[nggallery id=”23536″ template=galleryview]

South Slope reader and professional gardener Rachel Prince sends us this report about her home turf… My garden has been 10 years in the making so far. The granite cobblestones were there in the beginning defining a bed at the back with three scraggly hemlocks in it. We dug the trees out as well as yanking out tons of English ivy. The patio we made out of stone salvaged from Vermont. We have since salvaged stone from all over the neighborhood; sills, marble mantles, bluestone pavers etc., which we plan to build with someday and now use as benches as well as dry laid stacks with planters on them in our front courtyard. The garden is mostly shrubs, perennials, roses and vines. I have deep affection for tulips, tree peonies, hellebores, roses, clematis, viburnums, blueberries and winter hazel. I have grown moonflower vines, passion flower vines and clematis up the clothesline ladder over the years.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply

  1. hey thanks for the nice comments about my garden! my husband is the lawn man, kudos to him! overall we use organic fertilizers and pest control (and tolerate some damage.) mosquitoes are a fierce issue, no solution yet. tulips i plant very deep – 8″ or so… they might nibble a little after they come up, but not devastating. nasty-tasting herb sprays help at that stage. crocus i cover with chicken wire after planting. they don’t bother the next season. the plant in the green pot is a tree peony. the viburnums are carlesii and farrerii nanum (sp?)and we get handfuls of tasty blueberries(love their spring blooms and fall color too)! i get 6+ hours of sun on most of the garden, some neighboring trees provide more shade in some areas like the patio which is quite welcome!

  2. Dear Lisa:

    I find myself wondering if you could offer some advice about products you use that deal with the issues of ants, misquitos, squirrels, waterbugs and other similary pesky visitors. I am new to having a back yard, and like many on this forum, find that after the beginning of July it is impossible to enjoy my garden up close and personal. I don’t like the idea of using poisons that will be unhealthy for the soil and my dog, but other than bringing out the big guns, I don’t know what really works. You said you garden professionally, so I figure you have to deal with this issue a lot and could possibly provide some useful information. Thanks.

  3. I love how the plants in the border are arranged – looks like there’s always something blooming throughout the growing season, which can be hard to manage in these small urban spaces.
    I’m curious – what kind of viburnums do you have? And were you able to harvest any of your blueberries before the birds got them? thanks for sharing!

  4. Our South Slope backyard also had a few dozen of those cobblestones when we moved in. (And we re-used them too.) We were told that they were used as ballast on ships coming in from Europe and free to the dockworkers for the taking. We also found a couple of the dockworkers’ grappling hooks (think On the Waterfront) in the cellar.

    Today’s garden is beautiful. I especially like the swath of green.

1 2