Yey for gardening!!

I love my garden. I feel it is a place to pray, think, relax and learn. It is a very different kind of garden. I love the wildness of it. It's like having a managed mini forest with all kinds of wildlife habitats right outside your door. On a hot day it is 10 degrees cooler here.

I plant mostly native species with a few special plants in between. I keep it very wild. There isn't any lawn in my back yard. I let the leaves fall and it works much like a mulch no weeds. I created several paths which will take you past the fish pond, through the wildflower garden and if you peek around the corner you will see about 100 fern mixed in with mountain laurel, blueberry, hucklebery, & sweet bay magnolia.
I have a large fish pond with two waterfalls that I dug and built myself. Recently a had a visit from a Black Crowned Night Heron. The little bugger was stealing my fish. I had about 50 fish in the pond so I guess it's ok. They need to eat too. It seems just as I have a overload of fish something like this happens. Last year I had an Egret stealing my fish. "The pond will take care of itself" to quote an old friend. I use plants to filter the water so I don't have to deal with filter problems. I have had this pond for 10 years now and my system works great.
I have been visited by raccoons, opossums, chipmunks. All kinds of birds, I have 3 bird baths for them. I don't need to put out seed the yard feeds them well.
Friends and neighbors are always amazed when they open the gate and look into the backyard. It's truly an amazing place.