The Newton Appearance Commission is pleased to announce the May and June recipients of the Yard of the Month honor, a summer tradition that recognizes residents who maintain the most attractive lawns, flower beds, and gardens in the City of Newton. The Yard of the Month honor for May was presented to Ashley Fuller. The Yard of the Month honor for June was presented to Erica and Matt Isenhour.

Fuller’s residence on South College Avenue is surrounded by beds of understated perennials punctuated by annuals that bloom in bright bursts of red, yellow, orange, blue, and purple. The path that guides visitors from the street to Fuller’s front door is edged by a verdant, carefully maintained lawn.

In 2020, Erica and Matt Isenhour purchased a circa-1889 home on West 8th Street. Acquiring the gabled, board-and-batten farmhouse was especially meaningful to the Isenhours and their children, Layla and Matt, because it was the home of Erica’s grandmother Pat Britt from the 1970s to 2018. Lush ferns hang between the columns of the wraparound porch, and cheerful flower boxes on the porch railings overflow with impatiens in red, orange, pink, purple, and white. Beds surrounding the home are planted with a variety of shrubs and flowers, but Erica said the hostas are definitely her favorites, just as they were her grandmother’s.