The New Haven Project

We bought a 1910 Victorian in downtown New Haven back in 2004 that was in pretty bad shape. In addition to doing major work on the interior and exterior of the house, the yard was pretty much nonexistant. Two monstrous shrubs flanked the front door, and the back yard was complete dirt, having been dug at for years by the numerous dogs living there. The only original plants to survive were a giant pear tree in the middle of the back yard, a hydrangea (that manages to live in a very shady spot) and some daffodils that had been obscured by the shrubs. And 2 very old grape vines growing on the back fence.

Here is what the yard looked like when we bought the house in the fall of 2004 (I can't even convey how many empty beer cans and how much garbage we found INSIDE the shrubs):


The back yard:

Some photos of the yard filling in and the gardens taking shape in 2005/2006 are below. I planted a lilac, a rose of sharon, a yellow floribunda rose bush and a pink rose hips bush (not sure of the correct names for these), black eyed susan , tulips, oriental lilies and 2 clematis on the sunny side of the house. On the smaller shade side (in addition to the hydrangea) I planted a mini alpine evergreen, some daffiodils, lilies, scilia, hyacinth and english ivy, which has really taken over as a ground cover.






Unfortunately the oriental lilies have multiplied tremendously and are completely out of control now. I need to get into the sunny garden and do some work, but I simply can't get to this house right now. Our tenants are maintaining the area, but the lilac also needs pruning and there are other issues. I also made the mistake of planting the lilies in front of the black eyed susans, so they need to be moved too. And they are also multiplying!

Here is the overgrown sunny side from May of this year:

The lilac in bloom :( the poor thing needs some pruning and proper feeding:
The pear tree in full bloom, a truly beautiful spectacle:
And a nice shot of the english ivy in the shade garden: