Our Backyard Garden at Home

The sun was blinding tonight and it was so beautiful that I immediately went outside and took some photos for you.

This is at our home in town, and while we don’t spend a lot of time out there working on the lawn (you can see that we don’t really have grass so much as weeds, but it’s slowly growing in), I sure do enjoy it on nights like this. And the kids love it, too. They’re always running around back there even when the grass isn’t cut short. They don’t mind.

The jasmine PJ planted a few years back (above photo) has taken over our back deck. It’s super invasive and he’s been cutting it back all summer, but it’s persistent and keeps coming back bigger and bigger. I love it because it feels like a magical little forest right on our back deck, but he warns it’ll get out of control, so we’ll constantly have to cut it multiple times a year if we want to keep it around.

This hybrid willow (below) PJ planted only three years ago has grown to be the tallest tree in our backyard in such a short amount of time. You can see it from the boys’ bedroom window upstairs.

Look how gorgeous the hydrangeas are. They’re so full and big and lush. The border of bricks around the flower beds is made up of bricks from an old chimney inside our house that had to be taken down for structural reasons, but PJ repurposed them back here.

Here are the knockout roses PJ planted years ago and every time they bloom, it feels like I’m seeing them for the first time ever. I love them so much.

I love how, over the years, all of the trees and shrubs and vines PJ has planted have slowly gotten bigger and wrapped our little backyard in a cocoon of tranquility. Even though we’re right in the middle of town, our backyard feels private and safe.

PJ planted the two trees on the left but we’re not sure what kind they are. After six years here, though, they’re finally big enough to block our neighbor’s garage!

Our next door neighbor’s backyard is one of the most dreamy lawns we’ve ever seen, and while ours definitely doesn’t look like hers, it’s home and it’s ours.

I love this little bungalow so very much.