Just as your face and most particularly, your smile are what contribute significantly to a first impression, so is it the facade of your house and specifically the front garden that informs the world about who the residents are. When reviewing this part of your property, ask yourself if it conveys the right message. If it is, then that must be enormously satisfying I’m sure. If not, how can it be improved? A little tweaking or a complete face-lift? Of course, if you couldn’t care less about the front garden, then stop reading! Because I’m going to discuss exactly that. But wait just a second! Are you saying you don’t even bother to keep this area neat, tidy and presentable? You do, right? Then, ha! You care. Read on.

Man or woman, everybody pays attention to how their face looks (and we also pay close attention to other people’s faces). Some more than others. It all depends on how much time and effort one is willing to expend. Putting it another way, it depends on how important it is to you. Chances are you will be similarly disposed to how you address your front garden. And that is A-okay. The main thing is to have your face or front garden reflect the best you. Just as those of us who cannot stand to wear too much make up and feel uncomfortable if we do, a fussy, high maintenance garden ( yes, such a thing exists) will look incongruous. So lets consider the front of your property.

Get outside onto the street, face the house and take a hard look at what you see. Assess it honestly. Chances are there is room for improvement. Note down everything you think can be done. Make the list in order of priority or urgency. Think simple. The ugly hedge might not require replacing – a proper trimming could be all that needs doing. On the other hand, a sickly tree ought to be removed before it topples over and causes damage. It is a good idea to look at the front area at different times of day and keep in mind the different seasons.

Perhaps over the years, as surrounding trees and shrubs grew, what was once a sunny area is now shady and the plants are no longer thriving. Time to replace the plantings with those more suitable. Similarly, if trees were lost due to age or storms, a shady area is now more exposed to the sun. While it might feel a bit daunting to rethink a whole area, these are actually the ‘perks’ of a gardening life. Something to challenge us, shake uu out of our humdrum ways. If you really are at a loss on how to go about making big changes, ask fellow gardeners or even get a garden designer’s advice.

Assuming the exterior of your house is in good shape, lets start on the area that leads one up to it.
Literally. How does the walkway to the house look? Does it need repair, repaving or replacing? You are going for attractive but sensible. Paved pebbled or gravel paths are not kind to feet ( especially when in high heels) and the former can get slippery when wet or iced over. Too narrow or too wide might need some correction. Likewise, look at other hardscaping such as walls. They should be in good repair and preferably softened with greenery. Remember, you are going for an appearance that appeals to others but must primarily make you very pleased to see your home every single time.

Look at matters of practical maintenance. Is the front garden easy enough to keep routinely tidy? Watering should be convenient. All parts of the area should be accessible for cleaning, weeding, pruning etc., Otherwise, it’ll be prone to neglect.

Check the boundaries. In a formal set up, these delineations are attractive elements themselves. Hedges are kept very neat and clipped. In less formal gardens, the boundaries can be blurred with some creative planting. Stone walls are lovely but need the hardness reduced with plants that either front them or scramble on them. Likewise, other types of fences must serve the dual purposes of marking off the property as well as participating in the general garden design.In any case, some thought needs to be put in.

Lighting is an item that is often overlooked. If your walkway is long, a single light by the front door is inadequate. Think of additional sources of light for the dark hours but keep them discrete. Also, if there is a beautiful specimen tree or special sculpture, you might want to highlight it with a bit of muted illumination. Be sure none of the lights shine into neighboring homes.

If you have the means, redesign your space so parked cars are not the most visible items seen when viewing your home from the front.

Don’t overlook what is known as ‘front door impact’. Plants that are striking such as topiaries or standards. Large pots with interesting, exuberant plants. Something that says one has arrived at a special place and can anticipate more of the same beyond the front door.

Finally, we approach the most fun part of the garden – the plantings. If all there exists is an expanse of lawn and some foundation plantings, you can do much better than that! Unless huge lawns are required for regular rounds of croquet, they ought to be reduced and made more interesting by creating additional flower beds or planting attractive small or mid-size trees. Beef up the foundation plantings with plants that provide color, cheer and visual interest through the seasons. Have fun with your choices and select what you personally enjoy. The garden should say something about you remember?

If you wish, extend the garden right up to the house with creative combinations of plants in hanging pots or window boxes. Add drama at the gate or entrance to the walkway with a collection of pots ( larger the better). Think outside the box and change ho-hum to oh! My!

In my case, I want my front garden to say open, friendly, optimistic, creative, interesting and thoughtful people live here. Rather ambitious you say? That’s where the optimism helps.What do you want your front garden to say?

Note: You have the opportunity to see if I’ve succeeded in my mission by coming to my garden on Open Garden Day this Saturday May 25. Click on ‘Happenings’ page to get details.

Perennial Bed

The walkway

View from the street

Window box – changed seasonally

Other perennial bed

As gardeners, we often take it as a personal failure when a plant succumbs to disease or dies in spite of our best efforts. There is always the question of what more could one have done that nags us in those quiet hours of the night. Okay, so they hound the likes of me and other plant obsessed people.

As frequent as it might be sheer negligence or excessive nurturing that kills a plant, there are in actuality more universal, insidious reasons at work. Pests like the long horned borer, fungi that kill Impatiens, the red lily beetle are all devastating and none are the direct result of an individual gardener. Some of these ‘criminals’ are stowaways from foreign lands – ensconced in the wood of crates and other packing material. Still others are brought in surreptitiously by gardeners keen to have an exotic in their garden. Cuttings, seeds, bulbs and entire plants have all been smuggled by those not ever intending to cause any harm. But, much harm has indeed been done.

Often, bugs from elsewhere have no natural predators in their adopted country. Hence, they can be unstoppable till humans come up with a choice poison. The pests can go undetected for several years. Then, when weather conditions support their growth, we suddenly notice a dreadful disease affecting a specific plant specimen. Thus, we see that there are actually two factors at work here. The murderous bug as well as the climate.

It is all too obvious our climate has changed. According to experts, we will be seeing more of the likes of hurricanes Irene and Sandy. The USDA plant hardiness zones have all been ‘upgraded’. So, if you are in Zone 5, you can probably now consider yourself in Zone 6. Pretty incredible right? I personally find it a bit disconcerting that one day my treasured agapanthus that grow in pots and spend the winters cosseted in the greenhouse, will one day, in the not so distant future, be a happily thriving clump in a sunny corner of the garden all year round.

But, coming to the immediate, at the Rocky Hills talk given by the highly respected plant pathologist Margery Daughtery this past Thursday, the audience was confronted with the problems of both boxwood blight ( Calonectria pseudonaviculata) and Impatiens afflicted by powdery mildew ( Plasmopara obducens ). In each of these cases, the epidemic is a result of the climate providing the best conditions for the pests. For the time being, these diseases are here to stay. It is safe to assume that scientists are busy trying to find ways to counteract the problems. But until such time, Daughtery advices that we refrain from planting new boxwoods and impatiens. Something else to know, the ubiquitous pachysandra is in the boxwood family and susceptible to the same blight.

Instead of boxwood, she suggests finding alternatives that could work just as well. Who knew that Lonicera, our native honeysuckle, can be trimmed to give similar shape, structure and function! I’m itching to try this and will do so as soon as I decide on a good location in the garden.

The familiar bedding staple that is Impatiens walleriana, is for the time being, a lost cause. Daughtery’s alternatives are New Guinea impatiens or begonias. Simple enough right?

Nurseries will not be carrying Impatiens until an all clear is announced. Most will also be cautious with selling boxwood. Instead of lamenting the loss, we gardeners must stand in solidarity and do our part. First and foremost, no sneaking in plants or seeds from foreign countries. Maintain good garden hygiene and strict organic practices. This includes composting kitchen and garden waste, mulching thoroughly, watering only as necessary and getting rid of all diseased material in tightly closed garbage bags with the regular trash. We need to fill our gardens with plants appropriate to our climate, preferably native to our country and with due consideration to genetic diversity.

Boxwood blight and the powdery mildew should be seen as the serious signals that they are. We’ve been warned.

Red Lily Beetle

Healthy boxwood hedge trimmed to shape.

(c) 2013 Shobha Vanchiswar
I (Shobha) will be giving a talk on gardening on May 7, 2013. Click here for details.