You Never Forget Your First Garden

This lilliputian 20 - foot by 22 - invertebrate foot urban woodland garden was created by Sue Hughes and Marshall Goodwin in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh between 1984 and 2012 .

When we buy the property , there were no trees or bushes , just eatage , skunk , and some Boston ivy(Parthenocissus tricuspidata , Zones 4–8 ) that grow wild in Pittsburgh . A large commercial building next door exsert the length of one side of the garden . Luckily , it had no window , so we nurture the Boston ivy already growing on it to turn it into a wall of green .

The only approach to the garden was through the house , so every brick and bucket of sand / crushed rock for the terrace was carried in by hand . The same is genuine for the fencing materials , trees , plants , ornamental stones , etc .

We did all of the design and labor ourselves .

Instead of plopping down a small square terrace in the centre of the level lot , we created planting mounds and an constitutional - shaped patio . Doing so make the terrace some depth because you had to seem over and through a planting mound into a more or less sequester seat arena .

Ostrich ferns(Matteuccia struthiopteris , Zones 3–8 ) and ‘ Sum and Substance ’ hostas line with the blue folio of the English ivy(Hedera helix , Zones 5–11 ) used as flat coat cover .

The torso of a hemlock(Tsuga canadensis , zone 3–7 ) among the ostrich fern .

The tulip poplar(Liriodendron tulipifera , Zones 4–9 ) that we planted grew really fast and give the garden a big tall feeling in that little spot .

We had some pretty abstruse shade in that garden , so we could never develop sunshine - loving flowers there . But we found a raft of amazing nuance - loving plants that gave this garden its peaceful woodland feeling in the middle of a noisy , traffic - congested , urban area . This is a bamboo(Sasa palmata , Zones 7–10 ) .

In such a minuscule garden , hem in by the sounds of the city , a small outflow bestow the relaxing sound of water and attracted many birds . No matter how many you make after it , a first garden will always have a special place in a nurseryman ’s heart .

This was our first garden , and we ’ve of late strike and so have had to start all over again create yet another garden at a much old years . Although the lot of the raw sign is big , we found ourselves trying to recreate the intimacy and the feeling of an outdoor room that come from the limitations of our first small garden .

Have photos to share ? We ’d sleep with to see your garden , a special collection of plants you love , or a wonderful garden you had the probability to visit !

To render , send 5 - 10 photos to[email protected]along with some information about the plants in the characterisation and where you take the photos . We ’d love to hear where you are located , how long you ’ve been garden , successes you are proud of , failures you learned from , promise for the futurity , favorite industrial plant , or odd stories from your garden .

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