I have learned more in my garden than my horticulture and Master Gardener classes put together.  It has been an exercise in addressing gardening challenges.  When I began my garden three years ago, it was a typical suburban lot with hard red compacted clay, Bermuda grass, and a Bradford pear.  Grass wouldn’t grow in the backyard due to poor drainage resulting in standing water.  We had a small deck with narrow steep stairs that didn’t seem to connect our house with the landscape.

Our best decision was to add a screened porch with a second set of stairs that visually links the house to the garden.  We have also added a system of French drains and a dry creek bed that moves water through our yard during a heavy rain enabling us to better grow grass.  We have created a series of stacked stone walls and planting beds to improve the grade of the slopes that angle into the yard.

I am constantly striving to create a garden that “feels right” to me.  I continue to add truckloads of soil amendments, negotiate with my husband to let me take more of “his grass” for “my gardens” and add interesting shrubs, perennials and groundcovers.  The addition of a water feature has added the soothing sound of water, evergreens have created privacy with a sense of enclosure, and an arbor swing has provided a place to enjoy it all.