My Gardens, My World - Around the House; Shaded Northside

A cast iron black crow sets at the northeast corner of the house over a drainage garden next to the sidewalk in a shaded area. P. Allen Smith has a thing about black crows and had them for purchase at his Moss Mountain Farm outside of Little Rock, Arkansas where we toured on one of our trips to that state.

This is the view of the Shaded Northside where the backyard and northside sidewalks meet. We had planted a row of native redbud 6" saplings over 30 years ago a couple feet inside our property line.  They typically live 30-40 years.  There is more top growth now and many of the lower branches are dying.  They provide shade along with this side of the house for most of the day.

 

This view extends from the property line where there is a dry compost area with a bin made from half a livestock feeder ring.  It is located downhill which makes it easier to wheel-barrow landscape refuse from the front and side yards.  There is a wet compost area on the other side of the landscape near the vegetable gardens which easier to carry kitchen scraps. The dry compost is sifted into the blue barrel each year after it decomposes and is used for mulch and garden soil.  This year I got five 50 gallon barrels full!  I also keep a rack of small wood pieces here for the chiminea.

This is the shaded drainage garden that the black crow is looking over.  There are blue ajuga ground cover and pink dianthus planted here that stay low.  I have planted a pink ice plant (delosperma) this year and hope it does well along with the other perennials.  This area is located by the door of the shop in the lower level of the house.  Rarely, the rain comes down so fast and hard that it overflows the roof gutters. Rainwater is diverted away from the back wall of the house with a concrete drainage ditch and drain next to the door that leads the water under the patio through a pipe that pours out onto the back sidewalk.  This photo shows the drainage from the roof gutters at this northeast corner.  This visible drain also catches excess rainwater that may run downhill along the sidewalk.  It mostly drains under the concrete in a pipe that pours out into the second herb garden close to the back sidewalk then into the lawn.  Basically, all rainwater is diverted towards the main Rain Garden which will be shown in another post. 

This is my hosta garden as viewed from the corner with the black crow looking northeast towards the front of the house.  The hostas had been split and new ones added last year.  It had been overgrown with some very old plants. Hopefully, the new ones will fill in and have more varieties that bloom at different times.  The sidewalk shows how very steep it is as the main floor of the house is at ground level in the front yard; the lower level is a full walk-out.  The full lower level has concrete walls on three sides.  

Across from the hosta garden is a sedum ground cover that blooms yellow flowers and tolerates being walked on and mowed over.  It spreads very easy and is located in many areas. to fill.  The redbud tree boundary continues along the property line into a Hammock Area which I will have in another post along with the Rain Garden that can be seen here at the end of the sidewalk. My original native hydrangea shrub can be seen on the upper right in this photo and in the photo below. It is just starting to bloom large white flower clusters. I have transplanted three more offshoots from this mother plant here to complete a row.  There are five more offshoots taken from this mother plant located in the Hammock Area and Rain Garden.  

In front of this mother native hydrangea is where native Virginia bluebells have come and gone now but I have include a photo below from when they were in bloom a few weeks ago.

Full native hydrangea shrubs with redbud trees and lilies-of-the-valley are on the left side of the sidewalk and the hosta garden is on the right next to the house.  View is looking toward the front yard.

This view is from the front yard looking to the back yard at the property line.  Rainwater from the front gutters is guided to the sidewalk away from the house.  Any overflow is absorbed into gardens on either side.  There is a Rain Garden at the bottom.

Lilies-of-the-Valley bloom early and leave a fine dark green foliage ground cover.  The plants are well-contained with the sidewalk on one side and mowing with the lawn on the other side. The scent is highly fragrant.  I enjoy them tremendously whenever I walk along this sidewalk in early spring!