Garden Notes

Condo Front Garden

One of the gardens that I have been involved with is my daughter’s. When she purchased her condo in Chicago five years ago, the front yard was landscaped nicely with shrubs and a bit of grass lawn surrounded by a wrought iron fence and a locked gate. There were also large maple trees on the curb that shaded the yard.

By the second year the grass on the shadier side of the yard was pretty much dead and looked like a pile of dirt and weeds. We decided to transition to a shade garden, so around Memorial Day, I came to visit with a sampling of plants I dug up from my own garden. I brought hosta, bleeding heart, heuchera, periwinkle, daylily, Siberian iris, brunnera, forget-me-not, lamium and hydrangea. The garden soil was very compact and simply worn out so we dug it over and added some compost and slow release fertilizer. We planted the perennials, added some impatiens plants near the entrance and mulched the garden with wood chips.

That first year, the garden looked better than the dead grass but the perennials were small and did not do much. In the fall we took out the impatiens and planted a few tulips for spring color and scattered daffodils throughout the garden.

Each year the garden has gotten better. We are now in the fourth year and the garden really looks good. We added a few allium to the sunny side, and moved the daylily plants and the Siberian iris to that side as well since they were struggling in the shade. The old gardening proverb about perennials is; the first year they sleep, the second year they creep and the third year they leap and it was true for this garden.

Sunny Side of Garden

I love working on this project with my daughter helping to improve the curb appeal for her home. Since the garden is small, it does not take much time. After the initial year, each spring and fall our garden project takes a couple of hours. In the spring we plant a few annuals, fertilize and mulch and in the fall we plant a few bulbs.  The important thing is that we still have plenty of time for shopping and the garden looks great!

Shady Side of Garden

Rochelle’s Garden Update