In August, a New England homeowner on Reddit showed r/gardening how they turned a neglected bed of gravel into a beautiful, productive garden, all in one year.
The gardening subreddit welcomes Redditors of all skill levels and invites members to post pictures of their work. Transformations like this one are always popular.
"In June of last year I decided to start moving rocks away from this plot on the side of my driveway," the Redditor said. The "before" photo they attached to the post shows a 25-by-14 foot bed of gravel with a wooden border, overgrown in places with grass and weeds.
"In areas it was up to [8 inches] deep," said the Redditor. "It is an understatement to say it was a brutal process."
Nevertheless, the homeowner cleared away pound after pound of gravel to expose the dirt below, then planted a variety of vegetables, fruit, and flowers.
The "after" photo showed a healthy garden with a short chicken wire fence to deter pests. To one side, a vine produced small pumpkins; in the center, small bushes were bursting with red, pink, and orange flowers.
"Behold!" said the Redditor. "Corn, zucchini, tomatoes, jalapenos, blueberries, strawberries, cucumbers, carrots, pumpkins, sunflowers, and allllll the zinnias."
Not only is a vegetable garden beautiful and fun, it also helps homeowners save on grocery bills and lowers the amount of food purchased at the grocery store. If enough people garden, they can convince stores to order less produce, reducing the pollution caused by shipping.
Commenters were quick to congratulate the original poster on their beautiful new garden. "That is beautiful progress!" said one user. "I especially love the zinnias, it gives the garden a nice splash of color!
"I now feel like anything is possible," said the original poster. "I've never been more inspired to plant more beautiful things in my yard."
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