Viewing post #635046 by beckygardener

I love all the garden make-overs and beautiful results captured in photos of everyone's gardens and yards! Truly inspiring!!! I thought I would post my own make-over photos here, too! Maybe it might also help inspire others to create their dream garden/yard.

First let me say that I had a "brown" thumb prior to 2004. About the only thing that might survive in my yard were trees and shrubs. (And some of those did poorly.) In the Fall of 2004, the east coast of central FL was hit by not one, but two devastating hurricanes. Hurricane Frances and Jeanne. The Orlando Sentinel recently ran a story about the 2004 Hurricane Season: http://articles.orlandosentine...

It's a year I will never forget! These 3 photos show some of the damage to my home and yard:







After the disaster, it was even worse because we were without power for almost 5 weeks total between both storms. We were in survival mode. We needed repairs inside and out! The waiting list to get those repairs done require the patience and faith of Job. The waiting list for homeowners insurance settlements and subcontractors to do the work was so long that most homes took anywhere from 3 months to over 2 years to repair completely. It was a nightmare! I never knew what MREs were until that year! (They are the military Meals Ready to Eat food packets!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...
I've always had the utmost respect and a grateful heart for our military soldiers, but I never knew how their meals were prepared overseas during wartime! This was an eye-opening experience for me and my family, friends, and neighbors! It prompted me to send care packages to our soldiers after that!

After the damage was assessed, I could do little to fix the inside of the house, so I began working on the yard. First the clean-up, then a new fence was installed. I preferred to be outside or on my small screened porch most days. The repair workers inside needed room to work, so my family had to stay out of their way. The outdoors became my sanctuary. It's then that I decided to create the yard/garden of my dreams. Or at least ... a Better Homes and Garden look-alike! LOL! I started first by doing online research for gardening in my climate and area. I read gardening books from the library, bought gardening magazines, and did a lot of googling about garden beds to decide what I really wanted in my yard. All that helped me to decide what kind of garden I wanted. I love nature and wildlife, so I decided to create a Butterfly, Hummingbird, and Bird Habitat. I'd never seen a hummingbird in person, but read online that they can be found in FL in the Winter. So that was my mission! (My family and friends thought seeing a hummer in my yard was a long shot .... but if you plant it, they will come!)

Let me also say that I am on a very limited annual gardening budget. It's ridiculously tight! So I have learned to re-purpose items, to grow plants from seeds, to make DIY structures/hardscaping, and to look for garden items at garage sales and estate sales, as well as trade with others for the plants/garden items I desire. I could never have afforded my current garden had I paid someone to do it all for me. And I would not have gotten the sense of purpose and pride from doing it myself. An unexpected surprise .... gardening is very therapeutic and healing. I only wish I had found the joy of gardening earlier in my life! (But it is NEVER too late!)

My yard is far from complete, but each year I add something new. A new garden area or outdoor hardscape structure. I've learned to plant the plants that take the longest to mature first, to add my DIY hardscaping, and then add the plants last. All on a frugal budget! If I can do it, anyone can!

These are some photos of my yard the beginning of 2014 before I started work on more raised beds, a vertical herb garden, and a long mulch path as well as a daylily border in my front yard. I was blessed with some hardscaping material for free, so I was able to accomplish quite a bit this Winter. Plants were grown from seeds, cuttings, or were bought on sale:





Photo of one of the raised beds after completion:



This is a photo of a cinder block raised bed that I was replanting with daylily seedlings. This was my 2013 DIY project. Cinder block is cheap, can be painted, and will last a very long time. (All my wooden framed raised beds had rotted and I decided using wood was a waste of money and time!):



Though my yard/garden is not finished and won't be ... probably never ... here is an online slideshow of what it all looks like now including the butterflies, hummingbirds, birds, and plants. It's amazing how fast plants can grow from seeds or cuttings! It looks like a tropical paradise now! From barren to lush ... amazing how nature can heal itself and everything it touches! I hope you enjoy my journey. Ten years of gardening and I don't have any plans to stop any time soon!:

This video slideshow is how my yard looks currently: (It is best viewed in full screen mode.)