Embracing My Front Garden

 You may remember when I first introduced my front garden space and how it had been neglected for some time. Well, I am happy to report that I have been spending most of my time up front this season and giving the space some overdue TLC! Although there is still much more to do (including building the retaining rock wall), I am quite pleased with how things have filled in.

I spent most of the spring improving the soil conditions with a heavy dose of compost which has made a huge improvement in productivity. Like the rest of my garden spaces, I have planted a mixture of ornamental perennials such as Coreopsis, Echinacea, Black Eyed Susans and Spiderwort along with an array of herbs including Sage, Thyme, Comfrey, Borage and Santolina. I made sure to leave room for the annual edibles that thrive in sunny conditions and that we love to eat such as Zucchini, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber, Basil, Swiss Chard, Lacianato Kale and a few Watermelon plants. Everything is peeking up through a lush ground cover of Vinca Vine and Creeping Jenny.

 In the past I would look the other way when I walked past the front of my house and only use my back door just to avoid the eye sore of a space. But now the first thing I do in the morning is open my front door to say good morning to my garden.  I greet it with a smile and pull some weeds. I water it's roots and then nibble on some herbs. And sometimes i just sit on my front steps and admire.

Chipping Away

Things are a bit slow going up front.
It has however improved and I am chipping away at it. Which is better than not chipping at all right?

I made that promise and I am keeping to it, even if it is at snail's pace.

So here is what I have been working on...

:: I dug up everything from the front and leveled out the slope.

:: Since a rock wall is not in our budget right now I settled for a holly hedge at the bottom of the slope. Once the roots settle in I am hoping the shrubs will act as the anchor. I will have to prune it over  time so it doesn't grow too tall but I think I am going to like having a bit of evergreen in the winter months.

:: I salvaged some bricks and made a low wall to separate the top from the slope. I like the effect and I plan to plant succulents along it.

:: I have transplanted several perrenials from other places of my property to the front to help fill things in a bit.

:: It is amazing how full sun can make such a difference in the size of a plant especially veggies. Swiss chard has never been so big or happy on my property. The few that I planted are loving it up front as well as the tomatoes.

Still to do list:

:: I plan to fill in with lots of herbs such as sage, lavender and grey santolina.

:: The soil is pretty compacted and clay based. I plant to apply a good amount of compost and leaf mulch this fall.

:: Replace a concrete walkway to the front door with a stone pathway. 


Until I can purchase some more things I water, I weed and I envision.

Patience truly is a gardener's best friend.

some progress

i've started!! and i am so excited.

my plans have changed a bit and i now have a clear vision of how i want things to look.

there will now be a small rock wall at the top of the hill and an evergreen hedge at the bottom with perennials, ground covers, and herbs in between.
on the top flat part of the hill will be vegetables, soft fruit and more herbs.

this week i started by digging up a few plants and transplanting them elsewhere. but before long my plans changed and i began to dig up everything. i am starting completely over. a clean slate.

we started to break up a concrete walkway where a small flagstone path will go with herbs in between.

my neighbors keep walking by and asking what i am up to now.
i told them to get used to seeing me up front.

the job is a bit messy right now and planting will have to wait a few weeks.
but as much as i like to plant, i love to create spaces.
stay tuned.....

a work in progress

i am a bit shy to share this post mainly because there is nothing very pretty to show. but i am excited to share with you where i will be spending a lot of my time this season.

when we first bought our home we had big plans to reconfigure the front of our house.
we live in a twin on the corner and have always dreamed of changing the entrance from the front of the house over to the side and converting the front porch into a larger living room. but with all that comes along with a "fixer upper" of a home this large project would have to wait.




with that in mind we found ourselves working from the back of the house first (putting on a back porch, building a patio, creating garden spaces, building rock walls, etc).
we now use the back door as our main entrance and the back of our home has essentially become the front and unfortunately the front has been a bit neglected and forgotten. i found myself not wanting to put too much energy into it since i knew we had big plans that would involve major construction and demolition.

but here we are 13 years later and that has not happened yet. i know one day it will but for now i have decided to give my front a little tlc and have claimed this year to be the year of the front garden!
there is no reason why i cannot be working on part of the garden space. and the beauty of the front of our home is that it is where we get the most sun.

i started this week by transplanting some currants, gooseberry and blueberries from the side where they just weren't producing much at all to the front where i think they will be much happier.

i plan to begin another rock wall in the front to help retain the large slope. i envision the hillside with culinary and medicinal herbs, strawberries, annual vegetables,and succulents.

it's kind of exciting to have a brand new space to fill with plants. even though it will take a bit of time before i truly love how the front looks i know that we need to start somewhere.
i confess that i planned this post mainly to help me to focus on an eyesore of a space that i have been ignoring. i look forward to sharing with you my progress.