Southern Gardens

Southern Gardens

Like most of the property, the south-facing lawn was a blank slate, with two mature trees and a few small, overgrown beds. In 2018, our aging silver maple was removed, leaving a large Norway maple as the property’s only established shade tree.

The following year, we broke ground on the Southern Gardens by carving a large, sweeping kidney-shaped bed into the lawn, creating space for dense borders brimming with sun-loving plants.

In 2021, I dove into studying the ecological value of native plants. Since then, each garden has been steadily (and at times drastically) transformed to increase the diversity and abundance of native plants.

Several circular and semi-circular beds were added over the years, creating a dynamic space that invites imaginative play, hide-and-seek, and exploration.

The Southern Gardens are an exuberant array of warm reds, yellows, and pinks, and purples. In spring, columbine dances throughout the beds while the delicate serviceberry blossoms billow overhead. As the gardens build toward late summer, black-and brown-eyed susan’s, asters, and bee balm carry the garden into an autumn haven buzzing with life. In winter, dried stems lean onto one another, creating linear chaos under the weight of cascading ice and snow.