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Our backyard was a hard fought victory. We had to contend with impervious red clay soil, all that was left after the builders scraped all the top soil off. Not only that, but they left a slope that slanted toward our house. There was literally nothing in our backyard...

Spring is finally here! It seemed like this was going to be the year with NO spring. I remember a year when my mom told me Michigan had virtually no summer. That was the gloomy thought that entered my mind about this spring. But Joy! It happened! So I thought I would...

This is the last in my Pots and Container series. You can certainly see from this series just how much they have added to our garden. All of these planters except the little window box still reside happily in our yard. We are always on the lookout for things that we...

We both love garden sculptures. If we had a larger garden, we would undoubtable have more. But, especially in a smaller garden, less is best. So, in addition to the fountain with cherub (see http://www.carolsfaeriegardens.com/flower-filled-fountains), we have...

More in my pots and containers series—I love window boxes. I mean, I really love window boxes. This is the second window box my hubby made and I love it. We both liked the first one, shown at the bottom of this page. But when we re-sided our home, we wanted a new...

I love pots! I can get as creative as I want. And this is the best way to add instant charm to a home or condo or an apartment or where ever you live. As you can see, I have everything from inexpensive clay pots to more expensive ceramic pots. There is a place for...

We had always wanted a fountain—love the sound of running water. When we saw this fountain on sale, we bought it and installed it close to our front porch, where we enjoyed it for several years. Then we decided to remove the old hedge along the foundation and, at the...

Most of us can barely wait for the first signs of spring. Crocus, snowdrops, dainty violas, pansies—all are welcome signs. But for me, the first real sign (!!) — and the most exciting part of early spring — was putting together the hanging baskets for our front porch....

Before I leave our sidehill gardens, I am giving one last glimpse of the views along our driveway. We have, over the years, concentrated on our front yard and, more recently, our side and back yard gardens. And, while the sidehill part of our garden remains in flux,...

These photos are still of our hillside, but now above our little patch of woods (see Going Downhill From Here Part 3), and across from the area of our downhill paths (see Going Downhill From Here Part 2). We have a lot of area here to experiment with; some of what we...

In Going Downhill From Here #2 I promised I would show more of how we are trying to tame the hill that is our side yard. Like most of you, we have more ideas than we have money so our plans have to be implemented a little at a time. Sometimes we feel like we are not...

In Going Downhill From Here Part 1 it is clearly evident that our side yard hill is quite steep. (Understatement!) Putting in a retaining wall and a small patio was a good first step toward solving this challenge. But, of course, that left the rest of the hill to be...

Did I mention that our home is on a hill?? This photo sort of shows how steep our side yard is. When we first moved here, the neighbor kids used our hill for sledding on the days when we had snow! (Thankfully, it doesn’t snow very often!) But eventually we decided to...

As I mentioned before, when we moved here, our yard was pretty much a blank slate. There were a few attempts at landscaping, including a small weeping cherry tree planted on the left side of our house, which was probably put in right before the house was listed for...

While going through photos for this blog, I came across some past successes in our front yard, some that were outstanding, and some that didn’t last for one reason or another. I will show more in another blog, but I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy...

When my daughter and I restarted this blog, I decided to show first our side and back yard gardens and pathways because they are the latest areas that we have been working on. They have done very well this year but, as every gardener knows all too well, disaster may...

No, we aren’t Irish but this moss, sometimes called Irish moss (sagina subulata), is really beautiful on this path. I was told by someone “in the know” that it would not grow and thrive here. But I have grown it in my faerie gardens as lawns for the little faeries,...

In my last post, I talked about the pathway and flower border along side our house. This post will show you the other side of the path. This side had leyland cypress along it (see August 28, 2016); this made it the perfect border back drop and wind break. But because...

In this post, I would like to show you more of the garden, whimsey and pathway on the side of our home. Inspiration can come from many sources: other’s gardens, garden centers, and Pinterest to name a few. In this garden all three had a role to play. Our front yard...

My daughter and I debated whether to continue this blog; she has been very busy with her career, and I have been—well, just busy since my hubby retired. But our garden has changed so much since my last post, and Jen loves our garden, too—after all, she grew up here,...