A Fresh Look for a Once Unloved Garden

In 2016 an overgrown garden completely hid this house from view. With a vision of making spaces for everyone to enjoy, this ambitious gardener spent three weeks hauling away 3,000 pounds of unwanted plants and brush.  As the garden transformed, zones for most plant needs became apparent, “...I can get any plant that catches my eye and find a place for it to thrive.”  

Wisteria weaves across the front fence beneath an old beech tree. In front of the living room window are ‘Ben Morrison’ evergreen azaleas and a row of ‘Miss Saori’ hydrangea, featuring double flowers and dark foliage.  Edgeworthia and Daphne odora provide winter fragrance, while a ‘Verdoni’ dwarf hinoki cypress plays a starring role in a beautiful pot. 

In the shade of the beech tree are lemon-lime hydrangeas and hostas. Three varieties of fruit are grafted onto each espaliered pear and apple tree on the west side of the house, and three kiwi vines grow along the fence. Behind the vegetable garden, the fruit theme continues with raspberries and blackberries and some blueberry bushes. 

An old mugo pine stands at the entrance to the spacious summer living space and a vintage clawfoot tub is bordered by colorful trailing abutilon, with flowers like Chinese lanterns. Visitors pass a garden of favorite plants on the east side, strolling under a bower of mature camellias and rhododendrons that shade epimediums, ferns and hostas, completing the circle of zone varieties.