What a difference a year makes in our front garden!
What was once a single walled 'fence' that enclosed nothing with only grass and a few ill-fitting shrubs against the house (including an ugly yew planted right up against it, just like was done at our Emerald City home, a huge no-no for foundations), is now a zero-lawn, sustainable, pollinator-friendly, drought-tolerant garden.
By simply covering it all with reclaimed used burlap coffee bags from a local roaster and a very thick layer of mulch, and just planting through it in the fall and spring, it's become something we love to go out and walk amongst, trying to identify various types of bees and other pollinators, noticing new blossoms, deadheading old ones, and making small edits to ensure plants are still in the right place, note if ones might need to be relocated to more suitable locations, and see how much they've grown in such a short time. And as posted in our 90 day update, nothing in this picture that was removed went to the landfill, everything either being transplanted (the smaller hydrangeas), donated (spruces and 'puffball' bushes), or used as hugelkultur for the raised garden beds in back (yew).
Our nextdoor neighbor frequently mentions how she can't believe how quickly I transformed it, and while I don't say "I do!" out of modesty, well - I actually do! This is my fourth home, and with that I've learned what grows quickly and, well, what takes a helluva lot more patience in the garden! All the while, I will always consider myself, happily, as all gardeners should - an amateur, because every garden is different, every microclimate and every bit of soil varies, and nature in all it's amazingness will never be truly predictable.
Here are a few Before, During & After perspectives to show how the front yard has become an enclosed drought-tolerant, sustainable flower garden, along with the evolution of the "wet feet" sloping side yard adjacent to our driveway and how far that's come along as well...
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