March 07, 2025

GARDEN JOURNAL 2020: AFTER

Way back in February, I posted a BEFORE post of the entire yard. I always forget to do this, so I considered it a minor triumph.

Then this whole pandemic--maybe you heard of it?--turned the entire world upside-down, and I lost the will to blog.

I did NOT, however, lose the will to garden. In fact (and I'm sure I'm not alone here), working in the garden has been the thing that keeps me sane during these troubled and unprecedented times.

And therefore to even further boost my spirits and self-esteem, I'm posting today's "after" post as a companion to February's frightening "before" pictures. The comparison is totally unfair and manipulative: everything was at its worst in February, naturally. However, we have actually done some amazing things--some of them planned and some of them on the spur of the moment. And for once, I'm going to document it, literally duplicating each picture from February.

And so I present, BEFORE and AFTER!

Backyard

BEFORE: Veg garden from porch.

AFTER: Newly reconfigured beds and
our best garden yet!

BEFORE: The current veg garden. GOAL: Remove

right-most bed and space out the remaining beds.

AFTER: Goal accomplished!

BEFORE: Next to veg garden. GOAL: Create two

new raised beds and further raise the herb bed.

AFTER: Goal accomplished! Actually we only
created one new bed because the second one
would make things too crowded. STILL!

BEFORE: Same area looking back towards porch.

AFTER: The area is transformed... and now
fenced in.

BEFORE: New bed! Well, old empty weedy bed
cleared of giant rock border and covered with tarp
for almost a year to kill weeds. GOAL: Create
stone-filled trench border and plant... something.

AFTER: New plan for this area! Mulch has
dug it down and then top-dressed with compost,
and the plan is to ultimately build two new raised
beds dedicated to potatoes.

BEFORE: The final frontier. GOAL: Dig up all
the buried slabs, bricks, and stones.

AFTER: A ton of bricks and rocks dug up and

used to construct new walls

BEFORE: The other side of the backyard.

AFTER: New edging, new plants, big changes!

BEFORE: Looking towards the gate.

AFTER: I'd call that improved!

BEFORE: This corner never looks impressive.

GOAL: Change that.

AFTER: Perhaps not impressive, but greatly
improved with the new edging, and added day
lilies will fill in nicely next year.

BEFORE The garage bed really came into its own
last year, but the border still needs some work. A
late discovery last summer was the presence of a
buried brick walkway and bed border here. GOAL:
Uncover and remove bricks, redefine bed border.

AFTER: WOW, this bed grew into itself even
more this year! While the brick removal hasn't
happened yet, we did redo the border and it looks
fantastic.

BEFORE: Looking back to compost heap and
last year's new beds. GOAL: Redo the gravel-
filled borders by digging deeper, lining with
landscape fabric, and refilling with river stone.

AFTER: We did it!

BEFORE: Closeup of new bed.

AFTER: Closeup with beagle.

BEFORE: Another.

AFTER: Pretty!

BEFORE: Another, with beagle.

AFTER: So improved.

BEFORE: Turning the corner, with beagle.

AFTER: This is how this has always looked inside
my head.

BEFORE: Looking back towards the house.

AFTER: Ah!

Front Yard

BEFORE: Stepping out the front door:
Berryland. All the strawberries and
blueberries are now here, along with
the wild blackberries a garden club pal
gifted. There are also perennials, a
single heather, and OH YEAH new
this year there will be tulips! GOAL:
Just keep weeded.

AFTER: Berryland was a big fail. I
blame myself. Strawberries did not
come back, the blackberries produced
not a single berry, and the blueberry
"bushes" remain just sticks. And so
this bed got completely redone.

BEFORE: Side bed. I think there
are new tulips here.

AFTER: There were new tulips. And
now there is a whole new section of
this bed, ready to be planted!

BEFORE: Side bed.

AFTER: Side bed with new expansion.

BEFORE: Side bed from the street. No new goals
for this bed this year.

AFTER: Mostly just kept weeded.

BEFORE: Same thing.

AFTER: Same thing.

BEFORE: Looking from driveway to front lawn.

AFTER: The new design!

BEFORE: Berryland bed from the
street, with Lester.

AFTER: Lester now has a bed worthy
of his guardianship.

BEFORE: Little Blue House!

AFTER: Still a Little Blue House!

BEFORE: Little stone wall, one of last year's projects.

AFTER: Now with hollyhocks and tickweed.

BEFORE: Front bed by driveway. My boxwoods
are growing faster than I expected (for boxwoods).

AFTER: And they got even bigger.

BEFORE: Moving along.

AFTER: Looking good in spite of drought.

BEFORE: You can just see the border here
under the leaves.

AFTER: Better.

BEFORE: The new stone walls.

AFTER: Okay, this doorstep needs work, I know.

BEFORE: The other front bed, with fewer leaves.

AFTER: This bed did not fare as well with the heat.

BEFORE: Not only did this bed get the new border,
it also got expanded outward, creating new flower
real estate. Have the poor little perennials I planted
late last year survived?

BEFORE: Not only did this bed get the new border,
it also got expanded outward, creating new flower
real estate. Have the poor little perennials I planted

late last year survived?