A Walled Garden

Today, I want to share with you a twenty year labor of love that transformed the foundation of old barn into a beautiful walled garden.

A vegetable garden, two ponds and perennial beds filled with daylilies, phlox, hosta and clematis surround this century home and working farm.

We are going to head quickly through the perennial garden at the side of the house 

and focus on area around the walled garden and new barn. 

On the shady exterior of the farm's original barn the plantings include a mix of hosta, maroon colored Heuchera, Lady's Mantle and white flowering Giant Fleece Flower, 'Persicaria polymorha'.

Inside the crumbling foundation there is full sun. Clematis and other green vines cover the walls. Flowers like orange California Poppies, Lavender and Cosmos thrive in the well-drained, gravelly soil. 

Here is a basic layout of the walled garden:

Looking towards 'A' on the garden plan.

Looking towards 'B'.

Here we are looking at a wall coved in Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia 

which is 'D' on the plan drawing.

A central pathway and vine covered arbor lead provide the main entrance
in and out of the walled garden.

It is amazing what a little creativity and a lot of hard work can do.

A Walled Garden of Peonies & Roses

The guide for the 25th anniversary Through the Garden Gate tour advised, "If you can see one garden, make it this one."

Many of the gardens on last year's tour were designed and planted by professionals. They were fabulous, but often somewhat impersonal. 

This garden was different. 

The design and the choice of plants all had a definite personality behind them.

When the homeowners bought the property 15 years ago, there was little in the front garden and just a few structures in the back, but no plants. New garden beds were dug down as much as a meter, and the clay soil was replaced with a combination of clay, peat and sand.

At the front of the house, the garden gate opens to a curved path and a collection of barberries, spireas and perennials. A climbing hydrangea winds its way up the pillars of the double verandah.

A huge glass vase filled with peonies greeted visitors on the front porch.

At the back of the house, the land falls off steeply into a ravine. A path leads visitors along the edge of the ravine to a small brick folly.

Turning to our left we enter an expansive walled garden.

Here there is a solarium, a greenhouse, fruit trees, roses, peonies and assorted perennials.

The homeowner and gardener spends her summers working in the garden. You can feel that personal touch throughout the space.

This year, Through the Garden Gate offers garden lovers a peak into 19 private gardens in Forest Hill and South Hill in Toronto. 

For those of you living in the GTA, mark June 8 and 9th on your calendars for this two day event. For more tour details on tickets informaton click here.