In the Spring of 2006, we decided to plant a garden in the front yard. We had put in a few plants the year before that had been moved from our old house, which included; Iris, Daylily, Tiger Lilly, and Phlox.

Our front yard before planting the garden.

Our front yard before planting the garden.


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Planning the Garden — Decide what you want the garden to do for you.

We wanted to have a garden that would not only be pretty but also attract birds. We also wanted to be able to enjoy it from it from the comfort of our living room through the picture window.

We ordered plants from a catalog that were already color coordinated. We ordered a blue perennial garden and a red perennial garden. The plants arrived in early May.

With the help of a rototiller, we created the basic shape of the garden. A path was made on each side of the front sidewalk and a circle shape off to the side under the Maple tree. Then we put fabric and mulch down over the whole area.

First sign of Spring — The Iris and Daylily Bloom

The Iris and Daylily Bloom

Now for the fun part, adding new plants.

The plants that came through mail order were either very small or root stalks that would not be attractive plants right away. We added some plants from our local nursery, Yellow Primrose, Pink Calla Lily and Sweet Potato.

new plants were added to the garden

new plants were added to the garden

The Granite Bench and The Wizard

We built a granite bench for the garden. We were fortunate enough to have a brother-in-law who had access to scrap pieces of granite. With two round cylinders and one large slab, my husband made a bench for the garden. He also added a wooden statue of “The Wizard” that had been a gift from his son.

Our garden

How the garden looks today.

Once the garden is established, continue to add your favorite things to make it your own space. We later added garden lights, a birdbath, a bird feeder, sea shells and a rock border.