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!

Seen & Noted Part 2: Gardens Take a Backseat

Entire Backyards are being devoted to Ponds:

Garden ponds have been popular for some time. This past summer however, I was amazed to see how many homeowners had decided to devote almost their entire backyard to a pond.

I am going to show you just a couple of examples, but I saw more than a few of these large scale water features in 2012.

Hamilton, Ontario. Pond by Clearwater Pond

I am not sure my picture gives you an accurate enough sense of the sheer expanse of this pond. 

Trust me, it was enormous!

Save for a small deck that framed the pond like a crescent moon, this sizeable suburban plot was almost entirely under water.

A flagstone path leads to a gazebo at one corner of the property. A gang plank leads from the gazebo out to a tiny island near the center of the pond.

Here is second example:

 Georgetown, Ontario. Pond also by Clearwater Ponds.

This is the view looking down from the upper deck of the home into the backyard. A series of streams and waterfalls feed a large pond located just off the back deck.

Waterfall detail 

Looking back at the house.

The view at ground level.

Talking with the homeowners, I think it was the sense of being at the cottage, without the long commute, that made them want to devote so much of their property to a pond. The sound of water tumbling down a waterfall also has a pleasant way of drowning out the local traffic noises.

The backyard becomes a place of private retreat and a sanctuary from their busy lives.

Darting fish...

The summer serenade of mating frogs...

and beautiful waterlilies.

I can see the appeal of these large backyard ponds.

Flowers, trees and shrubs are incorporated, but they take on more of a supporting role.

So what do you think? 

Could you ever see having a large water feature like this in your backyard?

My time is short today and so I will put up the name of the winners for the book draws on Sunday.