The gardens were started from a blank slate in the late summer of 2014. They kept expanding through the summer of 2019. New projects and expansion have now come to an end. A maturing garden is well into the slow pace of change and maintenance phase. No garden is ever truly static.
There were two damaging spring freezes this year. Finally the garden has grown out of the damage and is looking all fresh and new again.
All the
Hydrangea macrophylla froze and were cut down to regrow from the base. They won't be flowering with any abundance until right before the first freeze of autumn. Maybe next year.
Most of the bearded iris are blooming way better than I expected after getting zapped.
There are
Hydrangea paniculata and
H. arborescens throughout the grounds so there will be hydrangea blossoms for summer weddings.
I've been told it is the lawn between pavers that elicits the most admiring commentary, in a garden jam packed with botanical abundance, good grief.
Vat of pond scum #1, Twin Falls Pond has been through countless koi. There is a heron that likes to visit.
The greenery around the ponds gets so lush during the growing season I have to trim it to keep the pond and fish open to view.
Two pretty koi are left. These small ponds are easy pickings for a heron and other kind varmints should they choose to go fishing.
One cement fountain is starting to shed bits of concrete even though it is drained and covered for the winter. It is just another vat of pond scum. The water can get nasty in the warm. It does not help that people, children in particular, have some primordial need to toss rocks and gravel into the thing. I would must prefer dollar bills.
Vat of pond scum #2, The Almighty Falls will be the death of me. It's not easy growing a garden on a wet pile of rocks. The hillside above with Fothergilla, Sumac, Juniper and Cotoneaster is almost filled in. The sumac is starting to sucker which makes me happy.
The Wedding Cake Garden is in spring three and coming along nicely.
Autumn Fern, hosta and geranium are in the upper tiers.
The lower tier has
Vinca minor 'Illumination' as a groundcover and 'Wee White'
Hydrangea arborescens which has been struggling mainly due to it constantly being eaten by deer and the groundhog. Damn varmints. There are bunnies that live here too.
The giant wet rock at the bottom only wants to grow weeds. I think I am just going to start mowing it and be done with it. It can be a nice Japanese maple in the lawn with some ferns.
That will work visually with the flat groundcover
Cotoneaster dammeri 'Streib's Findling' on the other side of the falls.
The first $1500 pump it takes to lift all that water thirty five feet high lasted three years before it shocked me and sent the prettiest koi belly up into the skimmer with a 240 volt flow of electricity in the water. We both survived. Pond scum is not cheap or low maintenance or always safe.
It does make a fine background for photos.
The front porch beds are rather traditional and mundane by comparison. 'The View' is from this covered porch so the plants don't matter quite so much.
Creeping Juniper, Cherry Laurel, Hydrangea, Nandina and a dwarf Chamaecyparis with annual flower filler are the core elements of these front beds.
The lawn sweeps over to The Almighty Falls.
But the stepping stone lawn is everybody's favorite. Who knew it would be such a hit?
That is a
Persicaria polymorpha on the right. I wanted to give it a try in a proper garden. I have three of them in mine.
This is back around to the Kitchen Garden seen a bit earlier. It is what you see from the kitchen window. It was looking lovely after a much needed rain.
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