LANDSCAPING A CORNER LOT
As Barb Spitler enlarged the turreted brick house on the corner of South Washington and Circular Street, early morning walkers and neighbors watched the progress with interest. The property is actually bounded by streets on three sides if one counts the alley. The first priority for the landscaping was a design that provided privacy for the owner.
Dave Spitler , who is a professional landscape designer , has achieved that with a tall hedge along part of the Circular Street edge and a large Oriental trellis on the south side yard of Washington Street. There is plenty of space at the front and side of the house for a constantly changing array of flowers for the public to enjoy and two private outdoor “rooms” have been created for the family.
As a visitor approaches the front door, the view of the south side yard is cool and inviting. Several trees shade this area. The large white blossoms of oak-leaved hydrangea brighten the border in several places. Clematis provide vertical interest on the trellis. Most notable are the many different textures of foliage. A green Japanese maple and a rare small tree, Stewardia coriana pseudo-camelia turn brilliant orange in the fall. Cutleaf elderberry and goat’s beard provide other textures. Gold fish swim happily in a pond at the corner of the porch.
A walk leads past two varieties of Clethra, the hummingbird bush, to the patio at the back door. On the south side wisteria and Sun Spot Euonymus are interwoven on a stout trellis. A delight here is a Carolina wren nesting in a bottle hung horizontally on the garage wall. She feels sheltered there in a climbing Akebia vine and a lovely pink climbing rose, New Dawn, which are trained on the wall of the garage.
In the narrow space on the south side of the garage is a tall hollyhock that Barb brought from Nantucket. Beside that is an Asian pear already weighted down with small, round fruit. A vegetable garden, papered down to smother weeds, is on the alley side of the garage.
There are some unusual plants in the plantings around the patio which is elevated to the level of the back entrance. A sweet scented honeysuckle called Grand Thomas is just outside the backdoor. Nearby, a Goldenchain tree, Laburnum, bears long racemes of yellow flowers in May. A Coral bark Japanese maple has orange bark in addition to beautiful foliage. Lady’s Mantle, Alchemilla, and blue and white companulas are in bloom in June around the edge of the patio.
In the corner of the alley and Circular street is a triangular garden with a smoke tree, several dogwoods, and a small green and white bush, Acanthopanax variegata. The dogwoods are of the Constellation series. They derive from a cross between the native dogwood and the Korean dogwood and withstand diseases which are attacking the native dogwood. Daylilies are a background ground cover and shorter daisies, and Russian sage are in the foreground.
On the north side of the patio facing the street, a dwarf mock orange stands sentinel by the outside of the low wall which forms the foundation of the patio. A pretty bright annual called Million Bells is interplanted with pansies.
Barb has brought a small green and white plant, arabis, which hugs the ground, and a small blue spruce from Nantucket. Due to the Gulf current, Nantucket has a milder climate for plants than does Tiffin, but so far these plants are flourishing..
Inside the hedge are a number of fragrant David Austin roses. Dave says that they don’t require as much winter protection as tea roses. Later in the summer boltonia, a white flowering aster, and snake root will bloom. This is a small version of snake root. Its wild cousins, also called swamp candles, grow to be six feet tall.
Foundation plantings include a climbing hydrangea on the chimney and Golden Girl Holly. Green Gem boxwood provides a shiny green background for yellow trollis and blue scabiosa daisy.
In the spring many passersby noted the pink azalea, Cornell Pink, in the yard bordering Circular Street. An unusual small tree that I am especially fond of , fringe tree, Chioanthus virginiana, is a specimen tree there.
This garden has an exceptional number of unusual plants and the owners, Barb and Dave Spitler, would be good sources of information about the hardiness and shade requirements of their plants.