Garden Life

I've never been much of a gardener, but this winter I decided this was the year to jump right in. After doing a lot (a lot) of research and reading, I picked up a shovel and dove in. Green thumb first.

First was preparation. Basically, the backyard was neglected for over a year. And if you live in an established neighborhood like my wife and I do, neglecting your yard for a year is like giving weeds their own paradise. Weeds, including the dreaded wisteria, took over and consumed - almost killed - our entire back yard. After building a retaining wall, I let the yard go, and it morphed into this:

The patio furniture was rotten, broken junk laying about - but look at those weeds! While the winter seems to have killed them, this is simply an illusion. Having already spread their seeds throughout the soil, they were poised to make a strong comeback. My wife, however, got a tip from a friend, and heard about a master gardener sale going on in the spring. A little bit of work and only $40 later, I turned our eye sore into a focal point:

Granted, it's just a facelift with a few perennials - and perennials generally take about a year to really pop. But it's a start, a step, a thumb in the right direction. Up next: the pay off of hard work - pictures from the garden, including insects, birds, flowers and flora.