Introducing myself with some before & after pics

I just completed a hosta trade with ViolaAnn who lives about an hour's drive from me. She picked up her hostas yesterday at my place and encouraged me to post here just to say hello. I've lurked here for a while but now I have a chance to pop in and say hi. Hi!!!!

I first met ViolaAnn when I picked up my hostas from her place a couple of weeks ago. She's a very interesting, busy and generous lady and I enjoyed touring her gardens. Highlights were the many hostas, the 7' high tomatoes staked to poles, the eggplants growing on her patio and especially her cute grand-twins who were visiting for the day!

As for me, I've been gardening about 12 years here on a rural property in the Ottawa Valley. I just recently got addicted to hosta but I love all well-behaved perennials especially daylilies, lilies, heucheras and peonies. When I got the gardening bug the kids were small and we had just built this house so it was just a pile of sand and really overwhelming at first, but I kept pluggin' away a little each year and started seeing some results, which kept me going. If I have to peg a style to my garden I would call it rustic. I guess I went rustic because I like the look of old things, and rustic seems to suit our property, but mainly, because rustic meant I could build/make things for my garden myself (hubby was not interested back then)....rustic is supposed to look imperfect, right? LOL

I've enjoyed looking at everyone's gardens so I thought maybe you'd like to see a few before and after pics. When I assembled the pics it gave me a sense of achievement, you know, and I could say, hmmmm yeah, all that work accomplished something.....not that I consider my garden done! I don't think our gardens will ever be done will they? For mine, I hope not, it's too much fun. There's always something to learn and some new plant to try.

OK here's the pics:

In this first before/after you can tell it's the same view because of the birch trees in the background!

This is to the left of the last one. Dead grass and all!

My pond before and after.

Here's a pic taken from the arbour up towards the shed.

You have every reason to be proud of what you have accomplished in your gardens sanannie, and your pond is absolutely lovely. I'm glad you popped in to share with us!
--Ginny

Wow what a super job sanannie!
You have a very beautiful space to enjoy.
Thankyou for sharing!
Ann

Thanks Ginny and Ann! I have a couple more, then I'll wrap it up. Here's my dear froggies in the pond.

Last one! This dial up takes forever. A shady corner by the gate.

Welcome to Dave's Sanannie! You've done an absolutely wonderful job on your yard. Great balance and the pictures convey a nice peacefulness. I just love your pond!
Christine

Gonna offer up some of them there little green froggies for trade? LOL - just kidding. I love frogs - so much so that my family thinks of me anytime they see a frog or a picture of a frog. Please tell me the secret. How did you get so many of the little dears to move in?
--Ginny

What a beautiful place you have, Sanannie! I love your ornamental grasses and your shady corner with the hostas and ferns is just gorgeous. It is obvious you have put so much love into your gardens. :-)

This message was edited Sep 14, 2005 11:57 AM

I can see that a lot of planning, time and effort went into your gardens sanannie, and you've done a wonderful job.

Love the froggies.

Good stuff!

Joan

Welcome. I'm pretty new too. Love the garden!

cvv

Just simply .......marvelous!

what an amazing transformation. I can imagine the time and effort that has gone into this project. Beautiful work, and welcome to DG's.
Linda

Lordie, Lordie. that is gorgeus. what is the name of the plant where the froggies are sitting?

I do believe we've already met, but I'll say it again. Welcome to Dave's Garden Sanannie. What a great job you did in transforming your yard. I think my favourite spot would be that shady corner too. Lots of work, but well worth it for those results.

echoes

So glad you showed the frogs. Your gardens and especially the pond are just teaming with them. I'm jealous.

Sanannie's gardens are lovely and she didn't tell you that she also helps to maintain the gardens at a local museum down the road from where she lives. I took a drive through them on the way home yesterday and they too are lovely.

Thanks to Sanannie, I'm now 11 hostas richer. Just have to finish my new gardens. I'll plant them temporarily at the edges of my veggie garden and among my other hostas. ;-)

We could have chosen to meet half way between our two homes, but I encouraged Sanannie to get hers earlier because we just made a trip to the west coast (will post pics soon). And it's always nice to tour another's garden. I'm so glad I got a chance to see hers.

Ann

Welcome to Dave's Garden Sanannie! Ü

What a wonderful retreat you have made in your backyard. Your love of gardening shines in the wonderful detail (and HARD work) you have put into it.

Thank you for sharing....
Pam in ☼ Saskatchewan

Thanks so much everyone for such nice comments. I've been off exploring DG for a while but thanks for the warm welcome to Canadian Gardening forum. I read somewhere (I'm sure it was on DG) that our garden is like our other child. It's so true! They don't always do what you want but you love them just the same, and sometimes they do something that makes us want to show our pride, eh? So thanks for indulging me.

