Betsy’s Vancouver Garden – FineGardening

Today we’re in the garden with Betsy Bakker.

I would love to share with you pictures of my garden that I have been working on for the past 27 years. I live on Vancouver Island and with our mild winters can grow things so well.

My husband and I have brought in every stone ourselves, spending our weekends out in the bush collecting them. He even made a crane for the back of our truck to make lifting them a little easier. We have tried very hard to reuse items, such as the wood for the gazebo, which came from recycled pallets long before it was popular to recycle them.

I have a passion for hostas and rhododendrons, with my collection getting larger every year.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

All that hard work picking out and moving stones has clearly paid off in the form of this beautiful stone patio and steps. A copper-leaved weeping beach (Fagus sylvatica ‘Purple Fountain’, Zones 4–7) forms a natural archway over the top of the steps. Numerous shrubs and lush hostas fill the garden, while a tall hedge encloses the space.

A kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa, Zones 5–8) is covered with star-shaped white blooms, while below it a pink peony (Paeonia hybrid, Zones 3–8) tumbles gracefully out over a stone wall.

Stepping stones guide you through the lush lawn, while lilies (Lilium hybrid, Asiatic group, Zones 4–8) bloom in delicate pink-and-white under the bird feeder.

A lush, perfect lawn makes a perfect counterpoint to the planted beds, trees, and shrubs.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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