Gardens: Beginnings -- Front Yard

Hola darlings!

The lot at the new house is about the same width as the former Maison Newton, but it is not as deep.  The configuration, with a public sidewalk out front and a lot-bisecting walkway from the curb to the front door, chops up the front lawn into four distinct areas.  You can see that in this listing photo below:

The backyard has a large patio, and with the addition of the 2.5 car garage taking up a large chunk of the southeast corner of the lot, the lawn area is minimal compared to what I used to have.  There's much less mowing time now.  That's a good thing!  But the trimming area and the time it takes to do it, that's a bad thing!  Takes much longer than it did at the former Maison Newton.

The front yard is blah (looks like the listing photo above is from March or early April). I have some plans brewing, but most of them will have to wait a year or two while I save up funds. There are more pressing things that will take up any spare cash for the foreseeable future (like, a gas range and a new mattress set). 

I think the planting beds are too narrow -- I want to make them bigger to cut down on the lawn space.  I'm not a fan, either, of some of the selections Mrs. Seller made (lots of ornamental grasses, some not doing too ell), although I understand her choices. 

I couldn't go with what's left of this summer season without a nod toward dressing things up a little bit out front.  I thought a couple of planters would add a nice touch to my plain concrete porch.

I wanted something white, maintenance-free, and inexpensive.  I found some nice plant holder boxes and some inner pots that fit perfectly at Amazon.com that did not break the bank - they are offered by Miles Kimball (you all know Miles Kimball catalogs!)  I ordered two.  I also ordered two white plastic planters with punch-out drainage holes in the bottom, and they fit perfectly inside the Miles Kimball plant holder boxes (but they are not from Miles Kimball).

Here they are, planted with some asparagus fern and some "African daisies" purchased at Luxembourg Gardens in Franklin, Wisconsin on Sunday August 10th (I wrote more about Luembourg Gardens here):

Hmmm, they look more impressive in person.  Honest!  I could not order too large a planter box  because then I wouldn't be able to use my front door easily. 

More pics of the front porch planters:

That sure is an ugly front porch, so plain, so much concrete!  But I do like the planters.