Ginny - the frogs just show up, sort of like 'if you build it....they will come'. I built the pond and they came! The leopard frogs don't like to hang out at the pond like these guys, they prefer to hide in the garden and in the lawn. They're so cute hopping here and there out of the way. If you were a little closer I'd bring some right on over complete with adoption papers!

hi vossner! - the froggies are sitting on water lettuce which is an annual water plant here.

Sanannie...that is one heck of a transformation you made there! With each set of pics I thought to myself "Keep going...you can do that, too...just keep going!" LOL My yard is still at you 'beginning' stage...and looks much the same with the island beds and very little in the way of edging and paths. But I've only been at it for two seasons. I hope I have the strength (not to mention the longevity!) to be able to show people the same kind results in my yard as you've accomplished with yours.

I love yout 'rustic' work...and that pond is a dream! (Could you spare a little of your energy? If so, I'll send you by address and you can get in the mail immediately! I'll pay the postage! LOL)

Thanks to ViolaAnn for sharing this link...and thank YOU for all this insipration. I *needed* it!

~julie~

Paradise is the only thing I can think of to say. All of your hard work has paid off BIG TIME! There isn't a thing I don't love and wouldn't love to have. Excellent job!

What an awesome job you did in creating your masterpiece! Everything looks just perfect!
:) Donna

Wow! Soooo beautiful, your an inspiration to us all. I know that is a lot of work that went into making it so, you should be proud.
Dee

Wow. Gorgeous. Great Job. looks like it musta been full time project when ever the weather allowed. thanks for steering me here Viola

Welcome to Dave's Garden Sanannie.
From Riverview, NB

Sanannie, your garden fits together like a song - it sings - Welcome to DG. Enjoyed the tour very much. Karen

Sanannie, with your talent and superb record keeping, you could write a beautifully illustrated book that any northern gardener would love to have. You are truly gifted! Neal.

what a wonderful progression!

Interesting to see how the plantings changed and gave meaning to the shapes you originally drew down. I'd be really interested to know how much was planned and how much "just grew" I am a garden designer by trade, and that creeps into my own garden especially when it comes to hardscape, but when it comes to planting I find that for myself I prefer to let things evolve with a lot of leaning on the shovel in between. My poor plants have to adjust themselves to a gypsy life.

I too,though am very jealous of all those froggies. I love frogs, and I live on the edge of a forest above a natural river, yet I have very few. One part heron, I think and two parts they are quite happy down in the river thank you very much.

how did you do it?????
M

I'll put all these compliments in my pocket for a down day, thanks everyone!

hortensia - I do plan the shapes and bones of the garden and they generally stay the same because of limitations in the land e.g. the lawn in the pic above is our septic bed so had to plant around it (no shrubs too close, etc). But I'm like you in that I do alot of 'leaning on my shovel' as you say and move the plants about all the time, even though I did some initial planning. As to the frogs, we don't have any herons thanks to the dog...so maybe being heronless is the answer! LOL

Welcome to another canuck on this great site..
Your garden is wonderful, so great to see the before and after.. It reminds me of an old Chinese Proverb "if you would be happy all your life, plant a garden"...

From the looks of your garden you must be blissful..

aj

Holy Wow!! Sanannie my back aches just looking at those before and after photos, but then I smile and think how satisfied you must feel when you look out at the (almost) finished product.

I don't have much of a style sense a lot of times, but I just keep finding things I want to have, so they get put somewhere - not always with the best results

But I love it, and what with asking for answers and just lurking around DG, I'm even learning a thing or two.

Did you have any training in the style part, or does it just come naturally to you?

Welcome,
~marilyn in Toronto

aj - there is truth in that Chinese proverb you quoted....but I also believe that happiness is not a state of mind that one should bust a gut striving for....because happiness comes in moments. Thanks, I've had a lot of happy moments in my garden!

Marilyn - thanks for the compliment but no, I've no training, just read books and experimentation. I'm learning a lot here too and getting some great ideas!

sanannie, you sure are more skilled than a lot of landscape designers! I certainly can't thank you enough for sharing your gift with us. Neal

:::GASP::: catching my breath here! I love before and after pics and yours are breathtakingly beautiful sanannie. Your hard labour of love shows in each picture. Excellent pictures.

Pat wishinghergardenwasasbeautiful.

I just found this....WOW....It's beautiful. You have a wonderful talent there.

Sanannie, just absolutely beautiful. Not only the designing. The before and after pixs are amazing. Particularly love the woven arbour fencing.

Your entire garden is so pretty.
Inanda

sanannie, I agree withe Neal. PLEASE, write a book! I'll buy it!!

Wow, thanks, you guys!

Sanannie..........what a spectacular garden you've created! I love the English fence! Did you make the fence yourselves......cause if you did..........take this photo to "Garden Art forum" Elaine