Terry’s Pool Shed Transformation – Fine Gardening

Happy Monday GPODers!

We’re starting the week off with a colorful garden transformation in Northridge, California. Terry Sanders shared her flower-filled garden in SoCal earlier this year (Terry’s California Garden), but today we’re looking at a specific garden project that was completed this summer.

Terry had a perfect spot next to her pool shed for a fabulous container garden, but the space needed a revamp to match her obvious love for color.

Great bones, but not much else. The tiered shelf is a container gardeners dream, a bright blue pergola brings some needed shade and a beautiful pop of color, and large containers of woody plants make for a great foundation. However, the neutral color scheme and minimalist design isn’t bringing much interest or personality to this corner of the garden.

Particularly for a gardener who embraces whimsy and bright, fun colors. Terry’s first step was taking the pool shed itself from a bland, beige backdrop to a colorful cottage with year-round flower power.

Once the pool shed was adorned with character and color, the surrounding gardens came together. Terry’s collection of containers and additions of painted tiles and mosaics collided to create a space that looks lush, even though it’s all surrounded by concrete.

Now the tiered shelf is the perfect spot for Terry’s cool cacti collection, becoming a cohesive part of a corner full of interest rather than lone plantings that aren’t connected to the rest of her garden.

Of course, it’s not just cacti. Other containers bring even more color with ‘Superbissima’ mix painted tongue (Salpiglossis sinuata ‘Superbissima’, annual), as well as dahlias and Dutch irises (Iris hollandica ‘Apollo’, Zones 6–9) planted in the little beds around the blue pergola.

Painted tiles gave plain pots some added interest, and a second door on the pool shed got covered an incredible faux-stained glass effect. I love Terry’s maximalist design, mixing and matching bright colors and diverse patterns.

The added bonus of a container garden is that the pots can be statement pieces by themselves. Whether it’s a bright, beautiful color like the turquoise blue on the right, or something with lots of interesting detail like the pink and green mosaic on the right.

A space totally transformed! Scroll back to the top of the post to get a reminder of what this began as, and the magic that Terry has been able to create.

A closer look at the incredible painted tiles used to transform a once basic trough-style planter. It took me a couple of glances before I noticed that Terry masterfully matched some of the tiles with the coreopsis—I believe the variety Big Bang™ Redshift coreopsis (Coreopsis x ‘Redshift’, Zones 5–9)—she planted inside.

Thank you so much for sharing this incredible garden project with us, Terry! While I could go on for ages about the excitement and fun you added to the space, the before and after truly speaks for itself.

If you’ve completed any garden projects like Terry has this summer, we’d love to see what you created (even if you forgot to take before pictures, like I always do). Follow the directions below to submit your photos.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

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, 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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