Green Wall Espalier

When we updated our porch, we considered wrapping the bannister around the back side of the swing, but it would limit the mobility of the swing almost completely because of the space taken up by the wood. So, we looked for alternative options that would be minimally intrusive on swinging space and still create a firm barrier for the edge of the porch so that puppies and people don’t tank off the side.

I came across a number of trellis ideas on Pinterest. I saved a few before I realized I wouldn’t have to build the frame but instead could simply add wire and use the porch itself as the frame! I googled until I found out that there are specific trellis styles and that the one I liked best (Parsley and Pom Pom’s image in the top left here) was called Belgian espalier. It felt like a perfect fit since our last big international trip had been to Belgium and we fell in love with the lush gardens in the countryside.

We decided to go for it. You may be surprised to know that the person in our house with a math learning disability (dyscalculia!) is also the person who loves to do all the measuring and designing and math-ing: me. I drew out the plan, measured three times and labeled all the pieces before I called Jackson out to help me.

With a few eye hooks and some 1/4” cable, we laid out a perfect diamond grid.

Next step is sourcing the Swedish ivy plants for the base. These are nontoxic to dogs (we can’t say the same for English ivy) and are evergreen climbers, so the porch espalier will stay nice year round and provide a little extra happy for me in the winter in addition to keeping that side of the porch from being a drop off.

Front Yard Color

I’m not saying we started from the bottom, as the song goes… but we definitely did NOT start at the top and now we are HERE. Ok we’re not there - as in the point of complete cuteness and porch amazingness that I would like us to achieve. But here is a good spot - it’s got a fence, greenery I (mostly) don’t despise, and a porch that isn’t soggy.

Yes. When the folks who renovated our house got to the porch, they looked at it and said “Let’s add some plywood.” Wait, WHAT? Like on the outdoor surface? That gets wet? They added plywood — a material that is notorious for folding in damp conditions? Yes. Sadly. Yes. To the left you can see what the front of our home looked like in the listing photos when we purchased it. Can you say “zero curb appeal”?

We discovered as much when the porch started feeling SOGGY. Ew. By November, we’d gotten nervous. By December, we’d contracted a builder. By the end of February, I’d accidentally fallen through the porch with my foot (over which I put one of my hand orange cones). Fortunately, the builder was scheduled to work one week after I’d stomped through the sogginess. And work he did! In a mere two days, Keith yanked out every rotten board and replaced it with well-spaced, quality wood. We are so relieved! We took the chance to add a hand railing to the porch because I’ve always thought it looked both silly and unsafe without it. For the back of the porch by the swing, we opted for a green wall (more on that later as it grows).

Last spring, I pulled out all the ugly that I could, left a few of the larger greeneries in place, and set to work on bringing more pink into the world. You can tell I was fully in denial of the fact that palms don’t grow well in Tennessee by the recent purchase next to the door. We had yet to put up the swing or replace the door, but isn’t it already so much better?

This year, I wanted more color. I’d already updated the door to the door of my dreams (pink border around full glass window! and yes the natural life is SO worth it). I had plenty of pink. So I figured I’d start by seeing what stuck around from the year before: the tulips came back in March, the bushy broccoli lookin’ things returned and were full and happy, the hostas are doin’ the most. I still dislike the three brighter green buddies that get a little stringy and can turn yellow-red-orange-brown splotchy randomly. But I digress.

We turned to Gardens of Babylon for some inspiration. And now we want a moss wall. And we definitely are going to do some espalier with fruit trees that grow decently in Tennessee (Jackson has taken over as our residential not-in-denial-Reimers-in-charge-of-plant-selection).

We selected some perennials from GoB to accompany a few annuals that I’d gotten early at Homie Deeps (I knew the prices on hosta would be unnecessarily absurd at GoB). Below is our new porch (waiting to be painted and stained) with the greenery as it had grown back in this year. Ok, plus all the weeds!

And here is the update with our bits of color tucked in! I only had enough mulch for the smaller of the areas so I’ll be doing that later this week. Colors were inspired by the fading floral arrangement you can see on the sill: these were my sister’s anniversary flowers from her boyfriend, made by our fantastic florist neighbor across the street, Tara! Add to the some day list: cut flower garden.

Po clearly had a blast playing in the hose spray (his fave summer activity) and seems to know not to go into the garden box anymore. We’ll see if the NEW PUPPY we’re getting tomorrow can learn the same trick!

xo,

em