We started with this

And ended with this

Our back yard is 64′ deep and 20′ wide. We couldn’t do anything with it until we built a brick wall to separate us from our neighbor and his horde of rats. We had to save for several years for that wall. Once it was in place, we built the back yard based on Jill’s design.

We started with this

Work through to this

And ended up with this:

With a six-foot brick wall on each side, our yard is like The Secret Garden. Jill spends a lot of time out here, tending the roses and watching the fish in our pond. Teh fountain’s gentle trickle and the shade of the maturing trees make this a haven we greatly enjoy.

Our pond offers a lot of interest. We have fish, tadpoles, snails, and frogs. Click the photo for a slide show of pond construction.

Bonus: video of fish in the pond

One of two garden gates. I built these on the pattern of the originals. It’d be nice if we could keep the grills open — they’d show passersby our yard — but we wanted some privacy.

Within another 5 years, our trees will offer a lot of shade in a yard that gets a lot of sun.