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May 13, 2008
Garden of the Day: Crown Heights Verdant
A dispatch from Crown Heights:
We've been here since 2002, and have worked on the garden incrementally since then. Closest to the house is the concrete patio, which is as we found it. Here we have the shed, the grill, the patio table, the herb garden and the grape arbor. The central area consists of small plantings with a brick path and flower boxes on either side. Finally the 'lawn', which is a mix of grass, dandelions, plantain (the weed) etc. Here we sit in the Adirondack chairs to enjoy the ferns, pine tree, and Bradford pear. As a nature lover, one of the things I appreciate is the way various parts of the garden are microcosms of the wider natural world. The prickly pear (Opuntia) cactus was started from a single 'leaf' purchased in a small pot from a vendor in Union Square. Opuntia is native to the northeast and can be seen in 'the wild' in Jamaica Bay Refuge, and on the Hudson palisades.
This is fun—Keep the submissions coming!
Garden of the Day: Bushwick 'English Garden' [Flickr]
Garden of the Day: Another Greenwood Heights Goodie [Brownstoner]
Garden of the Day: HGTV Does Greenwood Heights [Brownstoner]
Garden of the Day: PLG Make-Over [Brownstoner]
Submit Your Garden for 'Garden of the Day' [Brownstoner]
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Comments
very chill. nice to see another "real" garden.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 10:39 AM
beautiful.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 10:41 AM
nice and relaxing.
The chain-link fence has to go tho.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 10:41 AM
Word, 10:41. Or at least cover it with some ivy or grapes or something.
Otherwise, beautiful garden! Jealous over here...
Posted by: BrooklynBear at May 13, 2008 10:44 AM
Holy moley. You're hired. it's beautiful (agree w/the fence comments, but still....)
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 10:48 AM
It's beautiful! So restful and I really like the layout and design. We're doing that too, a patio near the house and a lush, green area in back in which to sit and read in chairs low to the ground.
About the chain link fence, the great thing about those fences is you get a lot more light and air circulation in your yard. Which is important in our small narrow yards. Like I'd never put in a solid fence. I'd like one for privacy but I'd only have it if I wasn't planting a garden with grass and lots of plants, and only had a few container plants on cement.
Planting something for privacy takes time. Vines will grow relativly fast but they can be really invasive. The old vine from the previous garden at our house literally took over the entire yard. I tore it all out last Fall. I'm more a fan of tall narrow shrubs or evergreens for privacy but those take a long time to grow tall and fill in. We have Rose of Sharon all around the fences in our yard which are pretty well established. I'm planting climbing roses and some less aggressive (but slower growing) vines on the parts of the fence that are exposed.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 10:55 AM
This is my favorite of all the gardens submitted thus far! Great work!
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:01 AM
Hi - this garden is looking way more lush than a couple of years ago when the owner gave us a tour after selling us some industrial paint remover. Nice photos!
Posted by: North Sleeper at May 13, 2008 11:06 AM
10.55 - Theres nothing "great" about a chain link fence. If you want lateral light try split bamboo. A low board on board fence allows "air circulation" (as if you need it..). Anything is better than chain link.
Nice table, nice chairs, nice verdant feel.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:13 AM
Best garden so far, by far. Agree that the chain link doesn't look great, but afer we replaced ours with a better looking wooden fence, we ran into insect problems because of the lack of air ciculation.
Posted by: Brooklynnative at May 13, 2008 11:14 AM
10:55 has it right about the fence. A chainlink fence, though ugly is better for the garden itself. S/he's also right that you want to cover it over the summer with an annual vine, like hops, morning glory, or passion flower. If you use perrenial vines they can take over. The disadvantage with annuals is you have to wait for them to fill in so this early in the season you will see the actual fence.
The problem with so many of the comments on these garden posts is that people don't seem to realize that a garden is and should be an evolving project. It's never done and a gardener doesn't want it to be 'cause then you'd just have to sit there in it rather than garden (as in the verb). Real gardeners enjoy watching things develop over time.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:22 AM
Is that what those nasty things are called - chain link? I'm from England, we do like our house gardens there. Can't say I've ever seen a chain link fence in a domestic setting.
This reminds me of many London low-key relaxing gardens. It'd be nice to read the Sunday paper in.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:32 AM
Great job, it looks better than ever! I've always been jealous! ;)
Hope you have recovered, and are following 11:32's advice and reading the Sunday paper.
MM
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:43 AM
Thanks for the kind words. I agree that the chain link fence is less than ideal. But we rationalize by arguing for its advantages: no maintenance, it was already there, some plantings give it cover, it permits early and late day sun through, and actually the visual lines through to the neighbor's yard enhance the feeling of depth. Our neighbor on the left never uses her yard and lets it get overgrown, supplying us with a 'wild' side. The neighbor on the right has a lovely, simple and elegant garden that her family rarely uses. So in each case privacy is not an issue. We await the time in the summer when the grape arbor provides shade for the table.
