A Southern Garden

Before and After Photos

Gardening is an ongoing process. Gardens grow and develop; sometimes they reach a peak and decline. Their success depends depends on seasonal weather (freezes or excessive heat), rainfall, suitability to the area, growth and overgrowth, and other factors.

I used to think that once established, a garden shouldn't change. Not true.
They change on their own. Plants die out. Plants spread too much.
Trees grow and sun/shade patterns change. Weeds make their home and sometimes take over. Gardeners may tire of certain plants and replace them with new ones.
I've learned it's O.K.
The important thing is to learn from our mistakes and try new things.
It's so rewarding to see the progress and changes in various areas.

Want to look at some before and after photos?

My Garage Wall Garden

This garden contains flowers and shrubs along the side and back of the garage wall on the East side of the house. It has gone from bad to good to really pretty, back to not so good,
It is now in the process of being restored after the pretty flowers of 1999
fizzled out.

Spring 1999

The back corner of the garage wall. Before this year, there was just a sloped area without much grass and an ugly holly bush that grew in the corner but wasn't full and pretty. The hurricane toppled a tree on it and crushed it. After that, there was more sun, so I created a bed and planted begonias and Dusty Millers. I put a camellia bush in the center, but it gradually died. To the left I planted some really small hydrangeas.
Summer 1999
Here the same area in the summer. Looking much better!
The begonias really filled out, and on the right side, you can see one of my blue hydrangeas in full bloom.

This is about the best this flower bed has looked. The Dusty Millers looked good, and the begonias filled out nicely. Before this year I really hadn't started working on this area. It was fairly much neglected.

Spring 2000

The same view in March 2000. Many of the plants survived over the winter. After cleaning the area and cutting back the Dusty Millers, I need to decide what to fill in the back with.

Early Summer 2000

By early summer the heat had almost destroyed the begonias, but the hydrangeas to the left were developing. I removed the remnants of the old ground cover that had begun climbing up the brick wall. I planted a few coleus and caladiums. I also mulched too much and most of them died. It was also an extremely hot and dry season.
Nothing did well this year.

Late Summer 2000

The begonias look beautiful. The bush in the right foreground is quite established, and the 3-year old newer ones on the left background bloomed for the first time.
This is a fantastic year for the
hydrangeas.

\

April 2001

After a devastatingly hot summer and a winter with freezes, my dream of a perpetual garden burst. I'm virtually starting over again. One begonia, two puny Dusty Millers and a Hosta that I planted last year are all that are left.
Nix the Dusty Millers -
they didn't do well in this area.

This is what I did:

I got some more pink begonias, transplanted some Shasta daisies that were still small (in their second year and have never bloomed) and some caladiums. There may not be enough sun for the daisies, but the rest should do fine with just a few hours of direct sun.

My Angel Garden

This photo is of the small garden just behind the back patio. All kinds of winter weeds crop up, the flowers die down, and leaves collect. Here, leaves fall three different times (fall for deciduous trees, winter for pin oaks and spring for Live oaks), so it's a losing battle. I call this my "Angel Garden" because it has an angel statue given to me by my stepdaughter for my birthday.
In the summer, I have caladiuma, monks hood, daylilies, elephant ears, Persian lavender, and other things depending on the year.

This is the pile of leaves on a previous page. Shows one of the two trees that we have removed so the grass would grow better. This photo shows how sparse the grass was.

The "after" photo shows how the grass filled in, thickened up and greened up with more sunshine reaching it. (Slightly different view but same area.)

So, you can see that there continues to be improvement...
Please continue on through my garden pages.

Back to the Garden Center Main Page.

All Photos are Copyrighted 1999-2001 by Linda S. Nix.
Photos may not be copied or reproduced in any manner
or medium without expressed consent.

This page was created on January 27, 2000.

Updated 6/26/05.

Links to My Other Sites:
If you enjoyed this page, please visit some of my other pages!

