How Does Your Garden Grow?

At long last I am going to add some pictures of my garden.

First, I thought I should explain a bit about the history. We moved into this house in the summer of 1998. At the beginning of the year, we had no intention of moving and were not actively looking for a new house. One of Rod's customers came to his shop and told him he was selling his house and he felt that Rod should buy it. Rod laughed and told him we weren't interested in moving right at this time. He asked him to come and bring me for a look but Rod declined. Apparently, this customer was so sure that it was our house that he wrote a condition into the sale that we had first rights of refusal. It was a very hot real estate market that year but by June he still had not sold the house and came back to speak to Rod. I agreed to go and see the house and, after talking to a real estate agent we decided to buy and therefore, sell our house. Our house sold in the first week, but it wasn't without incident prior to the sale with a flooded basement and lots of work to replace carpeting, etc., another year when there was lots of June rain.

When we moved into the house we realized that the former owner didn't have much imagination in the area of the yard. The perimeter by the fence had about one foot borders but most had a material like roofing tiles laid into them to stop weed growth and they were bare of vegetation. There were two areas that were south facing where they grew beautiful tomatoes and two large evergreen trees but that was it as far as any planting in the backyard. There was also a slope downward toward the back fence that made it difficult to mow the lawn.

Jump forward to about three years ago when our neighbour decided it was time to build a new fence. In order to work with his plans we would need a retaining wall. Rod had another customer who did concrete work and so he was contracted to do that part, with the help of our sons Caleb and Jordan. While he was working he was taking stock of our yard and told Rod that he had some ideas for it and would Rod mind if he did a little work on it, Rod told him to go ahead, our price was the cost of the materials.

My yard was a mudpit through that winter and spring and I kept my curtains closed so I didn't have to look out on it. As soon as the snow melted our friend went to work, again with the help of Rod and the boys. Rod, Caleb and Kenny built the deck. Rod's friend divided the yard into different areas, like rooms and as he worked the yard began to take shape. That summer the concrete was poured and stamped, some trees were planted, sod was laid, a few hostas were planted in the shade area and finally a back fence was built.

After Concrete poured, before fence

Stamping in concrete

We have sod - and weeds

Last year our plans were sidetracked somewhat by my surgery and treatment but we planted some grasses around the rocks that had been brought in and tried to keep the weeds down. We added a few shrubs and some bargain patio furniture. This year the grasses are doing wonderfully and we have added a few more perennials to build on what was done. The back of the yard is looking pretty good, we are now going to focus on the two sides of the house, one will be more of a play area for the grandkids and the other side will hopefully eventually have a hot tub on the concrete pad that was built for it, as well as a sitting area that will have a heater, a bench, some stools and a tall table made from an old wine barrel - hopefully a nice place to sit and visit over after dinner coffee.

 Progress, still lots to do but we are very happy with how it is taking shape and very thankful for the vision of Rod's customer and his willingness to do the work.

Take care, everyone

Hosta Bed

Our chiminea, small patio

Some grasses

Add caption

Three of my hanging planters