for the kind words. Most weekends find me in the yard from Spring to Fall playing in the dirt 
All week I sit in my office so the outdoor time is truly therapy 
my girlfriends think I'm nuts and would rather go shopping 
but they do like to come out and view the results 
My daughters have me come and help with their yards too. They even have great ideas. And they said they'd never like gardening 
hopefully some day for you 
bluegrassmom said:13 Wow! that would make for some awesome family gatherings. Right now my Mom is close to 90 and we still get together with my sister and her family. Both are small, but we love family gatherings. I am planning a homemade ice cream bday party for August.
I'm sure my husband would appreciate it if I made some too
, and the bugs were bad so we basically couldn't enjoy the back of our home and that is where the best view is! You couldn't access the deck from anywhere but the kitchen and couldn't get to the back yard from it. Finally late Fall of 2014 we had someone take the existing deck and turn it into a screened porch and then built a small deck and walkway from the porch to the driveway. He finally finished in the Spring of 2015 (he was a friend - 75 yrs old and worked a couple hours a day but did great work and the price was right ) Best investment ever!!!! Now we can spend time outside (awesome listening to the storms come in and watch the lightening at night and checking out the birds at the birdfeeder) and I needed something to look at too! That gave me a new palate for plants behind the walkway and then I expanded that area this summer to add a water feature and more daylilies and plants! I love to plant in layers when I can with bushes in the back and perennials in the front. In this garden I wanted an Oakleaf Hydrangea in the corner for height, Ninebarks for the deep wine color and Limelight Hydrangea for the contrast and also so they can fill in and cover under the walkway. This year I added some hybrid Daylilies (boy did I learn a lesson on enhanced photos on that one!!!!) and am trying to put the light colors in front of the Ninebarks and the bold colors in front of the Limelight. It starts with the porch and plantings the first year and then progresses:
)
Thanks for not rolling your eyes like my friends do when I seem to go on and on about flowers! 
Cynthia59P said:Ginny,
I am in awe of your gardens! Thank you so much for posting those pictures. They all are great, but my favorites are the memory ones. The Grandchildren garden is delightful. It was precious to see the pictures of them planting their daylilies. The garden art was also great. By the way, was that an old shoe with the hens and chickens in it? Are you able to leave the houses out during the winter? The area for your mother is just wonderful. The split fence behind it is a great backdrop. I've always wanted a section of that in my yard. Speaking of your yard, I see that it is similar to mine in that there are many levels of terrain. It is nice to see how other folks handle the various unlevel areas in their yard. Great job!
Cynthia
Cynthia - I too love the "special" areas in my yard for family. I have old pictures of the original Grandchildren Garden with them planting, but they are on another computer or actually printed out! After my mother passed away as the four children were taking special memories, etc., I brought home the garden gloves I always wore when I helped her in Colorado and the spade I used. She also had a wood sewing machine carved that she put her house number on and I am going to put outdoor paint and a stake on it and also put it in the garden (she was a professional seamstress ) She used to sit outside in a chair and watch me work in the landscaping and we would talk about it and have a fun time. My siblings laughed at me when I took such "silly stuff" (since they had no monetary value) but the memories can't be replaced! The shoe is a moss fake shoe with the hens and chickens my granddaughter insisted I purchase 
. Not sure what I will do this winter with the succulents since this summer is the first year for the fairy garden. I'm thinking I will pull the houses, etc. in for the winter, but haven't decided yet - a lot of work. I still have a "Christmas House" to put out for it - the grandchildren gave me fairy garden houses for Christmas last year to put in it! I tried to get my husband to put his large electric train out in it but that idea got nixed in a hurry My husband gave me the split rail fence for Mother's Day - purchased it at Lowes and put it together 
The bad part about an unlevel yard is when it pours rain and the mulch all goes down the hill into the grass about 15 feet - two times in a row! 
And this answer is probably a LOT more than you asked for
The edge looks good until the rain gullies things out or the darn clover creeps in and messes it up! There must be an easier way to keep those edges looking nice - my mantis tiller just cuts the straight edge and doesn't pop the grass out and the weed wacker and I have issues most of the time - I want one thing and it does another
) it in. It just takes a while and only takes out about a 3-4" trench. I then use a pitch fork or potato fork to get under the sod if the area I am edging needs to really be cleaned out because of grass. I'm thinking I'm going to need to learn the lasagna trick!!! We just don't get a newspaper anymore
