Shobha’s garden

Our small garden has limitations and constraints but in no way does it limit one’s creativity and personal expression.

We employ organic gardening practices (no pesticides, chemical fertilizers or insecticides) and make and use our own compost.

Please enjoy the tour. You can get an enlarged view by clicking on a picture.

Start your visit with the front garden. The fence was designed to delineate the garden as well as to invite viewing from the street.

The brick walkway is designed as well to be visually interesting while connecting street to house.

The two flower beds near the house contain many bulbs and herbaceous perennials to provide color and texture through the growing seasons.

Above, are the window boxes which are changed seasonally.

The rose arch has clematis and New Dawn roses and provides an annual hideaway to nesting birds.

 

Continue along the side of the house. On your right is a row of peonies.

All along the left side is a Belgian espalier of apples and pears. This aesthetic feature not only functions as a fence, it is productive and easy to maintain as compared to regular fruit trees.

As you walk along, you pass a David Austen “Boscobel”rose and a R.’Leda‘ on your right, a fig tree, a tree peony and you come upon the side porch. Citrus, rosemary, olive and agapanthus are maintained in pots. A wisteria underplanted with hellebores scrambles up the porch softening the concrete structure.

The side path ends in another climbing rose – David Austin’s Strawberry Hill arbor.

Proceed into the herb garden with culinary and medicinal herbs. Several of which are mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. There is also a potager with cool weather greens. The rain barrel in this area is used to water all the pots and the potager. The rest of the garden is seldom watered, as the plants are expected to be hardy.

Stepping down from here is the pergola with native wisteria sprawling over it. This feature provides a perfect garden extension to our living area.

The fountain is an appealing water feature and the trough contains miniature water lilies.

Notice the wood burning brick oven, and across from it, the (Concord) grape arbor.

 

The checkerboard garden of slate and Phlox subulata was designed to be viewed from above (from the house). After bloom season, the phlox is cut back to perfect squares and provides graphic interest. The myrtle standard is underplanted with more greens, herbs and flowers.

The lower garden is a meadow naturalized with many different bulbs, forget-me-nots and ajuga and a variety of native plants thatr keep the garden buzzing with pollinators. We accept the ‘lawn’ the way nature intends, full of diversity and surprises. Bordering the whole ‘meadow’  are many native shrubs, ferns and herbaceous perennials.

The woods beyond provide a backdrop for the entire garden. The greenhouse is used to keep the tender perennials safe through the winter as well as to get a jump start in spring with seeds and root cuttings.

The treehouse in the corner blends into the woods.

and finally the vertical garden…