Getting Started

When my wife and I bought our home, the backyard quickly became our favorite place to unwind after work. We planted a long border of hydrangeas, hostas, and native flowers along the fence because it softened the view between our property and the house next door. It took several growing seasons before everything filled in…

After my diagnosis, everything in my life seemed to revolve around doctor appointments, medications, and waiting rooms. I needed something that reminded me I could still create beauty even while living with uncertainty. My therapist suggested finding a long term project that encouraged me to spend time outdoors, so I turned a neglected corner of…

My backyard had become something of a neighborhood landmark because of the hydrangeas lining the fence. I had spent nearly eight years shaping those shrubs, carefully pruning them each season and learning exactly how much water and fertilizer they needed to produce enormous blooms. Friends often asked if they could take pictures beside the flowers…

The old wooden bench had never been the most valuable thing in my backyard, but it was the one item I treasured above everything else. My mother had purchased it decades earlier from a small antique shop during a family road trip, and she spent countless evenings sitting on it while tending her roses. Before…

When our neighborhood first started talking about creating a shared community garden, everyone seemed excited for the same reason. We finally had an unused corner lot that could become something more than an overgrown patch of weeds. Families wanted a place to grow vegetables, retirees looked forward to gardening together, and parents hoped their children…

For nearly ten years, the fig tree in my backyard had been part of my daily routine. I planted it as a tiny sapling after my grandmother gave me a cutting from the tree she had grown for decades. It survived harsh winters, summer droughts, and more than one season when I thought it might…

When I decided to build a compost bin in the corner of my backyard, I spent weeks researching how to do it correctly. I chose a sealed tumbler instead of an open pile, balanced food scraps with dry leaves, and avoided meat, dairy, and oily leftovers that could attract pests. Composting became part of my…

When I first walked past the abandoned community garden, it looked more like a forgotten construction site than a place where anything could grow. The wooden borders had collapsed, weeds stood waist high, and broken concrete blocks were scattered across the paths. Most people barely glanced at it anymore because it had been neglected for…

The first time I noticed broken seedlings, I assumed a rabbit had slipped through the fence during the night. My vegetable garden sat in the corner of the backyard, carefully arranged into neat rows of tomatoes, beans, carrots, peppers, and lettuce. Every spring I looked forward to watching tiny green shoots push through the soil…

When my new neighbors moved into the blue house at the end of the cul de sac, I wanted to welcome them in a way that felt personal. Gardening had introduced me to many lifelong friends, and I believed sharing plants was one of the best traditions in that community. For years I had collected…