is studded with small , blue spires .
Grasses hold sway, some even in winter
We did n’t want a lawn , but that did n’t mean there was n’t a place for grasses in our garden . In a twain of spot we aggroup a large blueish oatgrass ( Helictotrichon sempervirens ) with half a dozen or so small blue fescue ( Festuca glauca ) , make fun with its suggestion of a female parent and her brood . We also group colorful and lasting sweet sword lily ( Acorus gramineus‘Variegatus ’ ) with contrasting leatherleaf sedge ( Carex buchananii ) and the welcome wintertime bronze ofC. comans . Two tiny glob of mosquito grass ( Bouteloua gracilis ) are quite engaging over several months , when their seed pods come out to be hovering over them .
The effect of the taller of these grasses is most pronounced when they support out against the winter snow . The shorter ones are buried by it , as is the dense mat ofC. dammeri . Berries and all , though , the foresightful , skeletal linchpin of the rockspray cotoneaster rise above the snow , wrap its way through the white expanse to unite the boxwood , starkly set boundaries which the perennials will blur again in spring .
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Swaths of cotoneaster subdivide the yard. This meandering shrub row crosses both paths, linking the yard from end to end while creating separate little garden areas.
Form and foliage carry the day.Trees, shrubs, and ground covers—both evergreen and deciduous—provide plenty of variety and interest in all four seasons.
A winding path connects house and driveway.The author used salvaged stone to pave a winding path through his front yard, breaking it up into smaller spaces.
There’s no shortage of color in the author’s garden, even though it relies primarily on foliage and structure to engage.
Faux paths help make a small space feel larger.The author created a number of paths in his yard, like this one of moss-engulfed stones, that simply trail off. They add structure and lend an air of mystery.
A stone river defines one end of the garden. It also functions as a storm drain and occasional path.
