Kevin’s Pennsylvania Garden in 2025 – Fine Gardening

Happy Monday GPODers!

Kevin Kelly in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Kevin’s Spring Garden, Kevin’s Garden Vignettes, Late Summer in Kevin’s Garden, Kevin’s Garden Prepares for Winter, Wonderful Fall Colors in the Mid-Atlantic, Textures in the Late Summer Garden, and many more)

I have been gardening in Harrisburg (now Zone 7a) for just over 30 years. I have always loved to be outdoors in nature. This fueled my passion for gardening. I learned through observation, reading and killing plants along the way. I want to be a good steward of my land and do what I can to support wildlife. I have created a four-season garden with thousands of plants and minimal lawn. Here are some pictures of the garden throughout 2025. My garden has been on GPOD a number of times over the past 15 years.

Viewing the front yard in mid-summer. I plant densely which eliminates the need for wood mulch and minimizes weeding.

Tulips in early April. I pack these 3 areas of the hellstrip with tulips. I find that the deer and rabbits are nervous in this exposed area, and leave them alone. I treat the tulips as annuals. Once blooming is done, they are pulled and either donated or composted. I plant a different color combination each year.

Shady area in the back yard. I only have 30 feet from the back door to the property line (my patio takes up half of it). This border helps screen the neighbor’s house. I replanted part of this area to add plantainleaf sedge (Carex plantaginea, Zones 3–7), Cherokee sedge (Carex cherokeensis, Zones 6–9), and foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia, Zones 4–9) to the mix. The ferns are ‘Brilliance’ autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’, Zones 5–8).

Part of the front yard in mid-June. This area sharply transitions from shade to full sun. There is a mountain hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata, Zones 6–9) in a blue pot on the left. Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis, Zones 3–8) is still in bloom. Opening Act garden phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘Opening Act’, Zones 5–8) is at peak (blooming earlier than many garden phlox). The agapanthus in the container is getting ready to bloom.

This is one of the perennial areas of the hellstrip. I have had good success with echinacea, rudbeckia, solidago, betonica, nepeta, stachys, and sedum in this tough area.

The back yard on the west side of the property. ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Zones 5–8) in full autumn color. On the left is the fine foliage of ‘Koto No Ito’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Koto No Ito’, Zones 5–9), and on the lower left is ‘Blue Mist’ dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii ‘Blue Mist’, Zones 5–8).

East borders in the front yard in mid-June. The focal point is Black Lace® elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’, Zones 4–7). I have Emerald Green arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’, Zones 4–8) in a container to accent the dark foliage of the elderberry and also echoed with this with ‘All Gold’ Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘All Gold’, Zones 4–9).

Shady spot in September with one of my favorite evergreen ferns, Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides, Zones 3–9). Behind it is ‘Autumn Bride’ hairy alumroot (Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’, Zones 3–8), which is a drought tolerant, underused heuchera that has large spikes of white flowers in autumn. I have been adding our native Allegheny pachysandra (Pachysandra procumbens, Zones 5–9) (seen on the lower right) as a groundcover.

Front yard in November. There is still much interest even after all the flowers are gone. Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, Zones 2–7) is a native providing berries for the birds. I leave the leaves for habitat and to provide organic matter. I do a little “clean-up” along the sidewalk as a cue for care, but I practice chop and drop, so all the material I may remove, gets spread around the garden.

This is the garage border, part of my front yard. This path connects the driveway with the front walk. This December photo show the stems left in place to provide seeds for the birds as well as habitat. The brown Japanese forest grass provides good winter interest. I love the winter garden.

Thank you so much for sharing your gorgeous garden with us again, Kevin! It is inspiring to see your plantings in any season, and a extra-special treat to get a taste of all four seasons at once.

As we start planning and plotting for this year’s garden, it’s important to reflect on last year’s performance. Consider sharing your 2025 garden highlights with Garden Photo of the Day, so we can celebrate each other’s garden successes as we dream about spring blooms. Follow the NEW directions below to submit your photos to Garden Photo of the Day!

We want to see YOUR garden!

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, fill out the Garden Photo of the Day Submission Form.

You can also send 5–10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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