This is taken from the roof of the back garage. It's one of my favorites. But, it's going to be about four years old--the X bed is overgrown and we need to fix it. The little bed w/the white birdbath is gone and the brick has been expanded there (that's where the firepit is--was supposed to be my Star Trek bed in the shape of the ST insignia but I compromised. I still get the hostas, but not the shape.). There's an extra tier on the hosta bed around the patio there and the bottom right gravel etc is out. (used to be play area for the kids)

2 years ago

Used to have a garden there, and the hostas were in pots along the fence. What a PAIN that was. Don't ask me how many years it took us before we finally thought uh-duh, plant them.

Side track a moment, hostas along the front of the house. Four years ago. We added another row of walkway b/c the hostas were so ginormous they covered it and I was ready to punch the mail man for walking on the leaves rather than in the grass. We are going to redo these guys this year tho, bc even w/the extra walkway, we have about 6 inches to walk.

Old picture-the fence area is totally different and the barberries and everything behind are gone. Buuuut it's my favorite hosta bed. And, that year and the year after, I believe, we had SO MUCH RAIN-it was faaaaabulous. We've spent the last few years in such a drought state, they've not looked nearly so lovely since then. Still my favorite bed tho.

Same year. This was a tree, cut down in 2007 and we planted honeysuckle vines on it. The stump is rotted now so we're going to put the vines along the fence this year and take the stump out.

Two years ago

And the front of it.

I have a sketch of the backyard I did last year when we were trying to figure out how to lay everything out for the rest of the backyard. I'll post it tomorrow..once I figure out what I did w/it.

I hope you enjoyed this tour!

hahahahaha thanks nicholsworth! (we did have a neighbor across the street tell us a few years ago to knock it off!)

Fabulous transformation! What state are you in? Could you add your zone and state to your screen name?

I'm in NW Iowa..lemme figure out how to do that and I sure can!

Oooo lookit me go being all techy like!

you didn't exaggerate!..you have a boatload of hostas!..and if you divided them as you rearrange - even more lol..all of us here can appreciate how hard you've worked..the good news is I think the hardest work is over..the fine tuning will be rewarding and fun..

What a great work you did on that blank canvas :-) Seems to be much room left for further hosta beds,lol...Looking forward for more pictures this year...

Amazing job!

Welcome to the asylum you're going to fit right in!

Dave

What a beautiful oasis

Thanks everyone! We've planned from the tree that is my favorite bed, all the way back to the house to be hostas. Instead of a walkway thru, we're looking at making stepping stones, and putting a slightly raised center in the middle to put a fountain of some sort..maybe move the one that's over in the tree stump when we take it out. Then from the tree back to the fence by the garage will be more sun stuff.

(I won't name names but his initials are my husband)

==>>> thats hilarious ... lol ....

see junior in one of the pix ... he must be having a ball.. with mom and dad out playing in the dirt every chance they get ...

ken

heh heh thanks!

Yeah, both the kids have enjoyed being out in the dirt w/us. Plus, we have *tons* of snakes and frogs so that's fun!

Wow so impressive what you have done.Would love to sit on that back porch and have coffee in the morning. Beautiful!

Thank you!

It makes me laugh a bit b/c when we first started this and kept adding hostas, my dad freaked out. COLOR! You need COLOR! All you have is GREEN! My husband and I just laughed. There are so many variations and shades and textures of greens, whites, yellows, blues..plus blooms on top of it..I don't know that there's anything more soothing and relaxing than a sea of hostas! We do have a lot of color, and we enjoy it a lot...just hostas will always be our first love.

Really lovely progression over the years Missi, you have done a great job. I agree with Dave and I am happy you found this forum. We are all crazed here.

Love that backyard and wellcome.

So,much work and such a great outcome! We all know green is THE color here!

Sherry

All the hard work is paying off. Everything is lovely!!

Thanks everyone!

HUGE improvement! Well done. Just remember to take pics to let us help ID your noids. Fun challenge for me, and some others here I'm sure.

boy howdy you guys will be inundated come spring when everything's finally back up! There's no takseies backsies either!

What a lovely space you've created. I've really enjoyed reading your posts and looking at your photos.

You have done a wonderful job. I love the before and after comparisons. Thanks for posting. McT

Loved seeing all the changes and improvements you have made. Your garden is a very good sized lot with lots of options to play with. I'm envious!

Thanks everyone!

I can't wait to see more pictures this summer! I'm so jealous of your green. You must have wonderful humidity there.

*snort* as much as humidity can be considered wonderful when you feel like you're trying to breathe under water hahahahaha!

I'm actually about half scared to see what the season will bring-it's the end of January and we've only had like 10" of snow all winter so far. Plus we went into fall off almost an entire summer of no rain. I told my husband we may as well just add a bunch of yuccas and find out what else can live on almost zero water here. Ugh.

Found this picture of one of the honeysuckles on the tree in the hosta bed by the X bed

Nice honeysuckle! Does yours get aphids in Iowa? I tried them a few times, but the aphids ended up winning. Also hope you're aware that too much gardening around the base of a maple can sometimes do it in. One of my neighbors built a 20 foot diameter raised bed around a huge Norway maple, filled it with about 12" of topsoil and ferns, and within 2 years it was obvious the tree was a goner. Another neighbor keeps losing trees from his huge mounds of mulch he seems to have a preference for. What you have there may be fine, just don't go crazy with mulch.

We've not had a problem w/aphids so far, luckily.

Yep, we know about the base of the trees. The hostas have been there so long, when they come up they get big fast-we're sparse mulchers.

Very nice. Well done!!!

Wow what a transformation! You have done so much work. Just one thing, don't you think you need a few more daylilies up front, Ha ha ha

Thanks Don and miles! hahaha yeah we maybe could squeeze in a few more! We've actually talked about moving them to the back and putting Russian sage along the front there this year. We've got a small hedge of it on the other side of the driveway already. *Or* putting more spirea's along there.