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lavender_lass

Garden style? Lots of pics :)

lavender_lass
12 years ago

Do you garden...and if so, what is your garden style? Does it match or contrast with your kitchen/interior design style?

For me, I love a formal layout, filled with very informal plantings. Cottage garden style is my favorite, but without some order, it tends to look very chaotic...at least to me. So, I usually plant things in mirror reverse, use a lot of grass paths and love little seating areas throughout the garden.

Here are a few of my pictures from last year. Do you want to share some of yours? Do you have a style...or still trying to decide? Just starting a garden? I thought it would be fun to share pictures and ideas :)

Fairy garden for the nieces and nephews (also known as the butterfly/bee garden with cute accents)

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Front garden

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Under fruit trees in the front yard

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Kitchen garden, with fruit, herbs, flowers and veggies...last spring and summer

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In the fall....

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Winter....

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And early this spring...

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Comments (17)

  • leela4
    12 years ago

    LL-I've seen pictures of your garden that you have posted before and I meant to ask-how do you keep the deer out? I seem to remember that you are in E. WA (as we are) and there is no way I can plant most perennials (or annuals, for that matter) without having everything fenced. Our veg.garden and raspberries are fenced, but nothing else. Just curious about how you keep your beautiful gardens.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I plant almost all deer resistant plants...except a few roses hidden in the back and some vegetables in the kitchen garden.

    They do eat a few things, especially the babies...but they learn to leave most things alone. They do not like lavender, bee balm and most herbs...and coneflowers, butterfly bushes, lilacs, cosmos, marigolds and lots of alyssum keep them out of the gardens...most of the time :)

    Of course, I did find the tomato plant with the top bitten off...and a few branches from the butterfly bushes. Babies do like to chew on everything, but they're so cute! It also helps that we're surrounded by fields, so they're not hungry deer, just curious and a little bored, looking for a tasty snack. If they were starving, they'd eat anything and everything!

    Best of luck with your garden...and where are you in eastern Washington? We have some friends about 10 miles away, in Valleyford (south of Spokane) near a heavily wooded area, that have lots of deer and problems with their gardens, too. Everything has to be fenced!

  • SYinUSA, GA zone 8
    12 years ago

    My yard is a postage stamp, so I have limited room for gardening even though I've found I love gardening more than I thought I would. Last summer I built a raised flower bed along the sidewalk and planted peonies, tulips, crocus, and irises. The tulips have been beautiful so far, but there's a huge gap where the peonies need to fill in. I have a need for definition and boundaries for my plants. Wild gardens can look amazing, but I know better than to think I can pull it off! I think my garden style matches my interior style - or at least what I have planned for the interior if those renovations ever get finished. Structure with informal, familiar furnishings. In the case of the house, a good floor plan that flows without being totally open (lofts kind of drive me batty), outfitted with family heirlooms and not-too-precious antiques. In the case of the garden, pergolas and raised beds and defined boundaries with old-fashioned homey plants. Nothing too exotic! Here's the raised bed just after I finished it:

    And here are a couple of badly taken pictures of the tulips in bloom a couple weeks ago. Other varieties have popped up since then, but the ones pictured are still going strong:

    I've still got a long way to go!

  • ae2ga
    12 years ago

    I have a half a postage stamp and need room for the dogs and the grandsons, so I too have limited space. I like to create a cottage garden style with a variety of perennials anchored by roses.

    This is where I started:

    And then I made this:

    I like this picture because it's a delphinium over 6' tall.

    And here are a few more.


    this is pop john paul the ii - the most floriferous and scented rose ever

    These days I am working like a maniac to save for the renovation so not much time for gardening with 2 1/2 jobs. I look forward to finding a job in Georgia so that I can move to my house that has a HUGE yard just crying out for flowers. I can hardly wait to be able to plant a much larger garden.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Anenemity- Your garden is so cheerful and pretty...and wonderful brick planter. Did you build that yourself? I like the capstones, too :)

    Ae2ga- What a beautiful english cottage garden! Such a welcome sight in what is still our early spring...very cute grandson and sweet little dog, too!

  • macybaby
    12 years ago

    I am so looking forward to having time to flower garden again. I put in a small flower bed here in SD, but it's gotten out of control, and then I could not keep the chickens out and finally decided I'd move it up by the house. I ahve the corner worked up -did that two years ago but I've yet to move the plants.

    Here is the old bed, before I let it go out of control.

    and this is where the new bed will be - I'll have a picket fence around it to keep those darn chickens out!

    Last few years most of my gardening activity has been devoted to this garden

    Last fall I decided I needed even more room so this year it's 80' long by 80' wide.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Macybaby- Wow! That's a big garden!

    Do you have any problem with deer or other visitors in your garden? Your new garden, by the house, is going to be pretty. What are you planning to plant? What zone are you in?

    Here, the official maps say I'm in zone 5b or 6a (LOL) Boy, are they wrong! Zone 4a is more like it...with zone 3 anywhere the wind blows. I lost most of my zone 5 roses this winter and a few zone 4. Although some may come back up (they're own root) I fear a few are done for...whereas my Canadian roses and rugosas are beautiful! Therese Bugnet is rated zone 2, has beautiful flowers and is almost thornless...in case you're thinking of adding a rose to your garden :)

    Oh, and if you like lavender, I've had great luck with Hidcote lavender, from Lowe's. They sell lots of kinds, but Hidcote is hardy to zone 4 and has a wonderful fragrance...it's more purple, too IMHO.

    I haven't lost any, but I keep it mainly out of the wind. It will take a lot of water, unlike most lavenders, so I plant it in front of the roses. The deer don't like the smell, which keeps them out of my roses, somewhat. The key is to never prune the lavender. People who do, often say it dies with a late frost. The old flowers will come off on their own, when the new ones start growing and they look nice, even dried. Can you tell roses and lavender are two of my favorite plants? LOL

    Here is a link that might be useful: Therese Bugnet

  • macybaby
    12 years ago

    I don't have much problems with deer or other animals - the garden is fenced and we keep a wide mowed area around it. The deer seem to prefer to go to the south of the horse shed, though I've seen them walk right through, but they are lazy and seem to go around the fence instead of over it.

    As to zone, I'm in 4-5, it gets plenty cold, but we have a slightly warmer season. After moving to SD 7 years ago, I had to about toss everything I knew about gardening and start over. Would not have thought it was that different from MN/WI, but it's dryier and windyer with very different soil.

    Back when I had a small yard, I had a lot of flower beds - lots of roses and I did the MN Tip to winter them (you actually bury them in the dirt) and never lost a one. I don't have a single rose here in SD.

    I have to be honest, the house remodel has taken over my life since 2004. I'm dead serious about this. It's been a part time job for many years, and I already have a full time job so there really was no time for anything else. Didn't even have much of a vegetable garden until two years ago, just no time for it.

    I've spent 10-20 hours a week on my house for most of the last seven years (with 60 on the job) and now I'm not sure what to do with myself. But it's spring, and things are starting to grow.

  • aloha2009
    12 years ago

    Hello again Lavendar,

    We have a typical small urban yard, so I have to make the best of each spot I can.

    Water is expensive here, so I try to xeriscape in mind. We will only have a small patch of grass in the front and side and the rest will be filled with trees, plants, and flowers. We want it LOW maintence but very lush, which takes a bit of research. I'm learning all I can about sunny perennials for this area, and will get a few things started this summer.

    Not much to show but a bunch of barren grass patches for now. I found a great free software tool (thru GW) called showoff.com. I haven't been able to figure out how to save projects (it should be easy but still I can't figure it out). I've changed a few of my original ideas using this tool...better to find out beforehand, instead of 5-10 years down the line that I don't like it.

  • blfenton
    12 years ago

    We are zone 7b and I promise to learn how to post pics now that my kids are finished university for the summer they can teach me. Not much to show right now. We were out of our house last summer from March to September because of a whole-house reno so I only did weeding.
    My garden isn't very big, basic city lot of 72' x 125', and I do mainly perennial gardening with hostas, Rudbeckias, columbine flowers (there is a type that is native to our area) etc. My Camillia didn't do very well this year - it had lots of flowers but as soon as they bloomed they turned brown. We had a very cold and wet April which Camillias don't like.
    A couple of years ago I started container gardening and I'm going to do more of that this year. maybe vegetables which I've also done in the past.

