Then and now: Front garden by the road

One of the perks of using and sharing content on social media is that eventually you are reminded of past garden projects and how far they have come. Today's Facebook prompt to review "my memories" spurred feelings of nostalgia and a little wow factor for how far the front garden has progressed. 

Today it showed me photos of the front garden 12 years ago today, when the garden was only two years old, and still in its early stages of development. There was still a large portion of lawn dotted with islands of plants. There was also a lot more sun since the trees had not grown in to full size yet. 

While this growing season has gotten away from me and the garden is a little more wild looking than it normally is, I thought it would still be fun to show a then and now photo of how the front garden has changed in 12 years. 

Then:

Aug 31, 2011

Now:

Aug. 31, 2023

Look at all that grass from 2011! I remember planting the yellow Knock Out roses and lamb's ear plants - and later regretting the lamb's ear when it took over. Most of the yellow roses became infected with rose rosette disease and had to be removed. (I still have one that I am attempting to save that was further away from the infected roses.)

In 2011, the Kwanzan cherry tree was in this spot for two years (it was one of the first planted after we moved in). Looking back I wish I had not planted it dead center in the front garden, because it really shades the far portion of the garden. Today the tree is lush, large and in charge. Over the years, this area has become most of the sample garden plant area, so when I am sent a plant that needs a good amount of sun, it is usually planted here, such as the Hydrangea paniculata (I think 'Zinfin Doll'). Also in this bed are many of my daylilies (which are now post-bloom), a peony, and a late-blooming mum.

What you can't see behind this bed (to the right of the photo) is that the lawn is totally gone - filled instead with oakleaf hydrangeas, asters, goldenrod, poppies, more daylilies, phlox and other assorted perennials. 

I wonder what the garden will look like in 2035!