My mother’s garden and where my love for gardening came from

My love for Gardening

This post is very dear to me because it is a piece of what I grew up with. My mother was always out in the yard growing up – planting, mowing, weeding, picking fruit, vegetables, weeding some more. She loved it so much that yard work became a part of our everyday chores and I hated it. That is until I got older. I never understood why she made us do it but today I am so grateful because her love has been passed on to something that I love. I love to garden, I love to weed, I love to plant and I am sad because my yard is only half the yard I grew up with. Today I am going to share a piece of my childhood- my parent’s yard.

Here is a picture of my mother doing what she does best- gardening (forgive me mother I know you didn’t know I took these pictures but my heart was swelling as I did and I can’t help but share with the world the beauty that you have produced)

This is mom, in her apron, next to her gardening boxes that my father made for her. (by the way my dad does play a huge role in this yard but I think he builds all that he does for her because he loves her)

My mother’s potting bench that my dad too made- for her birthday one year I believe.

I missed the flagstone path that my brother Jason assisted my parents on installing – it is beautiful and leads from their deck to their shed (behind the potting bench)
They have the most amazing trees that they planted many many years ago- these trees produce a LOT of shade

My parents planted a willow tree when I was very young. I remember it was a tiny branch basically stuck in the ground over the years that tiny branch turned into this tree

Now this willow tree has been climbed in by many generations. In this tree remember swinging from a rope, sitting on a swing, climbing through the branches and trying to build tree houses. My brother Geoff loved this tree so much that last summer he came home to my parents and roped my dad into building a tree house for this tree which all the grandchildren LOVE to play in. I think it was a great idea Geoff!

Here are some other beauties from my parents yard.

Come sit and visit for a while- there are places to sit every where you look.

Being at home and taking all of this in brings peace to me. I even found myself laying in the grass under a large shade tree next to her barn wood bench dozing off last Saturday. Both my mom and I have a bench just like this that we made back about 13 years ago. Oh how I miss having shade in a yard. (I’ve planted 14 trees but need to plant more) I have yard envy.

There is definitely something to look at every direction you turn.

She plants an abundance of beautiful pots full of flowers. There is an assortment of colors all around her yard. I am luck enough to have some transplants from her yard and while I was up there I found even more that I want! She has some pretty yellow flowers and some purple ones that are all perennials. I have been trying to plant all perennials so they will come back every year and I don’t have to continually plant flowers each year. Some of the starts that she has given me have been divided up and I have shared them with other people in my neighborhood also.

The photos don’t do it justice and I only captured probably a fourth of their yard. I could spend all day taking pictures of the landscape

Yesterday I spent two hours in my yard weeding and picking vegetables and the entire time I just kept telling myself someday my yard will be as beautiful as my parents.