Cameron,
Everything looks lovely. I really admire how you planned out each of your areas. Wish I had the talent and fore thought to pull off what you have accomplished. You had such a large space to deal with and you have done an excellent job creating individual gardens. I love all your plant choices and everything works so well together.

I think overhead views really capture the beauty of a garden. I've not taken any overhead shots yet this year. I need to take some pictures now before the early bloomers are finished.

It has turned Africa hot down here in S.E. Virginia (Chesapeake). 90+ today and for the rest of the week. Are you having the same heat wave? Showers around but none have come my way.

Thanks for the lovely slideshow, I really enjoyed seeing your garden from the overhead vantage point.
Vikki

It is beautiful!

Kim

Cameron - what a breathtaking view - I loved taking the tour. My Johnston County garden should be able to support all those beautiful flowers - you are a true inspiration to me of what can be done in our zone - thanks for the tour....

Lynne

How wonderful! It's so great to have that perspective on your garden! I was idly pondering just this morning how much it would cost to rent a helicopter to get a view of mine... (NOT!)

You really do have a gift for placement and choice! Unlike my own willy nilly thickets and deserts, your garden flows beautifully from one delightful scene to the next.

And what a LOT of work you have done on paths and other hardscape - ALL stunning!

Wow. Obviously a lot of time and hard work and it's paid off handsomely. I love having a bird's eye view, it gave me an appreciation for the flow of your various gardens. They are wonderfully planned out and must be a delight to stroll through.

thanks, folks!

Vikki -- please do take some shots of your garden! You have such a beautiful place. Yes, we're hotter than elephants down here, too. Will be 100 degrees for 2 days! Other days will only hover around 99. Some kind of Bermuda high.

Lynne -- there seem to be so many Johnston County gardeners around. I guess the soil is pretty wonderful east of here. I think everything in my garden will work down there. Your deer may have different taste buds from mine! LOL You have such a gorgeous setting with your fenced flower garden in front of the woods. If you're ever up my way, drop me an email. DH is now retired...more help for me (he just bought a new JD mower with a dump trailer).

Linda -- the outer garden grew out of necessity (and my plant addiction). We set about trying to solve several problems. 1) grass wouldn't grow on the slope, even with the mesh stuff to try to hold it in place. 2) whenever it rained, the driveway gravel got washed downhill...along with the grass seed on the slope.

Our two sons, my DH and I did all the paths in the outer garden, built the dry streambed, built the patio at the fragrance garden. I personally spread 3 dump truck loads of garden soil over those naked slopes. We had a landscaper build the fence, main path to the gate, and water feature when the house was built. He planted the roses and a few large trees. Everything else has been a family project. I've had a lot of help planting, mulching, etc. And, I'm retired...what else am I going to do? LOL

I just had to chime in here on how awesome your gardens are. I love your design for your outside sloping garden.
-Ps. not a weed to be seen!
CMK

Thanks for sharing this, Cameron. It's lovely from any angle. Did you sketch your plan on paper before putting plants in the ground? It makes me think I should have done something like that rather than just start sticking things in the ground.

Mary

I enjoyed the tour, Cameron. The slideshow loaded just fine. You mentioned all of the hauling you had to do initially. I had not anticipated that starting a garden from scratch required hauling various things around, meaning carrying heavy things to and fro. I bought a Radio Flyer red wagon to help me haul stuff around. Several folks teased, saying I should have gotten a wheelbarrow. I hate wheelbarrows because they pitch and twist. I am happy with my red wagon.

Lorna

Cameron,

I loved the slideshow and the unique angle of photographing from above. Everything looks so well thought out, even to the point of having guest parking ( which is such a good idea!)

Awesome job!!

Marilyn

Enjoyed this tour immensely.

I never thought of making a fragrance garden.
My fragrant plants are dotted all over.

Nell

Mary -- I did start with a plan, especially for the fragrance garden because DS1, DS2 and DH were helping build the patio. They wanted to SEE a plan with dimensions, concept, etc.

However...as with all plans, you have to adjust and tweak. Mother nature, plant availability, wrong/poor choices, etc. necessitated changing these plans a lot.

Here are the original, un-retouched versions. Things are very different in most cases. The only sure thing was the sweet bay magnolia in the fragrance garden. Out front, it was the Japanese irises.

Nell -- since the dining patio is for use mainly in the evenings, I wanted the fragrance concentrated there...over several months, starting with daphne in winter. Right now, the sweet bay magnolia is fantastic; the confederate jasmine is also blooming; the gardenia there is just budding up; the ginger will bloom in August/Sept. I do have other fragrance plants around the garden. The concept there was greenery with fragrance...and to create shade...which why I lost so much there since it isn't established shade.

Lorna -- I hate wheelbarrows, too! I have a big trug that I'd rather haul around than push a wheelbarrow. My dumptruck guy was pretty good about dropping the mountains of soil and mulch all along my garden for me so that I didn't have to wheel it, just climb the mountains and push it and spread it!

Marilyn -- we have so much space, we could do guest parking here. First time we've had it. Not shown is an island bed between the gravel guest parking and the concrete pad at our garage. It is lined with Love Grass, has a buddleia, holly, crepe myrtle, monarda, heliotrope, etc. in it.

{{gwi:697000}}

{{gwi:697002}}

{{gwi:697004}}

I'm speechless.....actually, the first thing that came into my mind was how much time do you put in each week? That is a dream!!!

What a wonderful tour of your lovely gardens. You started with a literal plan and it worked. Very nicely done and I'm sure it must be a real pleasure for you to enjoy each and every day no matter what the time of year.

FlowerLady

Cameron it is just beautiful. I too was wondering how much time to keep it so weed-free. It looks like a labor of love and I agree that it is a good way to spend your retirement time!

I asked my DH this morning...how much time I HAVE to spend to keep the weeds under control versus how much time I LOVE to spend in the garden! LOL

He thinks I spend about 1 hour a week doing "serious" weeding. Both of us stroll the garden every morning and evening. We both tend to pull weeds here and there as we stroll along. DH hates weeds even more than I do, so he's vigilant about weeds along any paths. He can't always tell what's a weed or a plant, so I go into the garden.

In early spring when the weeds start coming out, I have to spend several hours in one attempt...especially if it has rained a lot, or if we go away for a few days.

We brought in garden soil and didn't till up the ground beneath it (since it was scraped during house construction). We have around 6-8 inches of clean garden soil, then we have 4 inches of mulch. The last time we mulched was a year ago. The mulch is breaking down nicely. I think the combination of clean soil and and mulch has prevented a lot of weed growth.

We also installed a deep edging cut in the ground with composite edging, backfilled with gravel along the top edges of the outer garden. This helps keep the crabgrass from sneaking in from the meadow.

There is landscape fabric underneath the stone in the dry streambed. I hate the stuff in a garden, but it makes it very easy to pull out weeds that seeded among the stone.

The worst area for weeds is the gravel path! Spurge is a real problem there. I use my trowel to scrape up under the weeds to get the shallow roots out, then I rake the gravel back.

It's 100 degrees here today. Is forecast to be 102 tomorrow. We get up at 6:30am to get our outside exercise and chores done before 9:00am.

My DH retired on June 2nd, so now there are two of us in the garden! He's asking me to identify the butterflies and has started talking to the birds, too! :-)

Just amazing! I love it. That stream is fabulous and the overall garden has such a nice flow to it. I'm amazed how weed-free your garden is, and can't believe it's done in an hour a week. I must be doing something wrong. Your fragrance garden is a great idea. I also plant several fragrant plants by my patio, because that is where they are most likely to be appreciated. You must really have a stong inner vision to achieve such a cohesive landscape. I wish I lived closer so I could run over to see this place in person.

Cameron, that was a joy to watch. Thank you for sharing your beautiful garden photographs. I enjoy all your pictures so much.

That's sooooooooo beautiful. I walked through it and then I walked through it again. Thank you Cameron.

Libby

I was overwhelmed and speechless! wow... wow ... wow.

i was wondering about the weeds too- glad i wasnt the only one! haha

jsut literally amazing work you guys did. i am stunned
the hosue is gorgeous too..from your other pics.

I'm going to have to go out in to the garden and take some weed photos! Watch for my weed slideshow! LOL I noticed a little pile of pulled weeds on a path this morning. DH was in the garden before me. I think I'm going to like his retirement!

We've had triple digit heat for several days in a row. The plants are holding up pretty well. I've watered the new plants and some moisture-lovers (canna, colocasia, heuchera, ginger, annuals, etc.) a few times.

DS2 returns from Danville, Pennsylvania tomorrow and is excited to see the garden status (he helped with so much of it). He's been digging up some prehistoric stuff around Danville. He's off to Israel, Jordan and Turkey on Friday.

Hope everyone else is doing well this morning.

Correction --- DS1 (archaeologist) returns tomorrow. DS2 (pharmacy student) is here all the time.

Looking at your garden plans was fascinating. You obviously have a gift since the flow of your gardens is perfect.

Color me another person who is truly impressed by how little weeding you have to do!