Posted by: Hal at May 13, 2008 12:02 PM
Exactly right, 11:22. A garden is never designed and done and then you walk away. It evolves and the plantings are always in different stages of growth and change.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 12:49 PM
Climbing roses and clematis don't take over - but I have to say those beautiful bamboo stick fences are beautiful, don't make the garden feel claustrophic and are not expensive. We bought some at Chelsea garden center in red hook and wired it to our chain link fence and it's very nice. the other thing to do for a quick cheap visual improvement is to buy some wood trellis and attach it to the chainlink - permits air flow but better looking.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 1:06 PM
1.06 - all good ideas!
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 1:49 PM
chain link = the recessed lighting of gardens
;-)
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 2:00 PM
I like a trellis even without something growing on it. The lines are a nice design element, which is why we often see trellis designs used in prints on decorator fabrics. You can attach lightweight trellises to a chain link fence using wires.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 2:13 PM
"Theres nothing "great" about a chain link fence. If you want lateral light try split bamboo."
Well one great thing is it's affordable. Oh and another great thing is it's strong enough to support the weight of a vine. Unlike split bamboo.
Also we can easily have this discussion without getting all catty on the topic. Ala the recessed lighting debate! Hilarious, 2pm.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 2:19 PM
Love it, love it, love it. Best one so far. And I totally agree with you on the visual space aspect to chain link. It allows peripheral green vision! You would end up in a confined green tunnel without the "open" fence. So while I too dislike chain link, in this case I'd keep it absolutely. Lovely work.
Posted by: Nokilissa at May 13, 2008 2:42 PM
Beautiful.....all beautiful.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 8:21 PM
Hal,
Ultimately vines would be the best for the fence b/c the allow some glimpses beyond but also give you some privacy, greenery and possibly flowers.
Try native passionflower: passiflora incarnata. It may be a little late to come up in the spring but can cover a fence from not far up off the ground and fill in to the top...and beyond (flowers will face south or the brightest light)
...or try clematis like montana rubens for spring and the hybrids for mid-season. They'll tend to want to bunch up toward the top and leave the lower area of the fence blank which can leave a feeling of openness or be screened with taller plants/shrubs.
Then there are the roses. Jeanne LaJoie and a number of ramblers and the climber Zepherine Drouhin can take the fewer hours of direct sun of our urban backyards.
Don’t do morning glories or wisteria!!! The former will become a weed vector and the latter will most probably deform the fence…rip out any bittersweet…in fact, if you see mugwort, bind weed or Japanese knotweed, out they go!
There are some decorative and very manageable grapes as well.
To create a sense of scale and space you might think about a multi-trunk of base branching shrub/tree like shadblow/serviceberry (native)...or even a dwarf apple tree. Can be very effective in a year or two.
Might want to incorporate some natives. One mega-performing perennial is "mountain mint". Another is the native euphorbia. A family of plants that includes cactus-like plants, poinsettias and crown-of-thorns, one of our native varieties takes a couple of years to establish but then super performs with a baby's-breath (gypsophila) effect which will last for months. Varieties of the native mountain mint can hold silver leaves surrounding silver seed heads at their tips through the later part of summer until winter. They attract native insects.
Have fun!
Best,
FGGardener
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 8:57 PM
I agree with the need for air and light in narrow urban gardens. Wooden privacy lattice works well -- it's cheap at Home Depot/Lowes. You can just attach it to the chain link. Nice work on the garden. It's lovely.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 9:03 PM
More encouraging remarks! Thanks to all for the specific recommendations. As far as vines on the fences go, we're there. The rear fence was just replaced, so we have to start from scratch. It had ivy, which I don't like, but we are encouraging a euonymous there. Another spot has a rambling rose which is chore to keep in check, but we like it. Closer to the house is a Virginia creeper, which covers nicely without going crazy, and has berries and bright red foliage at the end of the season. On the other side, grape leaves will soon create a shady spot for the table. There was a forsythia against the rear fence, which got badly damaged last year when a large limb came down on it.
Posted by: Hal at May 13, 2008 9:19 PM
What a fantastic job. It really looks great.
I am casting my vote for climbing hydrangea. It's not evergreen but makes a beautiful cover in summer, won't take over and strangle other trees and does well in sun or shade.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:19 PM
Great gardens
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:36 PM
Beautiful garden. I vote for morning glories despite the negative vote above. I used them to cover the chain link fence around my previous house, and they worked and looked great.
Keep up the lovely work!
Posted by: guest at May 14, 2008 12:13 AM
I love climbing hydrangea too, as 11:19 suggests. One thing, just make sure your fence is strong and secure because hydrangea is a particularly heavy climbing plant and it can pull down a weaker fence.
Posted by: guest at May 14, 2008 10:42 AM
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