Friday, February 12, 2010

The Beginning: The Front Garden

In the beginning… Our front yard was lawn and more lawn, scraggly bushes and weedy trees.  I’ve been posting a series that I tag “Making a Garden” where I show the “afters”.  The time has come to show the “before” .

front before

Our house was built in 1929.  We moved in during the winter of 1992. Inside we stripped and finished the floors, painted and did what you do in fixer-uppers.  Later we knocked out a back wall and enlarged the kitchen.  We also added 2 dormers to the attic making an upstairs bedroom and a new bath.  That spring I started in the garden.

1992 front yard

Our first spring: Ted removed a couple elm trees.  To the right in the middle of the lawn we kept a large elm tree that serves as shade. The two existing shrubs are double mock oranges. They are very fragrant. Take a look at them after a few years of getting care.

front mock oranges (2)

pink simplicity & william baffin roses (2)

Nothing is constant except change. 

new pink flagstone (2)

The previous post is on our Pink Limestone Pathways. This picture shows how very pink the flagstones start out.  In time the stones turn a softer pink. If you scroll down the blogroll to the previous post you’ll see more examples of this pathway in our garden.

24 comments:

  1. Hi Gloria~~ NICE! I love the transformation. The exuberance is just eye candy! And I bet the mock oranges are the best kind of nose candy. :)

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  2. Hi Gloria,

    A picture is worth a thousand words and yours certainly tell a story of change, taking out a somewhat boring front landscape and creating a beautiful and welcoming garden in its place. The difference is incredible. You have a great talent for garden design :^)

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  3. Your front garden adds so much charm to your house! I love seeing how your garden developed. You are very talented. I think it is wonderful how you have taken an old place and given it new life.

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  4. Gloria, Your house and grounds must have been so happy to have you move in! It is breathtaking to see the contrast in your before and after shots. Moving in how your efforts and spirits are revealed in your making 'a paradise of your own'. The particulars are outstanding, but I am so impressed with the overall lush transformation of 'place' shown in your photos. It is only my interpretation, but the early photos of what your home looked like when you moved in seem to lack joy and abundance, whereas when you made it your own there is an overwhelming overflow of both! Wow! ;>) Carol

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  5. Dear Gloria, What a remarkable transformation. What a pity that so many others do not have your imagination and flair and are content to leave their front gardens much as yours was at the start.

    Your garden, beautifully and sympathetically planted, creates such a welcome, drawing one in and towards the hall door. You must be so pleased with the overall effect.

    True, nothing stays still but that, in part, is so much of the fun of gardening!

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  6. Gloria ~ You have done a beautiful job. I love the roses and everything about your garden! The pathway is wonderful with the flowers growing between the flagstone.

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  7. You are so right that nothing is constant but change. What an amazing change in your front garden.

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  8. Thank you, all of you! You are so kind in your comments..For the last 2 years I have been making big changes in the front garden. I hope to show them in the spring. Gloria

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  9. Gloria:
    From the photos it could be incorrectly surmised that you went to bed one night, and awoke to a gorgeous transformation, but I am sure you had aching muscles to show for the hard work. The transformation is simply amazing and I can smell the Philadelphus from here. I love the pink walkway..... adds texture and colour to the other complimentary palates that you have chosen. Definitely a garden that is loving tended!

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  10. Thank you Teza! It's more like every morning or evening that I could I'd go out with a shovel and start working! I like you, I think, prefer the shade. At the time I'd get really bad migraines and being outside made me feel good. It must be the serotonin that you get from the Mycobacterium vaccae, the friendly soil bacteria which scientist now think improves our feelings. I did a post on this last fall. :)

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  11. Wonderful pics. If you don't mind, I'm going to use the after pictures to show Pat that we can do this. jim

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  12. Hi, Gloria;
    What a lovely, inviting entrance to your home. Do you ever get strangers boldly knocking on the door? :) I couldn't resist and did that one time -- I just had to compliment the gardener on all of her hard work. She thought I was nuts! I would have done the same thing if I'd found yours.

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  13. Jim,Yes! you and Pat can do this!!! Kate, yes I have had strangers come to the garden. I am flattered and always pleased to give a garden tour! It's rare when working out front that someone doesn't stop their car and talk to me. That's a small town for you!

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  14. What a difference! You've done so much inside and out there. I bet visitors must stand and take in the beautiful flowers and their fragrance before they make it to your front door.

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  15. Gloria, I love seeing before and after pictures. It is amazing to see all the work that you have done over the years. What a great acomplishment!

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  16. Gloria, You are amazing! I hope we're neighbors in the paradise:)

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  17. Wow! what a transformation, your have a beautiful garden.

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  18. Very dreamy photos. I felt like I was reading a book about English fairy tales or something. A very romantic look...well done!

    Christine in Alaska

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  19. Hi Gloria, I love before and after sequences, ye have come through quite a transformation.

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  20. Gloria,
    What a beautiful transformation. Your house and garden look fresh, lush, and bountiful. You have done such a beautiful job in creating your paradise. The mock orange truly reveal your efforts and love for gardening. It has been lovely following along as your vision for your garden unfolds. :)

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  21. wow! Gloria, I am so impressed with this. I have always loved a cottage front yard garden and mine grows a little bigger every year, this year it will finally take over the whole front yard. But you have really inspired me with what you have done here, it is truly beautiful and amazing, I bet your neighbors love you! Jeri

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  22. Hi i am new here, just followed from Rebecca's. I salute your ingenuity in making the Before a very successful and beautiful After. How lovely and awesome it turned out to be. I wonder how it seems so easy and fun for you, no insects, no pests, etc, etc. Did you not encounter such, because every plant seems so healthy and happy there. I love to stay in such ambience!

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  23. Thank you all for your comments. Andrea, we are very dry here. Our biggest threat to many flowers are deer. But, little by little I have learned that some plants repel the deer. I've seen them just walk right by my garden. I try to grow lots of different flowers and plants. That invites good insects to the garden. They seem to take care of the bad insects. Good soil and the right plants for the right spot make for a healthy balance.

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  24. I'm going to have to put up for before and after shots of my gardens now that I'm so inspired- yours are such a treat to see! Thanks!

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