Five Great Garden Ideas

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone.  Top of the mornin’ to you!!!  Since today is about all things green, it seems only fitting that we take our thoughts to the outdoors and all of its greenness.  We looked through our archives and found five great garden ideas (plus a bonus) you can start thinking about right now.  We have ideas for a small lawn in the city, acres in the country, or a small townhouse court yard.  Even though they might be bigger than what you want to do in your own spaces this year, we are hoping you can find some inspiration.  Then as soon as the weather is right, you can get to work in your own lawns, gardens, and/or courtyards to make your ideas become realities.

 

In our very early days of blogging, Jordan and Yankee had just moved into their first home.  The back yard was nothing but a sea of gravel that the previous owner had as a way to avoid mowing.  Jordan and Yankee took on the very labor-intense job of getting rid of the gravel and building a brick patio.  Since then they have also had their house painted gray, added a new roof, shutters, window boxes, and landscaping.  Read about their patio installation here.  Now, we are thinking if they can do this as their first major DIY project, then you could build your own patio, too.  (Keep in mind that we had a lot to learn about taking photos at that stage of our blogging endeavor.)

 

 

Last summer we gave you a tour of a friend’s adorable back yard complete with a guest cottage.  We think you might enjoy a revisit, especially if a new back yard structure is on your wish list.  Go here to take another look.

 

 

Jon Carloftis is a nationally known and admired landscaper, and he just happens to live in Lexington.  He has landscaped the homes of regular folks and the likes of Bette Midler and Julianne Moore.  His mother lives about an hour from here in the country.  I was able to take a tour of her beautiful garden that Jon is continually tweaking.  It is one of my favorite gardens, and we think you will like seeing it again, too.  Go here for the mouth-watering tour and here for part two of the tour.

 

 

 

If you would like to start a vegetable garden but just don’t feel you have the space, don’t give up.  Jordan was able to make a “square foot garden” in a small patch of soil between her house and driveway and had great results.  See how to do it here.

 

 

If you still feel you don’t have enough space to work with, then welcome to my world.  As you probably know, I live in a city townhouse that has a brick courtyard outlined with a little bit of soil.  Even with limited real estate in actual dirt, I still manage to have an herb garden, flowers, trees, and shrubs.  I love reading books about herbs and their uses and benefits and enjoyed reading this book about growing them in small spots.  To see how I planted my courtyard herb garden, please go here.

 

 

 

Now as a bonus, check out my neighbor’s French-inspired courtyard here.

Take care.

 

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