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This shade garden
gets very little direct sunlight making it a cool retreat
on a hot summer day. Arley, the frog stands guard over
hostas, coral bells, astillbe, impatiens, iris, ferns
and many other shade-loving plants.
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Paths lead to the
shade garden from all directions inviting one to linger
on the bench. In the back left hand corner you can see
the remnants of Matt's old "fort". This will be torn down
soon to make way for a gazebo as shown in the computer
enhanced photo below.
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The plaque says,
"The
kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for
mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden, Than anywhere
else on earth"
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Around to the left
of the shade garden and the future gazebo is a path that
leads to a little clearing of wild blackberry bushes and
wildfowers and beyond that to the composting area where
leaves and grass clippings are dumped and turned into
nutrients to be added back into the garden. |
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Continuing on around
to the left is another path that leads through the wooded
area, down a gentle slope, to the creek. A brass ladybug
amid the spent iris stalks marks the entrance. |
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Future
plans include the addition of a brick and wood fence separating
the driveway and the shade garden and forming an arbor
entrance to the backyard. (the planned fence has been
added to this photo with computer enhancement). Since
the only area of direct sunlight is the small space against
the house under the kitchen window, that is where the
roses grow. Trailing roses will cover the future arbor
over the gate. |