Front Garden Pictures in July of Tiger Gardens

It's time for a frontyard garden tour. With all of the recent rains I am not afraid to show the gardens now so here goes. The grass is now green and the plants are doing fine but I must admit it is time for more rains already.

It is rather odd to have a pumpkin growing in my frontyard since the potager is in the backyard but that is just what I have. This pumpkin plant was a volunteer from the birds and it has some cute little pumpkins on it.

The pots and foundation gardens have loved the rains.

I recently lined this front foundation bed with rocks picked up in Louisville from my daughter's neighborhood. I am a big fan of trenching garden beds as I feel these kinds of edges are easier to maintain than a rock edge, but I had done such a good job of trenching this particular garden that I had a big ditch edging this bed; which really needed some rocks to fill it in. The pond is to our left and you'll see it in this post.

A 'Limelight' moved from another location to behind the new waterfall area is looking like it is happy. We are looking toward the road when we look in this direction.

The northern end of one of the foundation gardens.

The pond. The water is crystal clear even with all of the rains we have had recently. I do have to rinse out the filter pad in the skimmer box every other day or so. I rinse the pads in the waterfall box about once every two weeks or so.

I used to have 'Knockout' roses in this location but found the area was too shady for them to grow well. My house faces east but the rising sun is blocked by mature trees so this location really does not get a lot of sun. The newly planted mophead hydrangeas are liking the spot. Before I know it they will be big and will fill up this area of the foundation bed.

This small garden was made along with the new pond. It is loaded with some nice plants and is a focal point from the front of the house. The patio and pond are to the left of this view.

The pot ghetto likes the rain and is looking rather nice this time of the year. I place plants that are tender or that need a lot of sun in this location as it is the area of my property that receives the most sun.

When needed I water the pots from the nearby two rainbarrels. I will soon be hooking up some  more rainbarrels on the other side of the house. Rainbarrels complete but I must now install the diverter in the new location on the backside of the house. The rainfall diverter I used in this front location is a crappy diverter. I would never recommend it to anyone. I purchased another one for the other side of the house. At some point I will rate the rainfall diverters I have tried out.

The sunny perennial border is no longer sunny but some plants do well here. I show you this picture to demonstrate how ratty looking bearded irises get by mid summer. Their saving grace is their spikey foliage and drought tolerance and of course lovely bloom in the spring. Sedum is a fine plant for all gardens all the time.

The long silverberry hedge to the right blocks the road. We are looking to the end of our property to our wooden privacy fence. This view shows one of my window flags adorning the fence. I don't think I've shared those flags but might at some point. Blogging sometimes gets overwhelming to me because there is so much I'd like to post but I just can't find the time or energy to do it anymore. I like paths that have a destination and it sure looks like there is a destination at the end of this path. Looks can be deceiving though.

A front shady bed I call the St. Francis garden is visible from the roadside. My dear Uncle gave me the eagle last fall when he came to visit. I think of him whenever I see this eagle; which is daily since it is the first thing I see in the frontyard. You will see the back side of this bed in a picture further down in this post. The glass in the background is my red window mosaic. To see it in all of its glory check this post here.

The driveway garden is a challenging garden for me due to its shade and extreme dryness because of root competition from a nearby oak. Two years ago I converted this entire garden from hydrangeas and other water loving plants to drought tolerant plants. Unfortunately I did not completely eliminate hydrangeas as these three oakleafs still grow here. I do have to water them in times of drought. If they die or fail to thrive within the next two years they will be removed and replaced with something else like a holly or cleyera.

Here is a longer shot of the driveway garden. Drought tolerant plants growing here include: 'Adagio' miscanthus, buddleia, hollies, asters, irises, verbena bonariensis, 'The Fairy' rose, St. John's wort, 'Autumn Joy' and 'Autumn Flame' sedum (they look the same), threadleaf amsonia, 'Blue Ice' amsonia, hellebores, catmint, prickly pears, yuccas, and spiraea.

Another shot of the driveway garden. Sedum really does well here but I have to fight off the voles each winter in order to keep the sedum alive.

My friend Geri gave me an arbor when she moved away. You'll hear about that soon and see her lovely garden as well. I did not know where to put the arbor but another one of my friends said to put it here. I placed the arbor here temporarily and have found I like the location. I never wanted an arbor in this location but it is actually quite perfect. I am propagating a thornless rose to grow over the arbor. I also recently made a new garden on the right to accommodate the rose and a few perennials and bulbs. I am steering away from annuals because they tend to crowd out the perennials by the end of the summer. So there is no room for annuals here. 

Here is the new small garden. It is a funky garden in that I edged some of the edge with bricks on end and other areas I did not edge because there are large concrete patio blocks here on the ground. They are the edge for my garden. This way water can flow into the garden from the grassy area. I had to keep this new garden area small because the grassy area on the right contains a lot of bulbs and is also a pathway for us.

Here is the Front Sidewalk garden and grassy area with patio blocks and bulbs.

The back side of the St. Francis lets us see why I call this garden what I call it. I placed the pots of caladiums here because under them grows a mass of hyacinth bulbs. I did not want to plant anything on top of the hyacinths. The caladiums were a gift from my friend Geri. I will winter over these tender bulbs in my greenhouse.



Finally, a side view of our pond. I can honestly get lost in this pond when I have a down moment. I sit on the nearby glider (also a gift from Geri) and watch the koi and dragonflies in the pond. Hours can pass by rather quickly and I tell you it is a pleasure being in the front yard....


in the garden....

If you are doing a fall veggie garden or even a mid summer veggie garden now is a good time to plant beans, peas, and carrots. I planted mine yesterday and am looking for some good things in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden