I have a fairly decent cottage garden in the backyard. But the front and sides are a mess.Here is one of the side yards. I live in one of those communities with HOA control. I need to get this area in shape, but since it's exposed to the street, I can't risk hacking it up and making it worse - oh, yes, it is possible. This side is my biggest problem of all. It's just a narrow strip. (You can tell mine from the neighbors. His is the green lawn. Mine is the brown lawn.LOL)
The unsightly jumble of thorns down the side of the house is English roses, mostly pink. Clearly they need to be pruned. Here's the thing. I hate that side of the yard. I never, ever, ever go there. I'm thinking of giving it to the neighbor. It's dead ended by the backyard privacy fence (that said, grey thing at the back).The neighbors house is right there just a few feet to the left- with several windows looking directly at this eyesore. When I force myself to go over there long enough to prune the roses, I feel like I'm in a giant spotlight, on display, zero privacy. I can't wait to get out of there.
As bad as it looks in the photo, in spring when the roses bush out and bloom, I've actually received compliments on them. Again they are the English variety with large, full blooms that spill out toward the lawn. However, about the time it starts to look and smell heavenly, a herd of deer that walks between our 2 houses on the way to the pond across the street quickly turns the roses into a private buffet.
I love the photos I've seen in magazines and on tv of those side yards that have been converted to intimate gardens with small trees and shrubs on both sides of a narrow stone or brick path. I would love to do something like that, but they always seem to have either a building/wall on the side (across from the house) or atleast a tall fence. I'm having difficulty trying to figure out how to deal with the giant "opening" between my yard and the neighbor's yard. I'd don't think I'm allowed to put a fence there. I think I would like to plant trees and shrubs along there.I don't really want the traditional formal look of a hedge (that I have to trim) or 'n' identical evergreen trees lined up side by side - although I might like a design that includes a portion lined with those evergreens that are 8ft or more tall and only 1-2ft wide - I've seen aborvites and junipers like that. I'd love to be able to put a few small crabapples or other small flowering trees over there and maybe some flowering quince. I think I'd like to keep the roses but am willing to move them - perhaps pull them forward to put something taller behind them in places.
I prefer a design that works in a variety of different plants (I know that is much more difficult). That side faces SW. The house is a light beige with a slight yellow tint. Everything over there BAKES in the sun - although the roses seem to love it. The gutters keep rain water from reaching the plants along the foundation, so it stays very dry. To further complicate matters, I have have an automatic watering system underground. A line of pipes with pop-up sprinkler heads runs along about 1ft or so from the edge of the property - in the area where I'd like to plant a living wall. I REALLY need that living wall as it would offer some respite from the hot summer sun for the plants over there, would discourage deer from entering, and would make the area more enjoyable for me by providing privacy.
Oh, 2 more problems (like I need more): (1) the ground over there is SO hard that a friend of mine (a guy) could not get a shovel into the ground even when he jumped on it with both feet! (2) whatever I come up with, I need to be sure that I leave a neat edge on the neighbors side and preferably one that does not require tons of work (for me) to maintain.
So, with all that in mind, can anyone help? I've been trying to figure this out for 6 years. The folks here at DG always have such fabulous ideas, so I thought I'd see if you could help me design something for this area. Any ideas? I LOVE flowers. I'd love for the area to spill flowers everywhere. Crabapples, quince, roses, maybe a few red pyracantha and/or small apple or pear trees espaliered against the house behind the roses. I talked with someone about having a support built around the large windows about 1/2 way back so that the roses could be trained around the windows. Also, I bought some white stain for the fence. I started that project on the inside. I like it. I think it is a big improvement over the grey color. The stain doesn't peel and require frequent upkeep like paint. It can be tinted if you think another shade would be better. Regular wood tone stain (redwood, oak,etc) is also an option - but I'm a sucker for the cottage garden, victorian look.
