our little garden oasis

i've always been jealous of people who have a green thumb.

i love nature and greenery...there's something almost therapeutic and spiritual about gardening to me...maybe because it's the original job that God gave us...
though sadly, i'm usually better at killing plants than keeping them alive.

we will have lived in our house for a year this month. it really feels like our place now that we've been making memories here and making it our own.

one place we're still putting a lot of work into though is the yard. our yards were pretty much a blank canvas to start with when we moved in. this is the backyard from before...

since then we've been really trying to make it into a garden oasis we can enjoy. we still have a way to go, but  this is what things are looking like now...



we built the mini pond last summer. we were kind of insane...out digging a hole in 100 degree weather...but we found this cheap pond kit on clearance, and we had a vision in our head! haha. we found all the rocks buried in our front yard, and we hauled them to the back one by one. it was an interesting and bonding experience..but we were both pretty happy with it in the end.
nothing is quite as relaxing as water...


like much else around our place, it seems that our wildlife is inspired by india. like our little lotus plant here. we have goldfish in the pond as well, but they're kind of shy.


the cannas, the hibiscus, the lotus...all these plants make me think back to our honeymoon in south india where we had the chance to visit this amazing flower field. i guess that's why i'm drawn to those sorts of plants more. plus those have been fortunate enough to survive my gardening!


oh, and we did plant a couple trees in the fall as well! i just love trees. they're still pretty small, but it will be fun to watch them grow over time. our little peach tree looks like she'll make fruit for us already this year!


and you can't forget our little bird neighbors! from birds to toads and lizards, the pond and plants have been bringing more friends to our yard. i haven't been able to get a good picture yet, but we have a family of birds living in our little red house that we brought from germany last year.


...and our swing from india must be one of my favorite things! it was interesting bringing this back in my suitcase though. haha.


so there it is. we still have a way to go, but i think part of the fun of a garden is time. it really makes you appreciate seasons and the growth...