Harriet’s Fence Garden

We visited Harriet Johnson’s Maine garden last week, but just focused on what she’d planted in a space that had previously been an in ground pool. She mentioned to me that she had other garden spaces too, so I asked if she’d let us visit those as well… happily she agreed, and today we’re getting a tour of the space she calls her fence garden:

These photos of the fence garden were taken in 2021 through 2023. Some things I didn’t rephotograph this year and other things looked better previous years. While the pool garden with fill (sandy loam) did well this past rainy summer, the fence garden in my native clay loam soil was not as happy and I lost some of the yarrow I have grown without problem for 30 years. This border is about 40’ long and faces south. Because of its size I am able to grow some tall North American native plants that flower in late summer. I also can design with color repetition because this garden can be viewed as a single element unlike the immersion experience in the pool garden. The fence encloses the back yard including the pool garden, raised vegetable and iris beds, and a small shady area. The fence is important to the design of the area providing a western boundary to the fields beyond and the distant hills and mountains.

Color starts in the fence garden with tulips (Tulipa hybrids, Zone 3 – 8) and daffodils (Narcissus hybrids, Zone 3 – 8) in mid May for a yellow and red combination. An old forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia, Zone 5 – 8) matches the yellow daffodils. The photo was taken from the pool garden, a slightly higher area located on leveled ground.

In late May or early June the lilacs (Syringa species and hybrids, Zone 3 – 8) bloom behind the fence, a hedge of six older Syringa vulgaris cu