Through the pandemic, I’ve been having a lot of fun making “virtual garden tours,” using a new film editing program that’s powerful yet intuitive enough for even ME – a drop-out from more programs than I care to list.

There have been seven Virtual Summer Garden Tours so far and this next one –  of my very own front garden! – was the most fun for me. Instead of a tour per se, it’s the story of the recent transformation of my front yard and home exterior in Old Greenbelt.

Scroll down for the description on YouTube.

Garden

When I bought the house in late 2011 there was just turfgrass and a few sad-looking shrubs. I removed all that and had the flagstone patio installed right away.

Architecture

Great example of the ‘International Style,’ a modernist style rarely seen in the U.S. but iconic to Greenbelt. With the old siding removed and the concrete block façade repaired, the unit is fully restored – except for the original color, which was white. (NOT gonna have it!) It was built in 1937 in Historic Greenbelt, Maryland – a New Deal project.

Design Constraint

For privacy and screening of bad views, hedges are encouraged by co-op rules, but failed here on several counts. The preferred solution – training vines on trellis instead of wires – is prohibited by the co-op.

Wall Hanging

Saved-from-the-landfill tin can art by Mrs. Brown’s Blooms from a small town in the Australian Outback.

Music

Via AdobeStock.com

Plants Seen in Video

Vines

Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata ‘Tangerine Beauty’)
Purple Hyacinth Bean (photo with blooms via SwallowtailGardenSeeds.com)
Morning Glory
Clematis paniculata

Shrubs

Boxwood ‘Winter Gem’
Ninebark ‘Summer Wine’
Caryopteris ‘Grand Bleu’
Spirea ‘Ogon’
Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’
Nandina ‘Burgundy Wine’
Mixed azaleas

Groundcovers

Sedum takesimense
Groundcover Comfrey
Carex ‘Ice Dance’
Lamb’s Ear

Other Perennials

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia ‘Goldstrum’)
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium ‘Little Joe’)
Wood Aster (Aster divaricata)
Little Blue Stem ‘The Blues’
Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’
Japanese Carex unknown variety

Annuals in Pots

Calibrachoa/Million Bells
Petunia
Sweet Potato Vine
Persian Shield
Iresine ‘Blazin’ Rose’
Banana tree

Lawn

None