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Above & below: Summer 2016

Raising the beds: the garden in back
1985. When we moved in, the area that became our flower garden, seen in the raised beds above, was a parking lot covered in gravel.

For a few more pictures of Summer 1985, go here.
We put in a fence the following summer, and it was clear that the soil was not going to be the best for gardening.
1989. George decided to try raised beds, and the first pictures of George's project were taken summer 1989.

There is a low, narrow bed to the right of the gate.

2003. The pictures above are from Jue 20, 2003, and show that the original beds are still in place, 14 years down the road.

The sliding gate is still there (below, left). The lower right shows that the narrow beds along the gate fence have been extended.

2006. Soon, as this picture from 2006 shows, George had different ideas. The original beds were replaced with four raised beds set along the fence.

The first raised bed, seen below in a recent picture, was constructed out of three frames from the original low beds,
which were stacked. The 2nd raised bed (right, also a later photograph) and the others have 2 tiers, not 3.

2009. Summer 2009 shows the four beds ageing nicely and rich in flowers, the last one divided with a rose in the center.

After 2009 I began taking a lot more pictures of the raised beds. August 2010 is a good example.
Another is Summer 2011, with pictures from late May through July.
By 2012 there are 5 beds, and George has begun growing dahlias, which quickly become the envy of the neighborhood.

All goes well with the flowers and the raised beds for the next 5 years, it seems, piles of garden pictures.
But when we started the 2017 season in April, one of the raised beds decided its time has come.

We got right to it, however, once we got the tomatoes planted.

And 3 days later has our new raised bed ready to go. We are keeping an eye on the others!