The Back Garden

In my last post, we looked at Karen's front garden. Now, let's head around to the back of the house.

As we stroll down the walkway, we pass under a vine covered arbor.

Just outside the side entrance to the house, there is a bench that gets used 

when summer meals are prepared on the adjacent barbecue.

Looking back the way we have come.

The pathway continues right around to the back of the house. 

As you can see here, Karen faced a number of big challenges when it came to her back garden. For one thing, the land slopes fairly steeply away from the house. 

To compensate, a set of steps were installed to lead visitors down the hill and into the main part of the woodland garden.

Rather than struggling the property's attributes, Karen took advantage of the hillside and had Clearwater Ponds install a waterfall and small pond.

Mature trees also meant Karen had to contend with full shade when it came to selecting plants and shrubs for the backyard. 

A series of stepping stones invite you to explore the cool, more shaded pockets of the garden on hot summer days.

 At the foot of waterfall and small goldfish pond, there is a nice area for summer meals.

The yard is entirely open with no fencing along the garden's perimeter. This helps the backyard to feel expansive, but it also means that there isn't a lot of privacy.  

To make the dining area feel a bit more secluded, a square lattice was built, and then covered with clematis (I am not meaning to suggest that clematis are shade-loving, because generally, they aren't. A chance break in the canopy of trees makes the clematis possible here.)

The far end of the garden opens up again into sunlight.

Astrantia in half-shade at the edge of the woodland garden.

Here, Karen created a circular potager with flowers, herbs, a few vegetables and rhubarb. 

(Pink Astilbe on the right.)

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour. What I think we can all take away from Karen's garden is the inspiration to truly embrace your property's attributes and turn any negatives into positives.

Have a great weekend everyone!