Meanwhile, back on July 27, Alison and I continued our tour of south sound treasures at the charming Lakewood garden of Jan Jensen and Harry Welling.
"We take pleasure in our garden that sits at the edge of a suburban development. During the past five years, we have converted a gravel and weed filled quarter acre site into a lush little paradise, where we enjoy entertaining family and friends (and birds!)"
"After installing irrigation and bringing in 25 yards of topsoil mix, we started planting and adding some features such as the two arbors (built by Harry and a berm to create privacy and interest, rather than looking at the existing fence."
"A number of our basic philosophies have been put in practice here: no chemicals or materials that can harm other living things; recycle, reuse, repurpose... we have a number of quirky items in the garden; use native plants, but not exclusively; compost! And mostly, have fun!"
"Since we have shade/semi-shade almost everywhere, we make good use of the shade-loving plants such as the usual suspects - hydrangeas, astilbes, heucheras, hostas, Japanese maples, hellebores, hardy fuchsias, along with lilites, grasses, hebes, viburnums, and many types of conifers and other evergreen plants."
I have to say that Jan and Harry have done a beautiful job of using their space. Although the position of the house on the lot dictated some decisions regarding where the various garden spaces could be, they've made several interesting rooms that make the garden seem to be larger than it is.
I love lily time in the garden. There's nothing quite like that fragrance! Dig the cool turquoise head planter!
The path leading to the fence and arbor make it seem as if the garden continues.
I loved this idea! My crocs never look this good after being worn in the garden for a few years.
Cute or what?
Kitty loves his garden!
"As for grass to mow, what little we had has turned into mostly moss (we call it 'No-Man's Lawn') and we intend to leave it that way. Much softer to walk on, and it stays green!"
I have a soft spot for found objects used in the garden and those in this space were sweet!
And a greenhouse...too cool!
Hope you enjoyed the dry warm summer sun and visiting this groovy garden! As always, great admiration and thanks to those who open their gardens so that we lucky ones can appreciate their creations and learn from (steal) their ideas.