CCP - I am late to respond, but I am not sure what pictures to add. If you look at the ones I put up on 4/15/11 and imagine grass, you pretty much have the layout. The swings are steps from the patio, and running around space is more open behind the garage. General Update - Another season in, we cured the drainage issue in the spring, mostly. The dry creek to nowhere, that my architect and landscaper thought would work, didn't. We were left with rocks on top of mud, instead of mud. We pulled it, and did a DIY (disaster filled install) french drain going across two and a half properties. We used "EZ-Flow" Pipes from NDS, which is basically an alternative to gravel. We are having some problems with the pipes bucking after a heavy rain and needing to be re-worked in my next,next door neighbor's yard, but we are planning to add more fill to weigh it down. Moving the water away to the community retention pond was the only cure though. Kind of wish we had written a check as opposed to DIY though. In terms of the plantings, almost everything has thrived - except the dogwood and sourwood in the rear. We replaced the sourwood once and its replacement is hurting. There is a bit of grade there and we've read that sourwood's like water, so we think that its iffy that we have the right plant there given that the water drains. The dogwood, we may replace this weekend. That particular tree was always kind of weak even before the transplant from the front yard to the back, so we will give it one more shot before looking at another selection. The patio (and deck above) gather mold rather easily. In a few years I'd like to rip the cheap composite deck out and replace it with something (tropical hardwood?, regular wood?), but we'll live with it for a while. The mold/moss (green stuff) on the bluestone is a bit more disconcerting, as we wonder if it is a sign that the area below the patio is on the wetter side. The ground is firm, and there is gravel below, and the gutters are buried/routed away, but we speculate that water may be a factor. In terms of our enjoyment - we had a labor day party last weekend and could put a couple dozen people in the yard no problem. The kids like to hid in the tall grasses by the side stairs, and the curb appeal is nice. So far, so good.

Doug and Pam, Thank you so much for the staghorn garden tour; I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it! Sadly, I won't be able to go to the meet-up at Fairchild Gardens, but hope you will be able to go to coffeemom's swap. I would love to pick your brain! Oh, and your wire basket ideas are quite novel! Better watch out tho, as if you're scouring/dumpster-diving my neighborhood night before bulk trash day, you might have competition, lol. Now that we know what to do with all those cast-offs at the curb, there'll be fewer of them in landfills, for sure. Seeing how well you grow the staghorns, have you ever considered taking on a brief educational spot at a garden gathering? I'd bet others would enjoy hearing about your fab staghorns. Do you grow different varieties of them? Thanks again, and enjoy the gardens at Fairchild. Randy

Looking at RR's bottle tree, loving it and thinking that perhaps it's all in the artistic talent and eye of the maker.....and of course placement and lack of resin gnomes and frogs that make is pretty. When he retired, my uncle started "making things" He had seen a wind chime made from various cut off bottles, with a hole drilled and carefully arranged so they all didn't clang together at once. So he took to glomming on to every empty bottle he could find, cutting it and stringing it up and giving it away. His next project was wind chimes made from forks and spoons strung on a bent coat hanger. They clanked in a breeze. Then there was another man who took up rug hooking when he retired. He bought kits and tied knots like mad. Their house was covered with furry rugs, hanging on benches, on the back of the sofa, on floors and piled in a corner. Another person took up needle point and in 5 or 6 years all available space was covered with needle point renditions of someone else's art. We had Pinky, Blue Boy, The Mona Lisa and even Van Gogh's sunflowers. A beautiful home was turned into a display of kitsch....but it kept them off the streets! LOL! I have seen some very lovely "art" made from broken pottery....but I have also seen some stuff that is pretty much broken dishes glued to something. The line between art and craft is fine.....and the line between craft and junk perhaps even finer....and some don't seem to see it. As an example, I made a trip to New York several years ago to see Christo's Gates. I found it moving, exilerating and endlessly fascinating. I posted on another forum what I had done and how wonderful I thought it was.....and was booed and hooted at ridiculed for bothering to view something quite as silly as that. Art doesn't need the approval of others to be "art". Van Gogh died penniless with a stash of things like whirling suns and swirling clouds and flowers beneath his bed. Pollock also died broke. Frieda Kahlo's work never sold until after her death when Madonna started collecting. I have seen several gardens that were full of "repurposed" items, the toilet planter, the shoe planter, the frog under the hosta and the elf sitting on a rock. Some were lovely and charming, while a few others were a collection of junk. What makes the difference? I guess it's the skill of the person putting it all together. Scuse the ramble, I guess it always boils down to "To each his own" or "chacon a son gout", but I never understand why someone feels the need to defend their own taste, or feel insulted if someone else doesn't like what you like. Why would anyone feel threatened because I don't like plastic gnomes in my yard, nor Robert Kincade (however he spells his name) on my walls nor canned soup in my casseroles? It's your house, do what you like. Linda C

I lurk here, a lot. I don't usually have much to say, although I do enjoy your posts. I posted on GJ for a long time, but that was a long time ago. Things evolve, a bunch of new ones join up, and the forum changes. It is the way it is supposed to be, I think. I am coming out of lurkdom to tell you that I do have some of those tires in my garden. They are painted all sorts of garish colors, and I actually grow vegetables in them. My DH cut them for me, and spent time turning them inside-out for me, and I am not going to hurt his feelings now by not using them. Besides, we have the most unbelievable black gumbo soil here. None of this nice sandy loam for us. God gave us soil that has absolutely no air in it, slick as boiled okra when it is wet, adobe when it is dried. So, we grow in raised beds, and these cute little beds are perfect. Fill them with good topsoil, good compost, and we can grow anything. A tire will grow 2 or 3 nice tomato plants, a couple of peppers, a package of lettuce seeds, or beets, or carrots, or maybe an eggplant or a couple of zuchini plants. I can weedeat the pathways to keep them neat. The tires do hold up very well to the punishment of the weed whacker, and they will last longer than all of us will. I guess I could paint them all green so they wouldn't stand out so much, but it's just a vegetable garden. And my grandkids love them. They each have a little salad garden in their own tire! LOL Janie