Summer meets the sidewalk
Finding a spot to sit and enjoy your front yard
Trending in Hamilton gardens right now: making a place to sit in the front yard, even if that yard is the size of a bus shelter.
I saw it on Murray Street near everyone’s favourite sandwich place, Bonanza Bakery. Two red chairs were cleverly tucked in among rose-of-Sharon shrubs and sunflowers. The big plants created privacy, but there was still an opening in the vegetation to see out to the sidewalk. So there was a choice: chat with the citizenry parading by or contemplate the universe.
On Sheaffe Street near St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, a fantastic little garden housed entirely in pots also has a fold-out chair plunked right in the middle of all the plants. The lucky gardener can reach out from the chair and tidy up the coneflowers, petunias, dahlias and roses growing in containers. This is exactly what you have to do when you want a garden and the entire yard is paved.
A spin up Cottage Avenue turns up a French inspired house that leans toward the formal, but has a garden that is anything but. From a classic bistro chair near the front door, the view of the front yard includes sunflowers, tomatoes, oleander, sedums and milkweed. Lime green paper lanterns complete the urban hippie vibe.
Hamilton, instead of being saddled with the morose label The Best Place to Age Successfully, should be called The Best Place to Garden. The brilliant part is that so many of them are ours to share because they are in front yards.
On Aberdeen Avenue there is a classic garden of perfectly trimmed boxwood hedges, bunches of frothy hydrangeas, pleached linden trees and wonderful urns framing the porch. The grand scale urns are splendid right now, overflowing with petunias, papyrus and hibiscus.
Any caffeine fiend stopping at the Mulberry Coffeehouse should walk down the street and drink in the lovely garden in front of the house with the amazing pillars and beveled glass front door. Hostas, hydrangeas, and begonias weave through the garden, and four big urns decorate the front porch.
The beautiful stone and brick row houses on Catharine Street North near The Seed Works are always worth admiring. One garden there stands out as an illustration of how foliage and texture works so well with hard surfaces.
A robust black elderberry works perfectly with the colours of the stone and brick and has the shape and form of a Japanese maple without the delicate temperament. It can handle vigorous pruning if needed, and grows back with deeper colour.
Yews, cotoneaster and Solomon’s seal complete the foliage palette, while a big container of annuals at the front door adds a pop of colour. This is a garden of few demands, but it still has high impact.
If you happen to drive by, take a look at Green Door House across the street. It’s a new modern house, designed by architect Agata Mancini. I had a peek inside recently while on the My Local Architect Tour. It’s not quite done but full of bold ideas and a fresh spirit.
It’s peak time for gardens; see how summer meets the sidewalk all over Hamilton.