So you think the neighbor is too close? How about really close? It’s a common occurrence in the city and increasingly so in the suburbs where small homes are sacrificed for mini-castles that sprawl to however close to the lotline allowed by village codes. Which leaves narrow openings—gangways if really tight, side yards if slightly looser.
    The weekend jaunts took me to several examples of both. There’s the garden in Sheffield where an amorphophallus, luckily not in bloom, grows outdoors year-round. The furnace sits just inside the wall, which keeps soil near the foundation frost-free. The garden bed in this gangway is oh, no more than 9 inches wide but always holds an interesting array of shade plants.
    Then we go to the suburban version, the narrow back or side lot. First we visited Kim’s immaculate and beautiful garden. The homeowner was holding her cheat sheet—a copy of Perennials for Illinois, a book near and dear to my heart (as co-author). To those who have tried and foundered with ‘Endless Summer’ hydrangea, here was one in full bloom. Bright pink of course (blue would indicate acidic soil). The home was set parallel to the long edge of a narrow lot, leaving its backside within a few feet of the lotline. Vegetables lined the tight space along the walk to the back door and at the door was a half whiskey barrel with at least two extremely healthy zucchini plants. Great use of space, near the kitchen, can contain the sprawl of the zucchinis.
    Next was Gail’s rehabbed bungalow. Narrow home on a narrow lot, just a few feet between structure and lotline. Beautiful front and rear gardens, lovely koi in the pond, nice deck, lots of veggies. Then one spots the nearly secret entrance to the side yard. An arbor covered in vines leads to the hideaway that features a winding stone path, plantings on both sides and a handsome black iron fence to shield the space but let light through. Taller perennials are planted against the house, shorter annuals, perennials and deadnettle (Lamium) groundcover are sited between path and fence. Accessorized with low-voltage lights along the path and it becomes its own secret garden. Nice job, Gail.


Inside the garden, taller perennials grow along
the house wall, shorter annuals and perennials
on the fence side.


From the backyard, an arbor frames the entry to
the narrow side yard.

An iron fence defines the space and separates
the side garden from garden beds in the
front yard.

    The gardens were open as part of garden walks—the 41st Annual Sheffield Garden Walk in Chicago and the Men’s Garden Club of Villa Park Garden Walk. Thanks to both organizations for a job well done.

—Bill Aldrich