The essence of most of my posts have been about my garden. The only attribute the yard had when we purchased our home was potential for a garden. We saw beyond the mounds of pine straw, gravel, odd bricks, pieces of cement, weeds and random plants, and had a vision of what the yard could become.

My husband and I began yard cleanup in October. He removed a white fence that enclosed the patio, dug up weeds and overgrown Sago palms and unearthed an assortment of hardscape materials. We hired a tree company to remove 6 huge pine trees in the backyard and 6 overgrown Washingtonia Palm trees in the front.

We decided to work with a landscape company to remove the rest of the unwanted debris, grade the land and create walkways. In January 2016 I contacted the landscape company and the work began in May.

When we moved here in September I began reading garden books for the Southeast region and made lists of plants I liked. My planting zone here is 8; I was happy to discover some of the same plants I grew in zone 6 will grow here.

Before: The front of the house was hidden by overgrown plants.

Before: We removed all of the shrubs in the front and added a few of them to the backyard.

After: A brick walkway now replaces the cement walkway, 9ft trellises hold salmon colored roses and purple clematis.

After: Purple spikes of Russian sage, one of my favorites, in my new perennial garden.

Before: In the backyard, overgrown Sago palms and picket fences were removed.

Before: Pine straw used as mulch gets messy and its hard to remove leaves.

Before: We love the large leafed shrub called: Fatsia, it is grown for its beautiful tropical foliage.

After: New Zoysia sod was added. I planted a Limelight hydrangea, divided irises that were in the front yard and planted them in in the backyard.

Before: We were lucky to inherit 5 Camellia bushes that gift us with flowers in winter.

After: The walkway ends in a circle, the perfect place for our birdbath, Japanese Boxwood and ‘Popcorn’ drift roses. We added shredded pine mulch and a new 6ft privacy fence.

A garden does not happen, it evolves. The land and plants are nurtured and it develops over time. That’s the joy of gardening: Constant change.

xxoo