The entry way to our home is very simple, just a door painted a creamy white flanked by two boxwoods that I love. Yes, I am a big fan of boxwood shrubs. Beyond the boxwood are beds and yews. I am not a fan of yew, but for now the shrubs will remain. Unfortunately, the beds are full of weeds including a healthy growth of poison ivy. I do not like to use chemical weed killer, but dealing with poison ivy requires a hands-off technique. A cottage garden with a mixture of perennials, bulbs, and annuals would soften the line where house meets earth. There's a slip of grass between the bed and the sidwalk that I'd like to turn into bed. Imagining the walk edged in lavender and pretty bedding plants makes me smile. Around the corner a hill adds angst to my mowing life. As I mow, I lean hard in the opposite direction in anticipation of the mower tipping over.
"Why not turn that nuisance hill into terrace garden?" suggested my former sister-in-law and friend. I've never done a terraced garden, but I think it's time to give it a go. 
Cottonwood, pine trees, and a beautiful redbud create a shady back yard. The plan is to open up the backyard a bit by trimming trees. There's plenty of room for shady plants like hosta, heucheras, hellebores, and oh how I'd love a hydrangea or three.
Just beyond the fenced in part of the yard lies a square raised bed with a tree in the center. A dozen birdfeeders hung from the little tree and below a snarling quagmire of weeds. I envision a sweet little bed of shade plants surrounding a birdbath or one charming feeder on a post.
The house sits on a double lot and on the other side of the garage is plenty of open area for a vegetable garden, a strawberry patch, and a row of rhubarb. As I stare out the window I dream of having gardens filled with flowers again and I can barely breathe from the thought.
