Mistletoe Heights Yard of the Month
September 2015: 2315 Mistletoe Blvd.
Kent and Grace Mitchell acquired their home in less than perfect condition. But you’d never know it because of their improvements inside and outside the house, as well as to the yard.
The household is kept lively by the their four beautiful children: Ellis, Tate, GloryEvelyn and Karis.
Besides being a homemaker, Grace somehow finds time to blog about interior design. She shares a lot of great ideas on her site. We've employed a couple of them in our home!
When the Mitchells moved into their home, the front yard was nothing to crow about, but they took care of that!
The front beds are chock full of shrubs, many of them in swaths of textures and colors. The front porch is inviting, with its swing and the two hanging baskets. The overall look mixes both formal and natural treatments.
On the east side, around the side of the house, is a gigantic pittosporum. There is also a curved trellis with wisteria on it.
In front, moving from east to west, there are layers of plants, each swath having its own height. Starting with a large yaupon holly tree, it transitions to boxwoods and laurels, in front of which are Indian hawthorn, abelia and small Japanese maples.
There are two pots of plumbago, one on each side of the steps. The steps are also framed by two large laurels, each of which has its counterpart at the front end of the sidewalk leading up to the porch. The entryway door is framed by two large pots of dumb cane and sprengeri fern.
West of the walkway, the back group of plants is made up of burford holly, laurel, Japanese ligustrum and loropetalum.
Capping off the west end of the bed is another large yaupon holly that echoes the one on the east end of the beds. There are abelia, dragon wing begonia and cast Iron plants in the very front of that bed.
Across the driveway is a wonderful specimen Japanese maple in a bed of Asian jasmine.
Grace was a bit embarrassed when I told her that her yard was picked for the Yard of the Month because she has not had the time to keep it as nice as she’d like to. However, having four young children is a legitimate reason for that, in my never-veryhumble opinion!
Grace and Kent have put lots of time and energy into their home and its landscape. Any of us who’ve been around long enough to remember what the place looked like before they moved in can attest to the improvements in both the house and the yard.
The Mitchell's hard work has really paid off.
It seems that I write that about a lot of landscapes, but it’s simply because, being a gardener myself, I appreciate just how much work it is to design, install and maintain a lovely landscape. The Mitchells have done just that!
- Bruce Horn