Fine Gardening-Entry Garden
May 24, 2007
Once the major portion of the spring cleanup is finished and the plants are up and growing, the time for fine gardening, which I really enjoy the most, has arrived. It varies from year to year depending on the weather. This is the time when the emerging weeds are pulled, the beds are mulched and the garden ornaments, if there are any, are placed. It takes a gardener to see the chickweed growing among the iris cristata and it takes a gardener to differentiate between the common weed and the perfectly placed perennial. Not everyone has an eye for this but most of us can develop one if we work at it. All it takes is kneeling among the plants you love season after season. 
This is the entry garden. There are three before pictures and three 'after' pictures. This is the first garden you see from the front door. It is still evolving. I am not totally satisfied with all of the plantings. I often think that the very upright form of the Hosta 'Krossa Regal Variegata' should be replaced with something more rounded and low but then I decide that I love it and just need to find the appropriate underplanting. 
The piece of ledge in the picture is a permanent feature and a portion had to be jackhammered so that the walkway would pitch away from the house. We had a lovely foot bath by the main door for a few years before the jackhammering took place. Now the water drains away after a heavy rain as it should. 
One of the joys of gardening is watching a garden change with the seasons and sometimes, with the mood of the gardener. 
It is a great art form. The picture at the top is one of one of the many pieces of statuary I have collected over the years. 
I will be posting a new piece every day until they are all shown. I know I have too many but, then again, the garden is large! Here is the final, finished, fine entry garden! Finished for today, that is!
