We have a bit of an awkward front garden, in that there is already an established privet hedge separating the garden from the pavement, and there is also access for Husband's van to be parked down the side of the house. The aspect isn't terrible, but not great either - it's east facing so gets lovely morning sun, but then is in shade for the rest of the day. It's also very dry, so I have to remember to water it regularly.
I tried to choose plants that were suited to shady conditions, but I do get a bit carried away when buying plants and always end up with at least one or two which aren't suitable and I just think I'll bung them in and give them a go anyway! At the moment, we've got only spring flowering plants in there, and my plan is to add to it over the course of the year with some summer-flowering plants too. The Acer looks good in autumn and winter, but I think I will try to add one or two other plants/shrubs for autumn/winter interest. What I'm finding particularly difficult is to get enough plants to give year-round interest into such a small space.
Anyway, this is how it looks so far:
Unfortunately, I'm not able to remove the grey box, so I have planted Crocosmia in that space, which will hopefully cover it up.
(Hmm, that stack of glass needs to go...) I will hopefully plant a Dahlia in this empty space to give some height and colour. A little worried about the lack of sun, but a lady three doors down from us has Dahlias in her front garden and they do really well every year.
These daffs are so pretty
Anemones which I transplanted from the back garden (they're making way for the greenhouse)
Muscari and Primulas - these should look better next year. I transplanted the Muscari and I don't think they liked it much :-/
I planted the Hyacinth because I thought that it would smell lovely every time you open the front door (it does the job brilliantly) but I'm a bit worried about how it will cope with the shade. Th Hellebore flowers in the foreground immediately turned from white to green as soon as I planted them - not sure why that happened!
This Acer has been there for years, and is very happy. I added the Fern because I like ferns and I think it will quite like the conditions here.
The Magnolia in the foreground has been there for years and is finally flowering (a full month later than last year!) I am hoping the grass will grow back quickly and cover that patch of bare soil.
So, that's been my mini-project for the front garden. It's still looking brand new and hasn't filled out yet, but hopefully I can improve it over the year so that next year it looks a bit more mature. I was quite impressed with the brick edging - something I've never done before. I was surprised at how easy it was and I like the effect of it. It will look better once the grass has grown back though, I'm sure.
Right, must get out and plant the potatoes now, while the rain is still holding off. Hope everyone has had happy gardening days in the sun!
