Welcome to Judy Boyle’s garden!
Hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis, Zones 3–7), Leyland cypress (× Cupressocyparis leylandii, Zones 6–10), and green giants (Thuja ‘Green Giant’, Zones 5–8) create a privacy border for the backdrop of my half acre. As proud as I am of my lawn and gardens in front of this backdrop, seen from the entire back of the house, I am even more proud of what I’ve accomplished (along with glorious Mother Nature!) behind the backdrop of my Zone 7A garden.
Three years ago, this was a forgotten section of property behind the wall of evergreens. Fallen branches, dead trees, poison ivy, and discarded stone were strewn everywhere. Little by little, I began clearing the space of all the debris.
My hubby built this adorable shed, and it’s now in the process of getting landscaped.
I have mostly planted astilbe, ferns, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, tiger lilies, ajuga, ivy, creeping Jenny, and hostas. There are very few annuals in my garden. For the past few years, I have only planted perennials; otherwise, I’d go totally bankrupt.
More of the new landscape behind the evergreen wall.
This is one of the openings from the woods to the main part of the backyard, which is in front of the evergreen wall.
My hubby built this pond about 20 years ago. It had an abundance of koi for many years, but sadly they perished during a particularly frigid winter, and now we use the pond as a water garden.
In front of the evergreen wall is a garden filled with grasses, sedum, peonies, iris, and on and on.
I have been smitten with gardening for 40 years. Every Mother’s Day since my daughter was born more than 30 years ago, I’ve received something special to plant in honor of all moms. I don’t know how I will ever leave my garden. (Here is a weeping blue cedar, Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca pendula’, Zones 6–9.)
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This content was originally published here.