the challenge - round one

A few posts ago, I mentioned a church in Bangor, Pennsylvania (Hopesprings Community of Faith) that I was going to revamp.  Well...round one is finished!  To refresh your memory, I've included one 'before' picture.  The building is a beauty, but the horrible overgrown shrubs, weedy grass and nasty orange doors were such a distraction, who knew??  While the grass and doors have yet to be tackled, at least the shrubs have been replaced. 

The challenge was two fold: small budget and small space. (I also needed to keep maintenance in mind. Because it's a busy church, garden maintenance needs be on the low side.)  My design goal was to create a formal garden that enhanced the beauty of the building, so I began with the color of the stained glass windows (which are gorgeous!) and worked my way out.  I loved, loved the blue in the windows and I love, love hydrangea so that was easy!  These are Forever and Ever - Blue Heaven; they are cut and bloom again - gotta love that in a hydrangea.  I placed one bush in front of each window and it really does bring out the blue in the stained glass.  Yea!

To add formality, I planted one dwarf English Boxwood (no link ~ boxwood are a dime a dozen...well actually they are quite expensive, but you know what I mean) between each hydrangea.  Behind each boxwood, I planted one perennial to add a small pop of color.  I also threw some purple wave petunias in the front to give contrast to all the blue and green.

One of my professional philosophies is that every client has a distinct personality that needs to be portrayed in his or her garden.  It is one of my most enjoyable challenges: get to know my client, understand who he is and what she likes and find a way to represent him in the garden.  Hopesprings is a church that is a bit different and notably creative in their approach to worship.  So in keeping with the very traditional lines of the building, I wanted to add something that would be a bit unexpected.  Thus the Alberta Spruce Spiral Topiary in place of one of the boxwoods.  Fun!

The front steps were screaming for containers, but this church is on a main road, so I had to keep in mind the possibility of someone walking off with the pots.  Unfortunately, the budget wouldn't allow for the kind of heavy pot I would normally have purchased, but happily, I stumbled upon these concrete numbers.  They were big time ugly, so my daughter faux painted them to add character.  They are so heavy, the person who decides to steal these will walk off with pots and a double hernia!  I planted Confetti Lantana Topiaries in them with Callie Orange Million Bells and Royal Purple with Eye Verbena in the base.  Lovely.

Now for round two...

three is not a crowd

Hola!  Just a quick word about planting techniques.  I often see people planting their flowers in rows like little soldiers.  While this technique could be effective in creating a border, I generally stay away from it.  In my gardens, I like a mass of color rather than little specks dotted here and there.  So I plant in groups: usually threes.  That way the plant (in this case Victoria Blue Salvia - one of my very favorites) will make a statement and hold it's own against the rest of the garden.  With the exception of spreaders (wave petunias, nasturtium, licorice, etc), I plant all my annuals like this. 


In this picture, you can see how well the salvia holds its own against the hydrangea and cosmos (the cosmos were also planted in a group).  I love the way the blue color just grabs your attention!  Isn't it beautiful?

Anyway consider doing this in your own garden this year.

I am exhausted; another long, sweaty and dirty day in the gardens so it's off to bed with me!