Eminently Approachable

Everyone wants a welcoming front entrance. This one came with a few limiting factors: deer, shade, and no one had much time to care for the garden.

Everyone wants a welcoming front entrance. This one came with a few limiting factors: deer, shade, and no one had much time to care for the garden.

This would have been daunting to most but not Elizabeth Guest. She is the well-known interior designer who oversaw every detail of this home, from the initial approach to the broad band of white birch bark wrapping the facade.

The approach is a series of large irregular stones installed to slow visitors as they approached the front door. The stones were interplanted with creeping thyme, which releases a wonderful scent when stepped on. It is hardy enough to withstand many crushings. The edge of the approach is softened making the front porch more intimate and welcoming.

This planting works well. First, it is full while using a limited palette. It is deer resistant while providing bright summer color in a shady area. The leaves of the Japanese painted ferns, lamium, and astilbe add interest without flowers.

The Annabelle hydrangea provides height and drama with its big blooms. The White astilbe complements and continues the calm white design theme at the entrance while pink astilbe is used in the distance.

Lamium is an aggressive ground cover that provides a full season of speckled white leaves to fill out the base. Japanese Painted ferns are available in silvery gray to crimson red with fascinating veining. Together, this limited plant palette work well and provides a calm, sophisticated, and welcoming entrance to this home.