Garden Pictures

I sometimes get questions about starting a front yard garden and how to convert a large space to a flower garden. I always say start small! When we first moved into this house, the entire front yard was grass with only four large typical shrubs. Two at the front steps — one on either side, and two at the end of the front walkway — one on either side. Typical.

I know this picture is quite faint, but it shows how sparse everything was in The Little Wild Garden way back in 1998, when I finally decided to take the plunge and convert the entire front yard to herbs and flowers.

I planned on two walkways, one being, of course, the cement walkway from the road to the front door, which was already there, and the other I planned would intersect that and carry you out laterally around either side of the house. I ended up with four very large beds. I also ended up with three spots for arbors: one at the end of each walkway. From there I dug up grass in sections of about 5 feet by 5 feet, give or take, and began to put plants in. I opened up paperbags and placed them on the freshly cleared soil and then layered with lots of mulch, so the grass would not come back. Which brings me to an important point: you’ll probably want to have a load of mulch delivered to your yard. It’s much cheaper than buying the small bags.

Now, 12 years later, everything has settled in, my husband has tiered the front yard by defining each bed with garden stones so that we didn’t lose soil everytime it rained (due to the natural slope of the yard). I have collected enough large, flat rocks to install a natural looking pathway on one side of the yard, while the other side is defined by the square stepping stones you can get at places like Wal-Mart or Home Depot.

Our garden has brought us immeasurable joy. The entire family has enjoyed it! We have experienced a firsthand look at wildlife that we’d never have seen otherwise. My husband and I just enjoy walking through The Little Wild Garden and remembering how it first started.