Garden Tour: Norma's Weekend Garden

I'm so excited to give my second garden tour on ye olde blog.  Today we will be visiting the garden of a woman who has been drawing house plans on scratch paper since she was about 9.  When I see an empty room waiting for a move, and plan for a dining room, sectional, and buffet table, she will wisely tell me I just have room for ONE of those.  And why is this woman helping me look at empty houses to move into?  It's because she is my mother-in-law (and no I'm not moving).

Ironically, she has never built her own house, but she has put her finishing touches to make it her own.  Several years ago, she did a major overhaul on her yard.  I was so excited with the turnout.  Let's take a look:

(click on the image for a better view)

The veg patch is right off the front yard.  The cedar beds are nearly waist high, making soil drainage excellent, and your back happy.  The day we came to take pictures and have dinner, Norma made a delicious pan of Spaghetti Squash Lasagna, with ingredients right from her garden.  Lovely.

I love the crunch of the pea gravel under my feet.

I call it "The Weekend Garden" because there's been many times when that is the only time Norma is around.  But it is designed to get soaked with the automatic sprinklers and waits for her to return.

Off the back porch are some ready access herbs close to the kitchen.  Baby turns the corner and enters the oasis zone, where many a lovely summer dinners take place.

Gorgeous right?

These pavers are perfect for Rocky Mountain Zone 5.  They have a flexibility so they don't get cracks like a concrete pad is at risk to do in the bitterness of winter.  Trex decking makes the raised eating area low maintenance and timeless.

My two chocolates.

Here's Chloe "acting natural".  Is it working?  See the white garden lights hanging along the fence?  I wished I had been able to stay until dusk, so I could capture my favorite glow-time.  White lights in the garden seem so essential to me now.  Let's take a closer look.

 There's a grassy patch for little mutts to wander...

...and roll.

On the grassy patch is the classic Mormon Staple: The Trampoline.  Here the older boys wrestle, roll, squeeze, steamroll, and trip.  It seriously never ends.

Everyone's happy at this place!