Davis Garden

The planting beds that the owners inherited in this backyard were entirely empty, and so sterile that not even weeds grew in them. I never saw a worm until we started piling on the compost. Now it is full of flowers and fragrance, and buzzing with wildlife as bees enjoy this banquet of nectar, and birds forage for the now-abundant worms.

The beautiful mature Japanese maples in this front yard had filled the top layers of soil with their roots so that we could only plant tiny versions of shrubs between them and hope they could gradually get established. They did.