The Richmond Hill Garden Club selected the home of Harold and Dorothy Smith at 17 Lexington Court in the Mulberry Subdivision as the April 2019 Yard of the Month.
According to club officials, the Smith home is "a testament to the value of implementing a plan to assure color during all seasons, incorporating curves and straight lines in design, and selecting plants carefully."
The two, who have lived in their home 27 years, are proud of producing a landscape that demonstrates what can be accomplished over time. Dorothy notes that they “started from scratch,” with little beyond the lovely oak trees that still grace their property. Today, there are extensive plantings of azaleas of varied colors, including a large wild azalea they transplanted from some property they owned in Hinesville.
Today this thrives under a shady oak and is the centerpiece of a bed of loropetalum that anchors one side of the yard.
A clump of amaryllis in full bloom provides color near the front door, and other amaryllis will soon follow. Neatly trimmed boxwoods frame the front beds where pansies offer their bright colors. A newer addition to these beds is several drift roses. Introduced by the company that produced Knock Out roses, these plants are repeat bloomer ground cover roses. A birdbath provides statuary in the front bed. This area also includes junipers, Mexican heather, and a watermelon red crepe myrtle that will brighten the yard during the summer. On the other side of the front, a large weeping yaupon holly anchors another bed. It’s clearly a favorite spot of fruit-eating birds.
In other areas of the yard are Easter lilies, camelias, nandina, podocarpus, Encore azaleas, and a long row of Betsy Ann Voss azaleas that delineates the side lot line. The latter are in currently in full bloom.
As winners of the Yard of the Month, the Smiths received a $25 gift certificate from Tim and Dave’s nursery and a framed certificate from the garden club.
The Richmond Hill Garden Club’s next meeting will be on Wednesday May 8, at 10 a.m. in the Wetlands Center in J. F. Gregory Park. Anyone interested in gardening is invited. For additional information regarding the Richmond Hill Garden Club, like them on Facebook (Richmond Hill Garden Club). Also join them for their annual plant swap on Saturday, April 27 at the pavilion in Gregory Park.