Louisiana Garden Tour

Welcome to my home and gardens located just a little north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I’m so glad you could join the tour. This is the front of our home and the beds were planned and installed by Harb’s Oasis in 1985, about a year after we built the house.

 
Our back yard was just green grass and the kids used it for football,
baseball and cheering practices, among other activities.


  In 1995 I claimed the area for my own. The first thing we did was have a builldozer remove all the grass; then my husband and I laid out 3 walkways that encompassed 6 large flower beds, an above ground pool with a deck, and a large sand box with play set for the grands.

 
Once we got the drainage straight with the gravel in the walkways, we dug the
3 main drains and had the boxes cemented. My husband and I decided to make an addition to our original plans and added a waterfall to the garden in 1998.
Remember, we live a little north of Baton Rouge and our elevation is about 49 feet above sea level. There are no mountains and no large rocks.


By 2004 the garden was really taking shape and the water gardening was fast becoming my favorite part of the garden. My husband and I joined the Baton Rouge Pond Society and have hosted the Pond Tour for 13 years, raising money to support different avenues around our area.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina came through our part of the country. We had 35 friends and family who came up from Belle Chase, New Orleans and Metairie. We normally would spend 3 or 4 days catching up on everyone's busy life and the bad weather would normally pass and everyone would go back to clean up, with overall life as normal. Unfortunately, this time, it took years before our lives went back to normal and for some it’s still not yet there. To cheer myself up, I enrolled in and became a Master Gardener. I truly think that kept me sane during this horrible time.

I believe that my gardens reflect my personality. They are my vision.
Let me show you the garden today.
The first sight you see upon opening the gate is this:

Backside of pergola


Behind the small greenhouse



  A split leaf philodendron over 9 feet tall

To the right is the first bed which begins with 3 Natchez Crape Myrtles and Gingerland Caladium.

This is the backside of bed one where we just recently cut my black bamboo to the ground and the beginning of bed 2.  The second photo is a shot of the swan fountain.




The backside of Bed 2 with the Tea House.


This is a seriously overgrown Bed 3. Even though the garden is 15 years old it is still constantly changing and always growing.

This is the beginning of the left side of Bed 3.


This is Bed 4 with 3 giant gardenias.




This is the beginning of Bed 4.

The pool bed with Brugs.

This is a dynamite crape myrtle and bananas.
This is the pond area.



Backside of the waterfall


Bed behind the big rock

The is the last bed in the backyard. I hope you have enjoyed your visit and I hope you'll return. I’m sure things will continue to change.