When we first moved into the old church parsonage back in October of 2009, it was such a blessing to move into a house from an apartment - so spacious and THE YARD!
We actually had a yard now!! This made my gardening and landscaping heart VERY happy. :) Did I say VERY happy?
It wasn't much to look at. An old porch off the back of the house and a few sad looking perennials in some very weedy clay dirt. But it was a yard. And it was ours for the time being.
It's been 6 years in the making now but we have been able to slowly build up the gardens and see our vision for the back yard come to fruition in a lot of ways. It always makes me so excited to sit down with a blank sheet of paper, sketch a rough outline of a house and yard and then go to work drawing in gardens, plots, features, decks, etc. You name it - the canvas has limitless possibilities. It was no different with this yard. There wasn't really anything there so it was a blank canvas. It has become so beautiful now and still I am being inspired as I look around. The more that our vision comes to pass, the more the ideas keep coming.
Here are just a few pictures so show some of the things we've done...
When we first started out, we didn't have a lot of resources or money but we are continually growing in our ability to look around us at what we do have and re-purpose with creativity! We took an old window that we had saved (because we love making old things "new") and buried it part-way into the ground. Then we took some old bricks that were lying around and edged out an oval around it. Filled in the area with some pea stone, took 2 old dresser drawers we had saved and abutted them up against the old window, front and back. After we filled the drawers with potting soil, we planted annual grasses and trailers and annuals. Voila! It has been a wonderful feature in the yard year after year.
This garden feature at the very back of the back yard was Rick's vision. I'm usually the one who sees things in my mind and then he tells me how he can build them. But this time, he had a creative idea for an old door we had picked up from the side of the road for free! He built a frame around it and buried it in the ground. Then we clear coated the wood for protection. On either side, planted 2 winter-hearty cedars. This is the second year they have been growing and we still love this area. At night, solar lights, light up the line of the garden. And when we have bonfires, the reflection of the firelight can be seen in the window panes of this door. *sigh* :o)
Here is a shot looking towards the back of the yard on a slight angle. You can see the old door feature and the cedars... You can also see our fire pit area. (Please ignore the grass - which looks terrible in this picture!) At first, we just took some old slate stones we had found and stacked them at intervals in a circle, which worked quite well. But this last summer, we dug out a square section around the pit and put down patio pavers, filling in with pea stones in between and up to the edges.
There is also an area just beyond that with river rock that we sectioned off. There are 2 very large square patio stones at either end of this area - one has a small seasonal table on it and the other has an empty planter. This area is still developing but it sure looks better than it did!
And just in front of the river rock area, you can see part of the ground level decking we laid in front of the side door of the garage.
Here, is a different perspective looking toward the back as well. You can spot the ground level decking that comes up to a knee-wall that I designed and Rick built and installed. There is a mulch path with brick steps leading up to the porch deck as well as more river rock in front of the knee-wall, bordering the gardens. In our design, we plan for a rock fountain to sit right in front of this knee-wall so we can enjoy the sight and sound while we sit on the deck during the summer.
Another shot, but closer to the knee-wall.
Here is a shot of the deck that (once again) I designed and Rick built. What would I do without him?? I LOVE angles and curves - straight lines have their purpose but when you throw in angles and curves, how much more interesting everything does become! This deck has been a great source of beauty and delight and relaxation for 2 summers now. The gardens surround the deck and make sitting on the deck a delight.
As you can see, there are 2 benches/storage chests that are near completion on the deck as well.
The plan is to finish putting some moldings around the top as a guide for cushions to sit, making the seat more comfortable and decorative. The tops lift up into a large chest area that we made for pool storage. This last summer, we were able to buy an Intex inflatable 15 ft pool on Kijiji and it was such a blessing to the kids!! They had hours of fun in the summer sun. Since we are well into Autumn already, the pool and all the accessories have been stored in these chests already and we plan to tarp them well over the winter to protect the wood and the supplies stored in them.
Our front yard has had some things done as well so hopefully soon, I will post some pictures of that.
Be blessed!
