The backyard garden here is our favorite and is the part of the garden we see most often because the living room faces the backyard. We're in a seemingly-endless heatwave so I've been more-or-less hibernating indoors in air-conditioned comfort! :-) The shady backyard provides a nice cool-looking view:

Even in the heat and dry conditions, the very shady backyard has stayed remarkably green (although quite a few things are looking stressed if you view them up close....) We're trying to be diligent about diluting the dog-applied high nitrogen fertilizer on the lawn, so that has been getting a bit of water which helps with the green look! One thing stood out in the view today - although it is not very obvious in the above picture.... The young 'Canada Red' chokecherry tree to the right of the shed and behind the pine branches starts out in spring with green leaves that then turn red-purple in summer. Today the sun was shining off them very brightly. You can see the red-purple behind the pine branches a bit better in this picture:

My usual summer viewing position for the backyard garden is from the lounge chair on the back porch - but it's been MUCH too hot to sit out there lately. The Benjamina fig trees are having their annual summer vacation outdoors and we are trying to be diligent about keeping them watered! They are 40+ years old so are sort of giant bonsai trees :-)

The front garden - oddly perhaps - is not directly overlooked by any room in the house (except parts of it from the dining room - a room that only gets used on holidays and when 'company' comes to dinner...) The front garden is mainly viewed from the front porch, driveway, and road when we're leaving or returning to the house. Since it is in full sun, it is suffering badly from the hot, dry conditions. DH has been keeping his veggie pots watered but has only watered the most-stressed looking things in the rest of the front area. The peas and garlic have been harvested now so there are quite a few empty pots on the south side. Tomatoes, some baby carrots, green onions and herbs are still growing. Two of the big pots contain 'mums that overwintered in the garage. DH has a rather large collection of watering cans and buckets that he fills in the morning so he can water later in the day with warm water. Some pictures from the front porch:

north side

south side: