I live in a row house, so it’s no surprise that my back garden is pretty tiny.
It faces south, but because the garden is contained by the garage and our two next-door-neighbors’ fences, it doesn’t get a ton of direct sunlight.
It’s a challenge. I’ve become a bit obsessed with the garden this year. I KNOW there’s so much more that could be done, especially on this side:
The raised beds here are less deep front to back, and the roots from the neighboring euonymus sneak under the fence and choke my plants. Nonetheless, I continue to try and figure out what tall thing I can grown here to cover the fence!
I’ve always loved city gardens. And even though DC has some beautiful gardens that are open to the public, such as Hillwood
and Dumbarton Oaks, of course,
I’d rather see what real people have done with their small urban spaces. I went on a garden tour in Georgetown many years ago, and the gardens (and the houses!) were divine.
Here are a few city gardens I’d love to visit in person. (If one of these is yours, please invite me over!)
One of my all-time favorites is Julianne Moore’s garden in the West Village. Architectural Digest wrote about it in 2016, and I still think about it.
I hope you can bring a little garden greenery into your life, Gentle Readers, just in time for summer.
For more pictures of Julianne Moore’s gorgeous garden, take a peek at my new TikTok channel!
Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, with satellite offices in St. Michaels, Maryland and in Middlebury, Vermont. Annie’s design work and insights have appeared in numerous local and national publications, including HGTV Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine.