Evolution of a Shade Garden

When you never seem to have a lot of disposable income, landscaping an acre of Florida sand can seem to take forever, and it generates a whole bunch of sweat, not to mention sore muscles and some sunburn. But, when you see your efforts start to take shape, it is indeed all worth it.
Now, as your typical husband, it is incumbant upon me to do the heavy work, hauling timbers, hammering in the spikes, hauling dirt and mulch, while the wife wields the rake and hoe, crafting my grunt work into something soothing and natural. If truth be told, I think she actually puts in more work overall, and being the brains behind the outfit, at least when it comes to design, she gets credit for authoring the story I help her write.




The terrace garden sculpted into the side of the septic mound was initially installed using the bounty of small logs derived from the many trees I had to clear. But nature has it's way, and those logs have since been degraded by rot and bugs and age. So now we are doing it right with treated timbers, which means money, which means it's going to take awhile. But, as you can see, it's getting there. The wife has lots of herbs she has cultivated here, and we use them with our cooking. When the bottom teir is completed, she wants to try strawberries.



In the grand scheme of things, we don't have alot. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, we have it all. It's just a matter of taking what you do have and putting your soul into it, making it your own.






The goats, who own the back half, lust after this lush little paradise we are crafting, as they have pretty much made a wasteland of their area. But, now the time they have saved me from mowing is now being spent improving our shade garden.





So, there you have it, the evolution of our simple little shade garden beneath the four oak trees, guest starring the terrace garden, a work again in progress. I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as we had bringing it to you.