Plant Lover of the Month: Christine Lane – 354 W 7th Street

October 9, 2023 | amandasearlerealtor

If you’re someone who isn’t excited about spending their day in the yard or feel like they don’t have a “green thumb” – this post is for you 🙂

Many homes intown have a small yard or even no yard at all. Christine Lane immediatley fell in love with her beautiful home and all of the Arts + Crafts details still intact. The home sits high on a corner lot with a wrap around porch and planter.

It’s got a smaller grassy yard and part of it is covered in decking (great for entertaining), but the majority of plantings are in the wrap around planter that defines the exterior.

While she loves her home, she also enjoys an active lifestyle so being “married” to a yard isn’t for her, but she does enjoy the color and little bit of work it provides.

Here’s a little of what inspires her and how she cares for her small space:

Your yard is perfect for someone who doesn’t enjoy a ton of yard work. There’s a small space out back for grass and a great deck for entertaining so the only spots that you “work” in is the planter that wraps around your house and is adjacent to the sidewalk. Was it planted when you bought the home or did you plant it in yourself?

The azaleas (which have gotten huge and bloom brightly in the Spring), one hibiscus, and the tall reed-like plants (I don’t know what they’re called – but they provide great privacy from the street in the side yard!) in the front of the house, and all the plants at the side of the house were all there when we bought the home. We planted the Red Sister Cordyline Ti plant, the crotons, and when last year’s frost took the original hibiscus out, we planted one red hibiscus to the left of the front entrance and one to the right. We also added the teal planters that match the door with Dracaena Dragon Tree Colorama Bush.

How did you choose what to plant?

We had seen the Red Sister Cordyline Ti plants, crotons, and hibiscus grow successfully in other Springfield neighbors’ yards and they seemed relatively easy to take care of. We also liked how brightly colored they were.

Did you have to back fill the wall with dirt or was there some there and you topped it off?

We didn’t have to backfill with dirt but we did have to mulch with a pretty thick layer of mulch. We went with black mulch because we thought it made the colors of the plants pop.

You have bright sun so the water probably evaporates fairly quickly, do you have mulch to help with that?

Yes, we did have to mulch with a pretty thick layer of mulch. But it’s also super easy to water both the side and front areas with a water spigot on both sides.

How do you water?

We hand water with a hose.

How often do you work in the yard? Watering in the summer is pretty frequent. Picking weeds and weed wacking the area near the porch we do about once a month.

What are your ongoing challenges?

There are some weeds that like to poke through and we have to pick those every once in a while. Also, mulching annually is pretty labor intensive if you do it yourself.

Do you have any tips for anyone with a smaller space for planting?

I’d recommend doing what we did and perusing the neighborhood to see what others have done and doing quick research to see what is easy to maintain.

What’s your favorite plant in your planter?

We planted Dracaena Dragon Tree Colorama Bush in the planters and we love how the teal matched the color of the door. I have two favorites in the front yard. In the Spring when the azaleas are overflowing with their pinkish purple hues, I love that so much. The rest of the year the crotons are my favorite because they’re so colorful!