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Gardening - it soothes your soul, but makes your back and muscles ache.
©Crafty Gardener

For those that can't visit in person .... enjoy a virtual tour of the gardens.

See the birds, flowers, caterpillars and butterflies and the garden crafts that add some  whimsy to the garden.

My website was featured in the February 2008 issue of the Canadian Gardening newsletter.

The tour starts as you pull up to the front of the house and get ready to pull onto the driveway. In the spring this garden is full of  tulips, daffodils and crocus as they poke their way out of the ground after the long winter. Take a peek at some late spring blooms in the garden.

Walking up the driveway and turning left you approach the shady area of the gardens. There are lots of hostas, astillbes and impatience that thrive here. The black eyed susans are in full bloom right now. One of the mosaic stepping stones can be seen in the corner of this garden and a gazing ball can be seen up by one of the windows.

What do you think of my tipsy pots that are full of impatience?

When you get to the front door you can turn and look between 2 large globe cedars to see the front garden. A lot of nesting birds can be found in these bushes. some summer blooms

Instead of heading for the front door you turn right and can enter the back gardens by the side path. Before you enter the path be sure to check out all the shade loving plants and the friendly ladybug. You can just see the key windchime if you look carefully.

Follow the path down into the garden. This year the pot is full of morning glories.

The first thing you see as you turn the corner is the potting bench. I do a lot of creating of my garden projects here and I sort out a lot of my seeds.

Looking to the right gives you a glimpse of part of the main garden. The old wheelbarrow and ladder planter are brimming with red and white petunias this year.

Follow the path past the potting bench and look along the stone path through the garden. In the bottom corner you can see some homemade toadstools. The old mailbox at the end of the path is where he bluejays pick up their "peanut mail".

Walk to the end of the path and turn around and look back to see the pot garden and the decks. The pot garden is doing really well this year.  Be creative and plant in some unusual containers. Check out the vibrant venidium.

Turn around again and see the composting garden to the left. The fence hides 3 of the composters. The garden flag is hanging on the handle of an old shovel. Further on the garden tour you will see how I hate to part with old garden tools. Don't forget to compost, it's a wonderful way to get more soil for the garden.

I'm always learning about companion gardening and how it helps to keep the bugs away.
Find out about ladybugs and how they can help your garden.

One year I grew some upside down tomatoes - lots of fun.

A bridge leads over a marshy area and up to the grapevines.

Look to the right from the end of the stone path and see the honeysuckle bush. Here I used an old bbq and converted it into a planter.

Don't forget to have lots of comfy chairs and benches in shady areas so you can sit and relax and enjoy the garden.  Sitting in these chairs gives you a wonderful view of the main garden and trellis garden. This is a relaxing place to sit and work on my crafts.

Just beyond the hammock is the bridge made from recycled wood from an old deck. It leads over a small run off stream and into the back of the property where we have a large brush pile to shelter birds and other wildlife.

This is the view from the far side of the bridge ... lots of brush cover and wild plants to entice wildlife into the garden. The burning barrel is for that yard brush that you just don't have any use for anymore.

Turn back towards the house and you can see the trellis garden. I just hate to part with old garden tools. For a long time they just took up space in the garage. But now they hang on the trellis and make interesting garden art.

Behind this trellis garden is a large area of sumacs that have beautiful coloured leaves in the fall.

Look back from the trellis garden and have another view of the main garden. You get a better view of the mailbox feeder and one of the gazing balls. Lots of birds visit the  garden especially the hummingbirds are a joy to watch. Have you ever seen a clear wing hummingbird moth? It isn't a hummingbird but moves quickly just like one.

Have a look at some of the caterpillars and butterflies that I have discovered in the gardens.

Walk behind the trellis garden and up the other side of the house where you can see the long front garden and a view of the first garden you saw. On the right you can see the start of extending the side garden. We layed some old railway ties and then I did a bit of lasagna gardening.

All of these photos were taken early on July '07 morning before the sun was up.

An updated tour of the garden was taken in July '09.  Have a look and see if you can spot what is missing, what has been changed and what has grown.

For an almost daily update of what is happening in the garden, please visit my blog.

Even more birds visit our  garden in winter and you can see the garden in winter.
The cheeky squirrels sure love to visit the gardens and find the peanuts and seeds.

There was plenty of snow to make lots of snowpeople.
Don't let those big pots sit empty all winter, find out how to turn them into  winter greenery pots.
Curl up by the fire, stay warm and read those seed catalogues.

Gardeners know all the best dirt!

Gardening ... just another day at the plant.

craftygardener.ca

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Website design and photos by Crafty Gardener
craftygardener.ca established March 2004
Updated August 2009