We’ve come to Episode 3 of “Judging the Gardens of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware,” apparently a regular feature since it started in 2013 and continued with more hits and misses in 2017.
What can I say? I’d rather be walking or cycling around town looking for great and not-so-great gardens than sitting on the hot sand. Sharing them here just adds to the fun, despite expecting that someone will object, asserting that criticism is never okay. Well, I agree just enough to avoid bashing gardens anywhere near me, but these are 110 miles away. So here goes.
Landscape Hits
So let’s start with some hits, like this one that so cleverly incorporates plant images onto the surface of the house. Just wow! All photos here taken two days ago.
This is so charming, with reblooming azaleas that match the accent on the house. I wonder how the pine needles hold up as mulch…
Nice professional (I assume) design, with plants chosen that stay a manageable size, plus beautiful flagstone walkways.
This (also professional) design makes me wonder if I’d want to sit there, facing the pedestrians walking by. I’d rather have the chairs with their backs facing the sidewalk, looking across the front garden to the house.
I admire the nicely limbed-up crepe myrtle and wonderful giraffes, with more pine needles underfoot. Must be locally sourced – hopefully long-lasting.
Sweet potato vine at its best, dominating all others by mid-September. I’d be okay with that!
A spanking-new-looking home with modern fencing that holds up well compared to wood, I imagine. I think I’d get used to the PVC look.
Not a garden but a particular plant you see a lot at the beach but not inland – the ‘Hollywood” Juniper. So sculptural!
Possible Misses
I love this modern garden but wonder about the grasses getting too big/tall/floppy. Can anyone ID them?
To me, hydrangeas are a must in beach gardens – they were everywhere in the beach town I went to as a kid. Too bad these were planted so close to the walkway and arch. And to my eyes, the flag and bunting are just overkill on this normal Thursday, not a holiday.
Definite Misses
The couldn’t-care-less appearance of the middle yard annoyed me right away. Then I noticed the beautiful yards next door and imagined those owners (or even renters) being even more annoyed.
In this DIY garden the stand-out feature is red mulch. Nuf said.
This large, nothing-but-lawn property on a corner lot along the sidewalk, no less, still pisses me off years after I first complained about it.
Abuse of Ornamental Grasses
Along a busy sidewalk? Along the entryway and doorway? Perhaps the header should be “Abuse of Passersby!”
Plus, these wrong plants in the wrong place are impossible to dig up. The friends I stayed with nearby have two full-grown Miscanthus grasses blocking their front-door access and were beseeching me for ways to get rid of it. I suggested a backhoe, seriously.
Lastly, I was just admiring this artful use of old-fashioned mophead hydrangeas when my eyes scanned to the right and I felt disappointed, let’s say, at the yard sign, the first of its kind that I’ve seen. This is Delaware, so it’s mostly but not unanimously Biden territory, and the Bidens have a beach house here.
On that subject, it was thanks to their being in D.C. the day I visited that I was able to ride my bike by their house. My friends told me that just as I was leaving to drive home, helicopters signaled the Bidens’ arrival for the weekend and it suddenly got harder to go anywhere and impossible to use Biden’s favorite bike path.
So I was happy to be back home, where Marine One passes overhead taking presidents here and there, but never stops here.
Pine needles, aka pine straw or pine shats as they are known on the Eastern Shore, make wonderful mulch, It never washes away in a rain storm and it slowly breaks down enriching the soil. The acid they are said to add to the soil is minimal at most. If you have pines on your property the needles are even free. Two thumbs up.
Despite the danger of being labeled an uncultured fool, I differ with you Susan. I appreciated all of them….well perhaps with the exception of the “only lawn”. Even the overused grasses have beauty and grace, they just may not fit your style.
The only one I disliked was the one with red mulch. It’s bad enough when it’s used to mulch around plantings but to replace grass, I don’t think so! The ‘only lawn’ didn’t bother me at all…..there is something to be said for easy care landscaping especially when compared to an over abundance of ‘yard art.’
Very enjoyable post. Lovely homes and gardens. I agree about the lawn, no imagination whatsoever.
I would prefer to have the chairs ( the ones facing the path) on the porch.
Thanks for the lovely “rant”.
I think the first possible miss (313) shows rushes.
I understand about the red mulch. I have red mulch around the base of plantings and between vegetable garden beds. Why? Because after back surgery, I couldn’t do much of anything. My four grown sons took it upon themselves to tidy up the beds, plant annuals in pots for instant color and spread glorious red Preen mulch, which was on sale, as a surprise. Because, I’m their Mama and loved. I can live with the red mulch. They did not cover the grass with it though. I enjoy these “Rants”.
I have to defend the lawn. Some folks at the beach may not have the time or inclination to garden, but they may have a lawn for croquet or assorted lawn sports and for kids to play on the cool grass. It just seems right.
Yes! Lawn games! Or a great game of flag football.
Pine needles are a superior mulch.
The house with patriotic bunting may have a serving family member, or have lost a family member who was in the Armed Services. Your comment may be hurtful.