Lincoln Park Residence Complete

When I posted a picture of my friend Angela's town home rooftop container garden on Facebook.  I expected people like my mom and sister-in-law to make nice comments.  I didn't expect my very first job, but that's what I got!  An old book club friend messaged me asking if I could add some color her ivy- and boxwood-filled front yard with container gardens.  Of course I said yes!

The first step was having my client look at some container gardening books and magazines, which I brought over to her house.  Based on her reactions to different colors and textures, we came up with this amazing Deborah Silver design as our inspiration.  Deborah is a Detroit-based master landscaper and my personal gardening idol.

Next, we took closer look at her yard and decided where it made sense to add containers:

We decided to add two 18" diameter hanging baskets to the front porch.  (In my opinion, that is the absolute smallest size anyone should plant.  Otherwise they dry out too quickly and the plants die.)  I recommended a tall container on the front porch and some small containers on the stairs.  When the client pointed out a hole in the ivy-covered front yard where a bush had been removed, it seemed to make sense to put a huge container there.  Adding color and covering up an ugly spot?  I love two birds, one stone kinds of projects!

After waiting a while for our perfect containers to arrive, this is what the yard looks like now:

Th container in the front yard will get even more beautiful and massive as the cannas flower in red and extend to their full height.  The petunias and scaevolas will really begin to knock out lots of flowers, trailing over the sides.  Bye bye all-green front yard!  We sourced the container here.  

The front door planter is my client's favorite.  She loves to sit on the porch swing with her gorgeous little baby girl and see this planter, which we sourced here.

I got out my hand-dandy drill, climbed a ladder and installed screw eyes rated to 350 lbs. before hanging up these giant hanging planters.  I chose to plant these in my garage and transport them to the house.  What I sort of neglected to think about was how little 5' 2" me was going to get these suckers up a ladder.  Thank heavens my friend Rebecca was with me that day.  I don't know what I would have done without her!

While I was planting, I found these cute little urns collecting dust on the side of the house.  I potted them up with some geraniums and petunias for a wonderful welcome to the front porch.  Note to self:  always bring extra plants to the job site.

I'm so excited about this garden!  Look for some planting recipes for the two large containers later this week.