The Makings of A Whimsical Garden

We've rented the home we are currently in almost two years now and we have had this side yard that measures about 12 feet by 40 feet. There has been nothing there since Google Earth took images, which we all know is quite up to date. NOT!

Many of you know that my oldest daughter is getting married in 2016 and she wants to have her engagement party at our home. So we decided since we plan on staying in our current rental for at least another 2 1/2 years, we might as well do something with the side yard.

Now I am sure some of you are questioning, why spend the money if it's not your home, and our reason is that while we are paying rent, why not really enjoy the space. As Christians, we always want to set excellent impressions on the people we interact with and it's always nicer to leave the home in better condition than when we first moved in.

We have an amazing covered patio that runs the width our home, almost, and this side yard would make for a fun project where we could extend the benefits of an additional outside living space. We've always wanted a fire pit but the only place we could use one might be if we added one to the side yard.

My husband and I, are pros now at laying concrete paving stones and decided on a perfect color, tan to match the dirt that is underneath it all. Plus it's such a neutral color, anything we add on top of it will match 100%. So that is where we decided to add 162 pavers to create a patio that isn't permanent, just in case the homeowners hate our vision.

My husband Steve decided that adding a little focal point of using 9 red pavers would be the ideal place for our temporary fire pit, one that will go with us whenever we decide to move. To add more dimension and to make use of a slanted dirt mound, we added wood planter boxes, that yes, are also temporary if the homeowner wants them removed. They are simply screwed together. We added quite the assortment of 6 different color hybrid tea roses to the planter for both color and fragrance.

For color we added some colorful Adirondack chairs in turquoise blue and corral, to compliment and draw others into the space for conversation or just a place to get away from it all.  We also added some lavender into pots and African daisies in colored pots. My daughter Kailee wanted Tulips so we added one in a colorful pot as a focal point on the patio. We are encouraging bees, butterflies and other pollinators into our space and are planting things that we know will draw them in. We refuse to use pesticides as we want natural predators to keep things neat and tidy.

We have added two apple trees into the remaining dirt space to create a barrier between our home and the house next door. It's two story and we always feel like they are looking down from their windows and it doesn't create the privacy you would want when sitting out there. We are currently looking for a lemon tree to complete the space.

I love gardens if you know me as a friend or family member and wanted to share what we are working on currently and would love ideas for what you think would look great there. I am creating a whimsical garden that people would really want to sit in and enjoy. Here is the space remaining that I could use your input on. Feel free to comment away or even share pictures. This is truly a labor of love to be working on this with my family. It's not easy and there are definitely a lot of blood, sweat and tears going into this project.