Today we’re visiting with Katie Kagler in Hudson, Ohio.
My garden was first featured on the GPOD in 2013 (Katie’s Garden in Ohio). In 2019, we put an addition on our house that resulted in having to transplant a large portion of our main perennial garden into the vegetable garden for an entire season while the house was under construction.
As you can see in this photo from the old garden, our four clematis vines were previously trellised directly onto the garage wall, so we needed a new solution for those.
We decided to add four tuteurs to support the clematis. However, the first season I was very unhappy with the overall results of the new garden. I ended up having a deeper space, which made planting trickier, and the clematis were barely filling the new structures. I asked my neighbor, who is a fabulous gardener, to come over and help me redesign the garden yet again. She suggested putting in a row of boxwoods to not only frame the patio but to take up some of that extra space.
She also suggested acquiring a few more clematis varieties that would grow over the tuteurs more aggressively. This new Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ (Zones 4–8) covered one tuteur nicely in the first year. I made a complete plan of the garden on paper and then executed the new design.
We also removed our old-fashioned pond with a pump and plastic liner and replaced it with a new waterfall.
There is always something in bloom in the garden from May to September. Between each of the tuteurs are hardy dinner-plate pink hibiscus (Hibiscus hybrids, Zones 5–9), which do not come into their full size and bloom until August, when many of the other perennials are finished.
The new boxwoods frame the front of the new bed beautifully.
A hanging basket of pink petunias (Petunia hybrid, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) adds color to the blooming perennials.
The new garden design is a success!
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Comments
Katie - I enjoyed reading your gardening story and looking at the photos. Thank you for sharing!
Could a page/website admin please contact me via email? I stopped receiving the emails nearly 2 weeks ago & would like to start receiving them again.
Same here. No email notices anymore.
Hi Sue, sorry for the lapse! We are working on the issue and will hopefully have a resolution soon!
I didn't realize I'd not been receiving them until I read this note - and the link I did receive today in late afternoon triggered a warning from Outlook that it was an unsafe link, and the article was one from 8/9, about Cherry Ong's garden, not today's featured garden.
Hi Cheryl - so sorry about the lapse - will have it back up and running ASAP!
Hi there! We are looking into the issue with the emails not being received and will hopefully have it resolved soon - so sorry about that!
You've really done a great job with your garden! So pretty and a wonderful environment for you and nature!
Katie, I'm sorry the link to your garden may not have gone out to the whole e-mail list - see my note above.
I do like your garden, especially your solution to the clematis on your garage wall and the low boxwood hedge. You know how to access good resources in your problem solving.
Beautiful garden!
I accessed this through goggle and the Fine Gardening site. I too am no longer getting the GPOD in my e-mail. Hoping this can be resolved and I can return to getting a daily dose of beauty in my in-box.
I'll see if I can add you back in! If you don't get the emails soon, try signing up again here: https://www.finegardening.com/pages/newsletter-signup.php
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