Called Porfessorville, this beautiful tree lined neighborhood is where many professors who teach at Stanford University live in Old Palo Alto. This garden we visited was part of the Gamble Garden Spring Tour.
This charming home in Professorville was occupied by a professor who loved to entertain and held many sessions with his students and fellow faculty in his shady backyard garden.
The front yard
The front yard garden with it’s canopy of trees and no-fuss plants such as white iceberg roses, perennial bushes and ornamental grasses.
Enter the garden a tapestry in green
The beautiful flagstone walkway that encourages visitors through an immaculately maintained side yard which leads to the back yard.
The backyard with large maple trees, a pool and plenty of seating for entertaining outdoors.
The guest house covered in white camellias
Ornamental pot and splashes of flora
The path leading to the front
A gem in green
This garden was a gem in a tapestry of green. I loved the ample shade created by all the trees and the soothing effect green bushes and perennials had on the landscape. This is the type of garden one can lounge outside in the summer and fall asleep to sounds of birds under the shady canopy of leaves.
Some cool ideas from this garden
Green is a soothing color in the landscape. Use this shade in various shapes and textured plants to create a harmonious landscape. Green plants are also mostly low maintenance.
Carpet roses for a low maintenance splash of color. Carpet roses are great landscape plants for those who are looking for low maintenance rose bushes. Plant them in similar shades to create a cohesive look throughout the garden. These rose bushes are self cleaning – meaning they don’t require pruning and will continue to bloom all season long.
Trees, trees, trees! Trees are nature’s cooling agent. Plant trees in your garden that create shade and most plants will thrive under their canopy. Added bonus is a cool garden to relax in the peak of summer.
Walkways. Make sure to have ample pathways to lead guests from one area to another in the garden. Pathways create intrigue and curiousity in the garden with guests wondering “I wonder where this leads?” It could just lead to a shady seating area or a veggie garden, whatever the destination, it’s the route that makes it fun.
I hope you enjoyed this visit to the shady garden in Professorville. My key takeaway here is to add trees in the garden. They do wonders to elevate the look and feel of a home garden.
