The Difference a Year Makes

Some of you may recall that when we first moved into this house, I discovered that the previous owners had left a shocking amount of garden ornamentation behind, both large and small. Some of it was nothing more than detritus. Other items were simply not my taste or needed a facelift in order to suit it. The trough water feature, however, was one of those items I was determined to get rid of until I realized how difficult an undertaking that would be. So I decided I would have to make friends with it.

There sat the eyesore in the middle of the yard

In the depths of winter, I began drawing out plans for situating the trough a little better in the landscape. 

Drawing up plans

Last spring, as our landscapers were waiting for a delivery of gravel to repair our driveway, they decided to make use of their time by removing all of the sod (well, mostly weeds) to create a planting bed that matched my drawing. Then I set about painting the pump, trying to clear up the water, and staining the hideous grey exterior of the trough.

As I began planting in this bed, I worried that it would take forever to fill it in and make it look nice. The plants were so tiny in the massive bed.

Here's what it looked like exactly one year ago

It's pretty remarkable to compare last year's photo with this years. It's the main reason I spend so much time photographing the garden--I clearly have an inability to grasp the incredible changes taking place in my own garden without visual evidence. And the evidence is staggering, I think.

So what does it look like today?

Things are filling in nicely

When I go outside these days, I think about how packed this space will be in another year or so. In the meantime, watching the garden mature is a daily thrill.

The trough is growing on me

In fact, now it looks like it was a deliberate addition
on my part