Because I like the convenience of letting my dogs out the side door into a fenced yard, every house we've lived in had this feature. It's peace of mind at night or early morning when you can't see what they're doing at there, and the house sits close to the road. In this case, the look added to a new/old house is, to put it mildly, unattractive and industrial. We also use the side walkway area as parking space, and so some of that has to stay. The question has been how to soften that harsh industrial look to be more in tune with the old house.
We decided on a boxwood hedge in a slightly raised bed with packasandra (sp??)
bordered by old granite blocks which Steve has been working on...
This is the back side , or interior yard, of the dog run out to their yard...
On this side I'll continue the Perennial gardens.
Across the driveway we will put PG tree hydrangea along that bare wall
with boxwood underneath.
Now is a good time to browse your garden centers for deals on their leftover
shrubbery, trees and even perennials.
If you're looking for a hearty rose, may I recommend the Julia Child variety
(perhaps Connie can tell me what exact kind of rose that is)
Because NOTHING wanted to grow next to the little greenhouse.
Not grass, which we tried by seed & hay...
not sod, which was even worse..
But the Julia Child Rose with stone underneath (ick, but it works)
is very, very happy. Go figure.
So we've got more coming to surround that greenhouse and cover some
of that lovely stone. (no offense, dear.)
Zinnia are getting a much bigger plot of land here next year.
They don't complain, they continue to be showy in to the fall..
and need next to nothing of my attention.
The wagon got a facelift too... a good soaking of Linseed oil
to protect it from the elements.
I took the remaining pumpkins out of the field,
we had a lackluster pumpkin crop this year...
learning as we go, still learning :-)
