I really do have a small yard so I really try to make the most of it.

Another shot

This is my little garden in the front yard

Here is a shot looking out from under my pergola

Beautiful!!! So much color and the clematis are gorgeous. I'm wanting spring to hurry up! Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.

Doris

Beautiful garden...The cematis are perfect.

John

Ditto to what John said !

What John and Mike said!

Dawn, what a beautiful space. Your fence is what I envision for mine... hopefully this year. We haven't been at this home long enough for truly lush growth, so I'm still living vicariously through others' photos for some of the plants. Thanks for sharing the inspiration!

Wonderful photos, thanks so much for sharing!

You certainly do make the most of it, Dawn. Very, very nice!

Amen ! to that .

Wowzer dowzer! Love all the color!

Lovely! The clematis seem so happy on the fence.

susan

Hi Dawn,

Your pictures make me miss my little garden. We moved to a place with a large expanse with nothing on it (except for muddy clay soil) after construction and am at a loss as to how to make it have the feel of your lovely intimate garden. Thanks for sharing.

Teri

Every garden has to start somewhere, Teri. I wonder how Zuzu's yard looked when she started 20 years ago...???

When I started, and it was 25 years ago, there was nothing here but blackberry vines, ivy, and trees, trees, trees. The former owners were past 90 and never went outside. Consequently, any seed a bird dropped was allowed to grow into a tree.I hired some guys to take out 60 trees as soon as I bought the house. Some neighbors who hadn't lived here for long were amazed to see there had been a house in that forest. I was amazed to learn that the house was painted red and green. Like Merry Christmas red and green. I almost asked the guys to put the trees back.

I would love to see a picture of that chaos! If you have any for those early days, could you post them in your garden tour thread so we can have inspiration that one day our efforts might become as beautiful as your garden?

I never even owned a camera until 2005, Evey. I think my son may have taken some photos through the years, and they're probably here somewhere, but I don't have a scanner anyway.

Evey,

I think that this is a great idea. I will try to dig up some pictures of the beginnings if you think that everyone would be interested in doing this and seeing the results.

Terri, I definitely think others will be interested in seeing the changes. I love looking at the photos of beautiful gardens for inspiration, but sometimes it is intimidating too... especially when I look out at a garden I've worked ridiculously hard to prepare and it's full of tiny twigs of plants! Sometimes it is really hard to imagine that one day those twigs will become a garden as lush as the mature ones in photos, ya' know? I think we could all use a little inspiration that there's a not-so-attractive beginning to all the beauty!