Hi GPODers!
I’m guilty of never taking enough photos. I’ll be an hour or more into a project before I think, “Oh, I should have taken a ‘before’ photo!” Seeing the finished product is always exciting, but it’s even more impressive and enriching when you can document and share the process. Thankfully, Lisa Bilich in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (Zone 5b) doesn’t share in my failings and has snapped many photos as her front yard went from scorched lawn to lush and inviting gardens. Today she is showcasing the beautiful stepping stone path that began this transformation and helped shape her design.
We moved into our current house almost 25 years ago. The yard was boring and mostly grass (first picture). Our soil is sandy and very free draining. I love to garden and mostly work with ornamental plants. Our front garden is southern exposure, and very hot and dry. Every summer the lawn turned brown by the first of July and was very ugly. I did bring a few treasured plants from Oregon when we moved to Idaho. I planted them, but it was so barren and the plants were so small, I convinced my husband to cover the grass with cardboard and mulch in the fall of 2004. It was not a hard sell as he hated mowing the lawn. We had a locust tree with a ash tree growing out of it. We removed it and replaced it with a tricolor beech tree (Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolor’, Zones 4–7). Over the years it has moved from hot and sunny to shade/partial shade on the south side and full sun on the east side of the house. We are slowly improving the soil organically. It is still a work in progress but I so enjoy working in the garden. Thank you for letting me show off our project and highlight my garden.
South side with a small tricolor beech and still lawn.
Looking west, very few plants are planted at this point.
Eastside of the garden, looking into our back yard at beginning of the project.
South side of the garden, the tricolor beech with fall color. One of my favorite trees.
The garden has filled in nicely, this is the south side and shows the pergola my husband build.
Eastside of the garden, a ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Zones 5–8) and a weeping juniper tree (Juniperus scopulorum ‘Tolleson’s Weeping’, Zones 3–9) is prominent.
Thank you so much for sharing the creation of this gorgeous garden with us, Lisa! A blank slate is full of planting possibilities, and you’ve absolutely made the most of this space. I hope we are treated to more photos of your designs in the future.
Did you complete any major garden projects last year? Even if your new plantings have a while to go before they’re filled in and flourishing, we would love to see your before and after photos. Follow the NEW directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!
We want to see YOUR garden!
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, fill out the Garden Photo of the Day Submission Form.
You can also send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
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