Blah to Beautiful: A Side Yard Garden Transformation

When I started the side yard garden in 2023, I realized something about my garden planning style. I don’t have one. Not in the traditional sense, at least. That requires grid paper, colored pencils and lots of amoeba-like shapes. I used to do all that and still do in some cases. But I really like the not knowing part. That’s not to say I don’t have a general design idea mapped out in my mind. Light bulb plant combination moments are a thrill and they come all the time. That’s where the copious notes in my cell phone and in notebooks on my desk come in. They suggest a plan of sorts. A very loose one, but still a plan, understandable by only me. In my case, and perhaps yours, plans change all the time. Click here to tour the side yard garden on my YouTube channel.

The side yard garden began with a little voice in my head that said “You need more plants.” It also said “The side yard has too much grass.” The laundry room window overlooks the space. So I spent a few years looking out into the side yard. Sometimes I wonder what my neighbors thought.

As is true for all my gardens, money and time are huge determining factors. Once the stars aligned and I’d socked away a few bucks, I set the wheels in motion. The first part of the plan involved determining the general shape of the bed. It runs from the sidewalk all the way to the fence. A long rope came in handy for adjusting the gentle swoops. I wanted a flowing path without abrupt angles. The rope allowed me to adjust it until I got it just right. Then I came in with the landscape paint and made an outline, spraying the paint along the rope.

Small Space Evergreens for the Side Yard

The bones of the garden are the most important. They provide the framework and when chosen well, give the garden interest all year long. In the past, I’ve come up short with evergreens. Early on, like 25 years ago, I was all about flowers and lots of them. My gardens reflected that.

As I’ve grown older, and hopefully wiser, I appreciate the constant color and form of conifers, deciduous trees and shrubs from both a maintenance and multi-season interest perspective. I want the garden to be something I continue to look into with wonder and not with dread. Gardens are work, and one that’s planted entirely of high maintenance plants is something to dread, no matter your age. So good bones – conifers, deciduous trees and shrubs – are the name of the game.

The side yard is narrow, requiring trees and shrubs with compact growth habits. Since the specimens in my garden are very tiny, I am using images courtesy of Bailey Nurseries and Proven Winners. From left they include North Pole arborvitae, Sting arborvitae, Soft Serve chamaecyparis and Blue Chip juniper. Trees and shrubs are your biggest investments. If your budget permits you to start with large balled and burlapped specimens, that’s wonderful. Because mine does not, one gallon plants were my starting point. This is where patience comes in. It’s going to be years before they look anything like the pictures shown above.

Tree and Shrub Choices

The side yard is a narrow but long space so my plant choices took that into consideration. I selected trees and shrubs that would stay in bounds and not create a problem for our neighbors. One of my favorite small space oaks, Kindred Spirit, is just five feet wide at maturity. Click here to read more about this gorgeous multi-season tree.

I also had to think about how water ran across the space. There’s a gutter downspout and extender from our home that forces the water into the side yard garden, forming defined tributaries as it flows to the sewer. While it drained quite well, one area stayed wet longer. For that space, I chose Iceberg Alley sageleaf willow, a water tolerant shrub from First Editions Shrubs and Trees. I love its soft leaf texture and silver foliage. It’s a striking contrast to the dark foliage of Bleeding Hearts heliopsis planted nearby, but out of the way of the water runoff.

Here are a few other shrubs that made the cut…

When I shared the side yard garden transformation on my Instagram feed, many commented how surprised they were to learn that this garden was only a year old. All the credit goes to perennials growing in other parts of the garden. I divided coneflowers, sedum, rudbeckia, alliums, daylilies and prairie dropseed. Not only was it fun to shop my own garden, but it saved a lot of cash too.

For the spaces I have yet to fill, I direct sowed water-wise annuals like zinnias, verbena bonariensis and tassel flower. For a first-year garden, I’d say it was a success. And do you know the best part? There’s plenty of room for improvement…and more plants.