Homeowner shares before-and-after photos of shocking backyard transformation: 'A dream'

A Redditor who was making massive progress on their dream garden oasis was eager to share pictures with the community at r/GardeningUK. 

"Over the winter and spring we finished the informal paths around the boundary, planted a lonicera hedge around the outside of the central beds, installed our sitooterie, and planted up the heather bed with 150 mixed heather," wrote the original poster. 

The original poster cleverly used a bunch of spare stumps they had as a base for a variety of plants. This is reminiscent of hugelkultur, a practice in which gardeners build raised beds with several layers stacked on top of a core of wood matter. These hills provide slowly-released nutrients to the adjoining soil as the wood decomposes. 

The original poster went on to describe their ongoing weeding efforts against mare's tail, better known as horsetail. While it may be tempting to call it invasive due to its aggressive spread, horsetail is native to the U.K. Horsetail's family of plants is quite old, with ancestors going back 325 million years. 

Invasive species are typically brought into habitats by human transportation. This gives plants and animals a chance to evade the checks and balances they had evolved with. 

In a new environment, these species can spread unchallenged, monopolize resources, push out native species, and reduce the quality of ecosystem services provided by local flora and fauna. This process causes hundreds of billions of dollars in costs worldwide every year. 

Maintaining an all-natural yard full of native plants can help build local ecosystem balance. This extends to supporting pollinators, which desperately need the help.     

The Reddit community was absolutely in love with the original poster's garden progress. 

"That is beautiful! I love the formal structure paired with the wilder planting," wrote one commenter. "Also, I have stumpery envy!"

"Wow, that's going to be a dream garden!" wrote another. 

How would you rate your gardening skills? Ultimate green thumb 🧑‍🌾 Greenish thumb 💚 Yellowish-brown thumb 👍 No thumb 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices — and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club.