Creating an exceptional entryway garden is like rolling out the “green carpet,” welcoming your guests with fantastic foliage and dazzling blooms! Entryway gardens are a wonderful tool for showcasing your personal style, boosting curb appeal, and translating your home’s architectural design themes into a plant palette. Plus, it’s not just eye candy; a vibrant entryway garden can actually boost your property value. Talk about a win-win!
North Carolina gardeners Tyler and Brian of Gardener In Love had quite the opportunity on their hands when they decided to augment their home’s gorgeous gray herringbone brick walkway with a brand-new 25-foot raised planter bed. With such a dynamic blank canvas, the couple envisioned a cheerful display of fragrant blooms and elegant emerald boxwoods lining the path to welcome guests as they entered the garden. Over time, their hope is that the plants will soften the edge of the sidewalk, giving a lived in feel – as if their garden has always been a part of the landscape.
“If you live in a humid climate like we do in the South, boxwood blight can be a serious issue. So we’re planting these Better Boxwoods to enjoy them for years to come,” says Tyler.
With its naturally compact, low-growing form, Babylon Beauty™ Better Boxwood® was the ideal choice as the anchor shrub for Tyler and Brian’s entryway garden. Reaching just 3’ high when mature with no need for pruning, Babylon Beauty’s foliage shines year-round in a rich kelly green. Spaced evenly in a line where it would counter-balance the garden’s perennials, Babylon Beauty adds four seasons of structure and color to the garden, even at times of year when other foliage color is scarce. With its boxwood blight resistance and easy maintenance, this foundational shrub is well-suited for beds, borders, mass-plantings and containers.
Next, Tyler and Brian played up the height in their long planter box with a unique gardenia variety offering blooms, fragrance, and a columnar growth habit. Diamond Spire® Gardenia blooms early and often from late spring through fall with single white blooms that produce an otherworldly fragrance. Notably, its coin-shaped foliage and columnar habit, maturing to 3-4’ high by 2’ wide, makes it a good choice for narrow spaces or containers in which a vertical silhouette is desired.
Finally, colorful blooms and playful movement were added as the finishing touches in Tyler and Brian’s entryway garden with a row of cheery Indigo Frost™ Agapanthus. This cold-hardier bi-color bloom bursts with color from early spring through summer, reblooming throughout the warmer months. Its green strap-like foliage grows in a clumping habit that works well for compact spaces like walkways.
Feeling inspired? Getting started with your own entryway is easy! If you’re looking to add a little privacy and shielding from the street or from nearby structures, go for a taller-growing variety like the award-winning Skylight™, which reaches 8’ tall and makes beautiful spheres. For an attractive low-growing liner for a walkway, consider Renaissance™, which is also a beautiful choice for parterre gardens. And for creative shapes and topiaries, Heritage™ is the go-to. No matter what kind of entryway you’re envisioning, a beautiful boxwood is the perfect way to start on the right foot with structure and verdant color!