Ha. That sounds impressive doesn't it? I'm just trying to fool myself because the word "grounds" implies acreage, doesn't it?? I certainly don't have that. Just a small, pie shaped plot with the largest section of the pie being along the front yard, coming to a point in the corner of the backyard. I took these photos last night since there has been interest in seeing long views of my garden. Many of you have seen angles of it before so bear with me. Along the entire front of my property runs a terraced garden bed that hides a terrific flagstone patio beyond it.
We spend many, many hours on our front patio which is relatively private in the summer months due to all the growth in the terraced garden. Let's look at that terraced bed from the opposite angle ~ toward the driveway:
You can see how the garden snakes & curves along the front of my property with just a small strip of grass in front. This bed extends quite a bit to the left of the oak tree with a line of junipers ending in a point where I have a small heat lovers bed full of perennials that don't need any extra attention:
Clear as mud, right? And because of the shadows, you can't see the maintenance free bed. Nice photography! Oh well, you're getting the idea right? Going back to the driveway, if you should visit my house, this would be the scene that greets you as you get out of your car and round the corner to ring my doorbell:
Our retreat. It's so relaxing and peaceful to sit in those chairs. I think my favorite spot in the garden. Before I get too caught up in that scene and want to abandon my post in favor of said chairs, let's get back to the tour. If you forego walking up the front steps to my entryway, and choose instead to follow the flagstone patio around to the side gate, this is the view that greets you:
This image is from last year, before I put the arbor over the gate, but it looks much the same today. You can see the flagstones carrying you along the way, like a bread crumb trail, to the back yard. I have plantings tucked into every nook & corner of my yard. Here's the nook that you'd see to the right of the gate:
You remember that tuteur, right? Once you open the gate and enter the back yard (and properly greet the waiting guard dog!!!) you continue to follow the pathway to the back patio area. Along the left side of the path is a hedge of viburnums and along the right another garden area:
This side garden is narrow but holds my cimicifuga, rodgersia, and a plethora of other valuable plants. Once you reach the back patio:
you can turn around and see another nook, this one shady, hosting ferns, hosta, chelone, monkshood, thalictrum, etc.:
And that my blogging friends, about tells the story. The only part of my garden left for you to explore is the backyard, seen beyond the arbor:
I have an assortment of shrubs, roses, and shade perennials around the perimeter (and tucked into more crannies) with a spot of grass in the center for my best gardening companion. All the macros you see are taken in one of these beds or another at various times of the season. The "grounds" are small but enough to keep me as busy as I want to be. Now that we've completed our tour, you're no doubt thirsty, it's certainly warm out today. You are welcome to come in for tea or maybe you'd like to have tea in the garden (I know that's where I like to be)??