Lush entry garden
By: Garden Gate staff

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Lush entry garden
Walking by the courtyard in the “before” photo, you might not have noticed that the walls hid a mess of weedy growth and heavy clay soil. But this is no longer the case. Now they surround a welcoming courtyard. Click through our slideshow to learn the design secrets at work.

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Fragrance fills the air
Plant fragrant shrubs, such as Koreanspice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii), next to a window so the sweet-spicy perfume can be enjoyed inside, as well.

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Tiptoe through the garden
Place and adjust steppers, leaving a 3- to 5-in. gap in between to match your natural gait when you want to step into the garden for maintenance. On this path, you can access all parts of this lush space and check out the hummingbirds that often visit the unique red flowers of ‘Jacob Cline’ bee balm at the far end of this garden.

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Fancy foliage
The draping layers of hakonechloa (Hakonechloa macra) are perfect to line edges of a garden or path. Combine a variety of foliage types — the narrow leaves of this shade-tolerant grass and broad leaves of coral bells (Heuchera spp. and hybrids) and brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla) in different colors create a tapestry effect.
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