A Garden Remodel: The Fence Garden

Several years ago we began to create a garden along the fence at my parents home.  As you can see in the first two pictures there was very little there. A birch tree was planted along the fence to eventually create some shade. On the right are two apple trees that died and were removed since this picture was taken.

 

 

This is how the garden looked before my recent remodel. Over the last couple years several trees and shrubs were added like a Yoshino cherry, Kwanzan cherry, Japanese dappled willow, red twig dogwood, and a couple bird’s nest spruces. The concrete blocks in the picture were moved from another location in the yard to mark off the new border for the garden remodel.

 

Here you can see the area close to the deck with the Japanese dappled willow just right of center.

Here is that same birch from the first picture after nearly four years of growth. It’s foliage is thick and creates a nice dappled shade area below its canopy.

Further down along the fence are the cherry trees that are consealing an area for a bamboo bench. The idea was to create a shady spot to sit and relax.

Now before you look at the newly remodeled garden pictures please note that there is still some work to be done. The mulch needs finished and the edging stones will completely border the garden area when it is all finished. We only used what blocks we had on hand and need to gather some more to complete the garden.

Here’s the result!  Most of the plants were moved form other locations around the yard to complete this area. As part of her Mother’s Day present my mom received plants from our family to supplement and fill up the garden. It was kind of a starter selection of plants for the new garden. There are two zones along this fence now: a shady zone and a sunny zone. The new sunny zone plants were a monarda and echinacea but many other plants are now included in the sunny area that were moved into the area from other spots like Russian sage, salvia, lamb’s ear, irises, ‘Silver mound’ artemisia, ponytail grass, and rudbeckia.

  

Here’s a slightly different angle that shows the length of the fence and the entire garden as it is now.

Here’s another angle on the liriope. I place this mysterious rock in the middle of the group of liriope. I suspect it is petrified wood but I’m not entirely sure, it’s black and looks neat so I stuck it in the garden!

Toward the middle of the garden I moved some azaleas that were needing a better home from the front yard. They should get the shade that they need to flourish here in the fence garden. In the back are some lamb’s ear that need a new sunnier home, they sure grow fast don’t they?

Underneath the canopy of prunus trees I planted several shade plants. All of these were a part of her Mother’s Day present extept for the coleus. The coleus is very interesting and is called ‘Henna’ after the tattoo painting art from India. The other plants are heucheras (of course!), a blue-green hosta, several varieties of astilbe, variegated pachysandra (Japanese spurge, for a ground cover) and a Japanese painted fern. One of the heucheras is an offshoot from one of my ‘Palace Purple’s but the other one is much nicer.  It has a silver-gray hue mixed with the purple which I find really cool in a heuchera. The 4 inch pot of pachysandra was able to be divided into at least two other plants. Bonus plants!

  

Here’s are the plants in the shade area so you can see them closer. They will grow and fill in over time  while more plants will be added as mom sees things she likes. Strangely this is her first hosta! I’ll encourage her to get a few more. In my opinion, if you have the spot you have to have a hosta!

 

I’ll update the garden as it grows. I always follow the strategy of buying smaller plants and letting them grow. It saves money and the plants usually adapt better. I definitely like stretching those dollars in the garden!