DEEP DIVE: MODERN SPACE PLANNING AT A VICTORIAN HOME
THE EXISTING SPACE: The front yard garden used to have two large shade trees that were removed before my clients moved in, which meant the existing shade plantings would need to be transitioned into a full sun garden. The side of the home is currently being used as parking for the tenants, but as my clients renovate this Victorian house back into their single-family home, they want to rebuild the side yard into a usable outdoor living space.
THE GOAL: The goal for the front yard is to revamp the garden using sun-loving plants and create a space with a wide range of bloom colors, tons of fragrance, and year-round interest. The side yard is a complete redesign that needs to have space for a pool, outdoor seating, a fire pit zone, and raised garden beds. A new privacy fence would be going up but the clients wanted it to be filled in with lively plantings to break up the hardscape.
THE DESIGN:
Beginning in the front yard, we added two small ornamental trees that will provide a bit of shade but also beautiful spring blooms. We chose two pink flowering trees - a Dogwood and a Flowering Cherry. The plants selected to be in the foundation beds are a mixture of shrubs and perennials, with scent and bloom colors being the main focus. A short Viburnum was placed on the corner for a display of spring blooms, followed by late-spring Oso-Easy Roses, and we reused two existing Hydrangea to bring in color from summer into fall. Two evergreens were placed on either side of the front steps for holiday lights and a touch of formality. A few perennials fill in the garden bed space in front of the shrubs - spring-blooming Dianthus, summer-blooming Lavender, and fall-blooming Sedum. The client requested that the garden not be super full and wanted space between the plants, but I was able to give them plenty of color and a full year of interest, even with fewer plants used.
In the backyard, we lined the pool with Sky Pencil Holly and underplanted it with Ajuga to keep maintenance low. The bed around the pool is only 3’ wide so the skinny Holly will fill in the area nicely. Part-shade plants were used along the rest of the left fenceline to account for this bed only receiving AM sun. Azalea, Leucothoe, and Solomon’s Seal will fill in this garden. Agastache and repeats of some of the front yard plants were included near the new raised bed vegetable garden area to attract pollinators to the area. Finally, I included a bump out in the seating area near the pool to accommodate a small Redbud tree. This tree will provide privacy from the neighbors, and shade in the summer, and is a focal point from the future kitchen doorway which will lead into this side yard. The bumpout was also a way to break up the long straight line of the garden bed and provide a visual separation between the pool area and the rest of the side yard.
THE RESULT: We were able to fit in everything the client requested on this small side yard! The lot is pretty narrow but I think we made the best use of the small space - keeping the garden beds shallow to accommodate for necessary hardscape areas, but allowing for a couple of interesting focal areas to break up the straight-lined beds. The front garden will provide the scent and color that the client requested and will be a low-maintenance space they can enjoy from the wraparound front porch.