Gardeners ?  

A wonderful subject
We are in the process of tweaking our courtyard. I'm too embarrassed to post before pics without an after. It's a challenge as I'm limiting the designer to mostly native plants.
I've always wanted a conversation pit a la the Miller house. It's probably not going to happen in our current interior so I'm thinking of doing one outside around this fire bowl a buddy made for us.

.
Are you going to dig it out and line it with stone? Would make a cool hibachi with a grid on top. Your friend must have some pretty snazzy steel rolling gear.
Got obsessed with Japanese gardens a while ago, don't really know anything about gravel gardens or garden tools but made these just as an experiment, need tines or a weighted end I think. But they look nice on the wall even if they are pretty much useless.

I am working on my garden at the moment.
Its a very small space which is just as well.
I've just reinstated the fences to the original design and I am planting up in a very loose Japanese style, sort of Japanese plants fused with an English cottage garden aesthetic. The beds are very slim so I cant really build a very layered textured feel.
The garden is North facing so I have used lots of ferns, acers and other woodland plants.
I just need to build a low retaining wall around the beds and I can then plant everything in the soil.
Sheds are a necessary evil.
Before and after.

Dear H moon,
Your garden is fabulous!
SX70, I love that fire bowl!
and Heath, any chance that you could take a snappy of the soon to be re-invented space?
Wonderful thread.
Aunt Mark
ps I installed a labyrinth in the back yard of one of my rental properties...I'll either look for a snappy, or go over and take one. I love to work in the dirt.
(edited to add a snappy of a portion of the labyrinth).
pss I landscaped the entire half acre myself...making a lot of mistakes. The yard was bare..except for the grass.

My snappies look messy.
But I used all native plants, and was even successful at growing orchids. I put in way too many plantings.
Live and learn,
Aunt Mark

A Small
town garden here.
It relies mostly on the planting for features.

Here's an older snappy of the labyrinth.
before the ground cover expanded.
Aunt Mark
ps sweet garden, Robert.
pss my (nearly perfect) tenants are very spiritual people. They requested winding pathways all around the property, and a labyrinth. I over planted.

Mark, I can't imagine you doing manual work.
This must present a problem, how do you dress for such activities?

Why,
admittedly, I have a helper (as I have a huge fear of snakes). Plus, the helper is quite charming. But I'm not afraid to get my gloves dirty (I always wear gloves in the garden). I usually wear something tastefully simple....or nothing at all.
Best,
Aunt Mark
ps this property is infested with black snakes. I get so weird around them. So, I take a puff, and try to ignore them. It doesn't always work.

pyrobowl
Love all the gardens!
Thank you for the compliments on the firebowl. The friend was a metal worker - he only made a handful before closing his shop and going to work for Wexley School for Girls (an advertising agency believe it or not). If interested, you can google "pyrobowl rubicon" and reach his ghost website. For some reason it's still up though you can't place any orders.

My
previous garden on a very sloping site, we built retaining walls and used gabion cages to terrace it- much more hard landscaping than my present garden