Before and After

I was looking through some old pictures in my iPhoto and came across some pictures of our yard before  I started gardening.  Phew, I've come a long way.   I love the following quote: "Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it."  How true!  I started with a very blank canvas and little experience, but I always dreamed of what my garden could be with a lot a sweat equity.  (and cash....gardening ain't cheap, folks)

Here's a before shot of the area near our house.

Like I said, blank slate.

Here it is during our first summer where I used the sunny spot for our tomatoes and basil:

That's my little niece, Avery.  And those are the cherry tomatoes that literally grew 10 feet high and were a pain in my a**.
The following summer I knew I wanted to move the veggies away from the house to a raised bed in the back, and that I wanted to take advantage of the full sun location of the bed-- one of the only areas of my yard that gets full sun.   The new full sun bed was a success, but because I was studying for the Bar exam, I neglected to take any pictures as documented evidence.  Dang.  You'll just have to trust me...it was an improvement.

And now, here it is this summer:

This bed still has a LOT of filling in to do.  Both trellises will be covered with morning glory and ruby hyacinth vine.  The sweet potato vine (green and purple) will fill in the left side, the salvia in the middle is unfortunately in its in between blooming period and the coleus in the middle will grow large and in charge.  I feel like I'm defending my child or something here.  I promise, people, it will look good!

(the salvia during its better days)

Here is the side bed, which was full of weeds when we moved in.

Don't be fooled by those bush like things in the middle.  They were so ugly, had no flowers, and had to go.
So I cleaned up the entire bed.

And Summer 2012 it looks like this:

The bed on the side of the house:

After:

And the very back of the yard--pre raised bed:

After:

We got rid of the rotted railroad ties and edged with some brick that was left over by the previous owners.  We also added the pavers to make a little pathway.
I have several other areas I'd like to post on here, but haven't gotten any good after pics yet.  So it'll have to wait.  I love seeing these afters.  Makes me thankful for all the hard work I've put into the yard.

And I am excited by the reminder that "A garden is never so good as it will be next year."