The Evolution of a Magnolia Blossom Essence of Magnolias Links and Awards Garden of Peace and Serenity

Biloxi Travel Page Divorce Recovery A True Love Story

Spanish Moss Site His Plan For Your Life Great Blue Heron

The Essence of Magnolias Original Magnolia Paintings About Me

Comes The Dawn Thanksgiving Pages Grief: Dealing With Loss

Mardi Gras
The Beginning Experience
My Southern Garden

Winter on the Gulf Coast Prayers for Hope and Serenity Christmas Sites Index

Magnolia Photographs My Water Garden Floral Images

Magnolia Images Southern Creations Photography
Christmas Note Cards

All sounds and graphics not credited to others (or created by me) are considered to be in "public domain". If you see something that is not in public domain that you created, please let me know and I will either give you credit or remove it. Every effort has been made to credit when information was available. Thanks.
All garden photos copyright 1999 by Linda Saxon Nix. Title graphic is mine. Photos may not be used without permission.

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Spring 1999 The back corner of the garage wall. Before this year, there was just a sloped area without much grass and an ugly holly bush that grew in the corner but wasn't full and pretty. The hurricane toppled a tree on it and crushed it. After that, there was more sun, so I created a bed and planted begonias and Dusty Millers. I put a camellia bush in the center, but it gradually died. To the left I planted some really small hydrangeas.	Summer 1999 Here the same area in the summer. Looking much better! The begonias really filled out, and on the right side, you can see one of my blue hydrangeas in full bloom. This is about the best this flower bed has looked. The Dusty Millers looked good, and the begonias filled out nicely. Before this year I really hadn't started working on this area. It was fairly much neglected.
Spring 2000 The same view in March 2000. Many of the plants survived over the winter. After cleaning the area and cutting back the Dusty Millers, I need to decide what to fill in the back with.	Early Summer 2000 By early summer the heat had almost destroyed the begonias, but the hydrangeas to the left were developing. I removed the remnants of the old ground cover that had begun climbing up the brick wall. I planted a few coleus and caladiums. I also mulched too much and most of them died. It was also an extremely hot and dry season. Nothing did well this year.
Late Summer 2000 The begonias look beautiful. The bush in the right foreground is quite established, and the 3-year old newer ones on the left background bloomed for the first time. This is a fantastic year for the hydrangeas.	\ April 2001 After a devastatingly hot summer and a winter with freezes, my dream of a perpetual garden burst. I'm virtually starting over again. One begonia, two puny Dusty Millers and a Hosta that I planted last year are all that are left. Nix the Dusty Millers - they didn't do well in this area.
This is what I did: I got some more pink begonias, transplanted some Shasta daisies that were still small (in their second year and have never bloomed) and some caladiums. There may not be enough sun for the daisies, but the rest should do fine with just a few hours of direct sun.


This photo is of the small garden just behind the back patio. All kinds of winter weeds crop up, the flowers die down, and leaves collect. Here, leaves fall three different times (fall for deciduous trees, winter for pin oaks and spring for Live oaks), so it's a losing battle.	I call this my "Angel Garden" because it has an angel statue given to me by my stepdaughter for my birthday. In the summer, I have caladiuma, monks hood, daylilies, elephant ears, Persian lavender, and other things depending on the year.

The Evolution of a Magnolia Blossom	Essence of Magnolias Links and Awards	Garden of Peace and Serenity
Biloxi Travel Page	Divorce Recovery	A True Love Story
Spanish Moss Site	His Plan For Your Life	Great Blue Heron
The Essence of Magnolias	Original Magnolia Paintings	About Me
Comes The Dawn	Thanksgiving Pages	Grief: Dealing With Loss
Mardi Gras	The Beginning Experience	My Southern Garden
Winter on the Gulf Coast	Prayers for Hope and Serenity	Christmas Sites Index
Magnolia Photographs	My Water Garden	Floral Images
Magnolia Images	Southern Creations Photography	Christmas Note Cards