Gardener shares beautiful before-and-after photos of 2-year yard transformation project: 'It's stunning'

Gardening is a labor of love, and sometimes it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you're digging up weeds. Leave it to the lovely folks on Reddit to share their progress and give you some inspiration. 

On "r/NativePlantGardening," people share their hard work, successes, and occasional failures while introducing native plants to their yard. In a gorgeous and colorful carousel of photos, one homeowner showed off their backyard full of flourishing native plants, sharing how their garden has progressed over a few years. "I moved to my first home a couple of years ago. This is my 3rd summer, and the plants I put in are starting to leap. … This brings me so much joy."

The included photos show a lush and vibrant garden with blooming flowers, butterflies, and birds visiting a bird feeder. The original poster made sure to add a before photo to show just how much has changed: The location that is now a thriving garden used to be a bare slab of concrete. The OP worked hard to create a place to support their ecosystem and the pollinators that live there. 

The National Wildlife Federation recommends your garden be made of at least 70% native plants, with biodiversity, soil health, flood mitigation, and more among the benefits. 

Upgrading your yard to feature native plants can greatly reduce time spent on maintenance. These plants won't need to be watered as much and typically don't require pesticides or fertilizers. 

While it may be a bit of an initial investment of time and effort, the payoff is clear and, as seen in the post, incredibly beautiful. Redditors were impressed by the fruits of the OP's labor. 

"It's stunning and spectacular and you should be quite proud!" wrote one commenter. 

Someone else said, "Those were 2.5 growing seasons well spent. It's great!"

Another person was envious, saying, "It's gorgeous!! I hope to get my garden to that level one day."

How did your garden turn out this year? Amazing 🤩 Could be better 🙂 Terrible 🤬 I don't have a garden 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

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