  • coastal_modern_love
    12 years ago

    My gardening "wishes" do not match my home style! I say wishes because what we actually have does match my style of decorating, but it's not what I like in a landscape. I prefer lazy summer days in the deep south on the water type of landscapes.
    I dream of weeping willows and all I see are hydrangeas and pine needles!! My DH hates them (willows, any form, shape or size). He has taken over the gardening/landscaping from the start, and all I ask is to plant 3 of these beautiful trees at the end of our land. I think I may have to borrow the pickup one of these days...

    We have yet to mulch the beds and I have taken to trimming so it's still a mess out there, but will get some pics here tomorrow! Great thread LL!

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Coastal- I love willows! We have a few standard willows, down by the creek, but I really want to plant some weeping willows, too. We had one as a kid and it was wonderful. They're so graceful and pretty...and they make a great hide out, too (LOL)

    It sounds like you're from the South...do you miss it? My dad is from South Carolina...it's so pretty down there, especially in the spring!

    Blfenton- Too bad about the camillas. That's so disappointing, when you look forward to something blooming and then the rain hits. We had that happen last year, with our lilacs. I look forward to seeing pictures of your garden, it sounds beautiful :)

    Aloha- Hi! Lush and low maintenance...sounds like a great combination. I don't have software, but I draw a lot of sketches (as you probably know, LOL) but it does help with planning the garden. I still end up moving a few things, but not as much as I would otherwise!

    Macybaby- Our climate is more like yours, cold and dry, with lots of wind. It's been tough on the roses, but I haven't tried burying them like that...thanks for the tip! Maybe that will work on a few of the more delicate ones.

    You're lucky about the deer! Mine love to wander around in my gardens, but only at night. During the day, they pretend to be shy and don't come up to the yard at all, but you can tell they've been over to visit, the next morning. Luckily, they aren't finding too much they like to eat...the few daffodil and hyacinth leaves they've tried must taste pretty bad, because they haven't been eating any more. We'll see what happens, when the tulips start blooming...

  • macybaby
    12 years ago

    the one thing I have the most trouble with are the young trees - if the deer don't eat them, the destroy them rubbing off the velvet - and these are trees right near the house!

    I consider deer to be overgrown cottontails - but they do taste better.

  • mama goose_gw zn6OH
    12 years ago

    lavender, my yard and garden look very similar to yours, but mine is covered in weeds--not enough dry weather this spring to do much more than mow.

    anememity and ae2ga, beautiful pics--love those colors!

    macybaby, that's what I wish my garden looked like!

  • coastal_modern_love
    12 years ago

    I am not from the south, never been other than a couple of trips to FL. Nor'Eastern gal here, born and raised. I just love the lush look of hundred year old shade trees lining a lazy river. The thought of me sitting on a dock sippin' sweet tea shaded from the burning sun under a magnificent willow! And it's raining here so no pics today :(

  • BettyJSmith
    9 years ago

    My home is an old mid-century modern type A-frame. It's as comfortable as a well-worn pair of tennis shoes. My garden is informal and welcoming. I am currently in the process of turning my front yard into a cottage garden. Just received 29 bareroots from J&P and they will be the foundation for the cottage garden I've been dreaming about for ages! Right now, they're under a tree, covered in wet leaves until I can get them into the ground. For some reason, I wasn't expecting them until NEXT spring! My gardening helpers will be here tomorrow to help dig the beds. The next round of 11 roses will arrive sometime this week. After that, it's time to plant the filler plants. I'm thinking lots of salvias, grasses, rudbeckias and a few vines to draw the hummingbirds. I'll probably add some veggies eventually. Right now, it's all about getting the rose beds dug and planted.

  • lavender_lass
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Betty- It's been a few months...any pictures? :)

    My garden is a mess, but getting ready to move will do that...among other things. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post next spring!