“They”, whoever they are, say that no garden is complete without a water feature or the sound of water.
On my front porch, I have the sound of water coming from this little fountain, which I purchased and installed earlier this spring. I have indeed enjoyed the bubbling sound of the water as I sit on the front porch in the evenings.
From the front porch I look out into this little planted area, which right now looks like a bit of a mess. It is a little triangular garden space with a brick wall on the east side, the front porch on the north side, and then a curved sidewalk leading from the driveway up to the front steps on the south/west sides. So, it gets primarily afternoon sun, though it is more shady now because of the large crabapple tree in the center of it.
I made one design flaw (just one?) when I planted this, and that is that I lined the sidewalk leading from the drive way up to the front porch with Spirea bumalda ‘Lime Mound’. I like the lighter color of the foliage, which looks nice with the dark brick of my house. However, all lined up like that along the sidewalk, they look kind of dumb. However, they do hide what is inside this little planting bed when you are just walking by on the sidewalk, making it somewhat of a ‘secret garden’ best viewed from the porch.
I need to make a decision on the spirea to either take some of them out, cut them back by half to rejuvenate them a bit and control the size, or live with them ‘as is’ a while longer. They are 9 years old and “as advertised” do get to 2 – 3′, more like 3′. I do trim them up a bit after their first big bloom of the season, and then they look like little balls of hacked up shrub for awhile, and then they come out of it and look pretty nice and rebloom, as they are doing now. Hmmm, I’m sure talking a lot about a plant that you can’t really see in this picture. I’ll have to take a picture later and show you ‘the big design flaw’ and maybe get some suggestions on what to do about it.
(Remember, I never claimed to be good at garden design, I am in it for the plants. However, I do want my gardens to look nice, and well-designed, regardless!)
Lovely little fountain! And I sure can`t see any flaw in your other pretty picture!
tea
xo
I have not water in the garden. A lot of friends always means, I must have a pont. But I don’t like. Your garden looks nice.
Sigrun
Thanks for posting the picture of your bubbler fountain. Very nice, and very unusual. I don’t think I’ve seen one like it before. I’m also intrigued that it’s on your front porch! I never thought of doing that.
I love your view, and as for your spirea, please do post a photo. I’ve just “discovered” this year that there are other spireas besides the old “Bridal Veil” variety that used to be seen everywhere, even ones with colorful fall foliage! Where have I been?
The water fountain is great.
So serene.
I really like your fountain, Carole. I haven’t seen anything like this before. The base has such a great shape to it. A water feature will come into my garden someday, I hope.
As to the “Secret Garden”, that seems to be part of most women’s Garden Dreaming, doesn’t it? Mine’s been in progress for nearly a year, and several friends are working on theirs, too. The secret part means you can take your time!
Annie