We hope you can join us for our July 13 tour of the Woodall and Crabtree residence garden at 448 Harvard.

With two small children and hectic jobs, gardening has become an escape for Aimee Woodall and Tyler Crabtree—a hobby they can share and teach their children. The self-described gardening amateurs think of their landscaping as an “ongoing experiment.” They have lived on this double corner lot since 2015, so they have a lot of space with which to work.

The front of the house is lined with colorful loropetalum and long blooming hamelia (firebush). The board and wire fence surrounding the lot is set back to allow a generous border between the fence and the sidewalk, which is filled with a wide variety of shrubs, perennials, and annuals depending on the amount of shade the area gets. This is where the experiment runs wild.

A sprinkling of shrubs such as cleyera, Texas sage, duranta, and Sunshine Ligustrum provide color and ensure that the beds are never empty. They are generously accompanied by a host of various sages, hamelia, roses, hosta, and iris with annuals such as vinca, impatiens, blue daze, and Angelonia ensuring that there is plenty of nearly year-round color. Inside the fence is a pool and mostly bare lawn—a clean slate for future experiments.

As always, our tours are free and please feel free to bring a friend.