Come on, Summer

All right, all you green thumbed Shakers. It’s about time that Mr. Shakes and I get out in the garden and decide what we want to do with it. Both of us have been urban apartment dwellers our entire adult lives, and so we’re open to suggestions from people who know what they’re doing.

Our house is on a double lot, with the second lot consisting of a beautiful but chaotic garden behind the house that was created by the former owner, who also owned a nursery. It’s very Secret Gardenish, complete with arbors and ponds and all kinds of cool stuff, and it’s one of the main reasons we bought the house. These are pictures I took last summer before we moved in (which wasn’t until August, by which time it was too late to start a project). What are your favorites in your gardens?


Side entrance to garden


Walkway at very back of property


Oasis in middle of garden


My favorite pond in the garden
(those are tiny lilypads, not pond scum)


Arbor in center of gardenwith ivy-covered path