Design for small spaces (before)

This fall, in my state of "gardenlessness", I decided to take on some pro bono work. Actually, my sister's townhouse garden was in desperate need of attention and I in need of a design challenge.

Here's a before photo of her space in all its white-light no-makeup glory:

While the design and implementation plan is still in progress, here's been our design process thus far:

• Flagged, clipped and discussed photos from online sources and design books and mags of what we liked and thought might work
• Completed a site assessment. This included considering: water runoff/drainage, light, space, privacy concerns, traffic via walkways and pathways...
• Discussed at length how she currently uses the space as well as her lifestyle needs (e.g. entertainment, storage)
• Reviewed her favorite plants and her tolerance for caring for them.
• Toured her complex to see what other's had done with the same space and many of the same challenges.
• Measured, of course!!

The obstacles to overcome:

• First and foremost, the ginormous A/C unit needs some serious screening to make it visually less obtrusive. Currently it consumes about a 1/3 of the space, so this is big one!
• Busy girl + active life = little time for plant care. "Needs to be low maintenance" is an understatement.
• When it rains its pours. There's a down spout that dumps directly into the bed bordering the patio.
• A back parking pad means the patio is a primary pathway from car to house.
• Homeowners association rules....need I say more.

More to come. This one is a work in progress.

My state of gardenlessness has ended!

The unplanned hiatus on blogging and gardening is over... Fall is for planting after all and there are only a few days left!

You should know that our Fall has been a little tumultuous as we sold our house and have been in limbo for quite some time looking for something new. The good news is we're moving soon into a new home that boasts a "victorian garden". I'm not sure exactly what that means, but here's a photo. I'm anxious to see what Spring has in store for me!

So....the many articles that I've mentally written on Fall bloomers and the likes, are just going to have to wait until next year. Fear not...I have a backlog of winter topics to explore. More to come....