Filed under: Gardening, Garden Tours
Like any great room, a great garden needs to balance style and substance. Here, the spaces that do it right.
Sidewalk garden on Union Street, Brooklyn. Photo: Marie Viljoen
A pottery studio in Brooklyn greens the sidewalk in a semi-industrial neighborhood. That eclectic mix of containers -- terra cotta, wood and cement -- echoes the materials and colors in the building as well as the sidewalk itself. Even the dark pots mimic the manhole covers!
An impressive collection of plants is contained in a small space: Wisteria and honeysuckle add vertical interest, growing up burglar bars; low maintenance grasses, lamb's ears, datura, tradescantia and sedum weather the hot southern exposure well. Purple wood sorrel in the windowboxes may have a harder time of it, in the heat of summer. Blackberries, tomatoes and herbs round off the planting, effectively combining edible elements with the ornamental. The flamboyant repeated stripes of the awning, the pop of the orange door and the pale blue burglar bars turn an ordinary facade into something memorable, the use of color pulling the spread-out garden together.
Looking for more gardening ideas? Check out:
Plant of the Week: Clematis
Plant of the Week: Edible Amelanchier
Green Spotlight: A Lily Garden