My Little Yard

When we bought our house almost 34 years ago we had two priorities:  we wanted to be in town and we wanted a yard on the smaller side.  We accomplished both of those goals.
Let's start in the back first, eh?

We lived in our home for several years before we got into gardening.  This area on the side of the house seemed to be good for nuthin'!  Couldn't grow grass.  My best friend, Sue Lange, talked me into tilling it up and then forced me to take perennials from her beautiful garden and plant them here.  That was the beginning for us.  We then started looking around and realized there were plenty of areas to plant and off we went.  We call this specific spot "Sue's garden."

The next area to be transformed is this one directly behind our house.  There was a huge maple here when we bought our home back in 1978 and grass wasn't growing there either so . . .  That old maple went to "tree heaven" several years ago and this one we call "Jerry" because we bought it from Jerry Peterson.

The rock garden!  We didn't even know it was there when we moved in; it was so over grown.  Our neighbor was chatting me up one day and said, "You know you have a rock garden back there."  Really?  And we started grabbing weeds.  There must have been a fountain in the middle as well.  Petey has been talking about getting that fountain back into working condition . . . . for 34 years. hmmmmm

This is the rear corner of the back yard where a blue spruce stood for many, many years until last fall.  It had to come down because it had something called Needle Cast disease.  It's a great spot for hostas.

The side of our garage is flanked by ferns, a few lilies, a grass, a false sunflower and buttercups.  This will look much prettier when those buttercups are in full bloom.

This fence went in recently (remember we have a dog) and has really set off the yard giving it a bit more definition.  We love, love, love it.

Now we're at the front of the house.  Remember the old blue spruce that was taken down in the back?  Well, its sister stood here for like a thousand years and had the same disease so it came down too.  More hostas and some pots filled with annuals sitting on the stump.  If I remember I'll take more photos later if the summer - if they survive.

It's hard to see but this was our version of a raised bed.  I'll never forget when the dirt was delivered.  It looked like a small mountain and before Petey could get out there and work it - the sky opened up and it rained for all it was worth.  Poor guy was out there trying to cover the mountain with a tarp.  Oh yeah, it was windy as hell too.  We didn't lose it all but a substantial amount floated away in a river of $$$.

Lastly, this is a small spot filled with a few more hostas and a few grasses.  Hoping to put some color there this weekend.  On the opposite side of the stairs (didn't take a pic) is a row of lilies.
There - now I don't have to be on the garden tour - and you didn't have to pay to see my yard.  How nice am I?