For me there is a difference between a yard and a garden. I had a yard at the apartment house I lived at before I moved to my current place. I never planted one single thing, even though I had permission and packets of flower seeds and good physical conditions. I noticed that my yard here at my new place became my garden when I started thinking about how I would change it... how I could bring out the grace of the forsythia by cutting some branches... how the privacy of the backyard could be enhanced by extending some already established lines just a bit further, so as to work with the circulation of sight and of perambulation... It became my garden instead of my yard whenever I thought about the spirit of the trees and plants instead of their utility. I plan to plant a cedar in order to block the view from a neighboring apartment house through my patio door, but that is for utility, and if that were the only change I ever thought about making, this would still be a yard. But in the process of choosing that particular tree, I learned that in nature, cedars grow right along with black walnuts, as they will do here, so it seems like introducing two new friends to each other in my backyard -- "Walnut, meet Cedar, just moved in from the clan farmstead. Cedar, meet Walnut, established and respected in this neighborhood for years." They nod and shake roots and become friends. This yard is becoming my garden as I meet and collaborate with the spirits here to make a place where we all feel good about spending time with each other.

Welcome to Garden junk, sistersunnie! You will soon find your way around the garden web forums. To reach our conversations page, go back to the 'Messages'. the second line says 'on topic ....' and then 'switch to conversations'. Anything that is not strictly garden junk should be put on that page. A lot of people forget that, and we lose GJ posts off the last page.

Hey Martha, I go to school at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Its about 4hrs from my house. I spend every day or every other day in the garden because I unfortunately do not have a job. In terms of parents helping, I wish, lol! My parents, unlike me, are at work all day and on the weekends they are relaxing.But I have always enjoyed gardening and raising leps for the longest time.

Thanks everyone ... right now my farm is a disgusting muddy mess! Can't wait until it gets colder this week .. and freezes. Floota - yes, my farm is Mystic Meadows Daylily Farm ... and I often have misty mornings like that. And I just love my pond! Avedon - I'm sure your gardens are lovely too! Please do copy my gazing ball ... I actually have a couple of them around the gardens. mantis - I can't post pictures from work, but I've attached a link to the Pets forum where there are quite a few pics of all my furry kids! Marg - that's a tree peony, I'll have to look for the name at home ... it's amazing in the spring. Here is a link that might be useful: My furballs