When we first moved into our home, it was a forgotten place.
A house left standing after life had long since moved on.
The yard was lined with overgrown boxwoods and tired evergreens, neglected for 18 months or more — a jungle of branches more than a garden.

The very first spring after moving in, we hooked up the tractor, tied on a chain, and started pulling.
Shrubs, roots, overgrowth — all of it had to go.
They were too far gone to save, and the space was too full of mosquitoes, aphids, and insects to welcome life back in.
It was the beginning of a brand new story.

At the time, there were seven flowerbeds scattered across the property.
Today, there are twenty-two.
Every single one has been dreamed, built, and loved into existence — some big, some small, all telling a piece of our family's journey.

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Why I'm Revamping the Gardens This Year

I'm not the same woman I was when I planted those beds.
Back then, it was about making something pretty.
Today, it's about making something meaningful.

I’m closer to 50 now than 20 (laugh a little with me here).
My body moves differently, my time is more precious, and my vision for these gardens has evolved right along with me.

This year’s garden revamp is about creating spaces that are:

• Easier to maintain

• Filled with purpose and healing

• Whimsical and wild, not manicured and stiff

• Rooted in a lifetime of knowledge, experience, and a deep connection to the earth

Some beds will be taken down to nothing but the trees we've planted over the past two decades.
Some beds will be born anew — a mixture of herbs, edible flowers, medicinal plants, and joyful blooms that welcome bees, birds, and barefoot mornings.

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A Garden with Purpose

If you don’t know, this August will mark 26 years since I became a nationally licensed massage therapist and certified aromatherapist.
Over the decades, I’ve studied the healing powers of plants and herbs — their ability to nourish, to heal, to restore.

I don’t just plant for pretty pictures.
I plant for:

• Herbal teas brewed from flowers I nurtured from seed

• Tinctures to soothe coughs and colds

• Salves and balms crafted from herbs for daily wellness

• Gardens that support mental health and spiritual growth through their very existence

My gardens are living medicine cabinets.
They are stories told in roots and petals, healing handed down from the earth itself.

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What the New Flowerbeds Will Feel Like

Imagine flowerbeds that look like they belong in a fairytale:

• Wild and whimsical

• Soft herb blooms tucked between lavender and foxglove

• Pathways lined with thyme and chamomile

• Vintage gates and white picket fences, aged by seasons of sun and rain

Each bed will tell a story.
Each bed will offer a sanctuary — for the bees, for the birds, and for my own soul.

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Final Thought

Revamping the gardens isn’t about tearing things out because they’ve aged.
It’s about recognizing that we’ve grown.
Our roots have deepened.
Our dreams have expanded.

And just like life, sometimes the most beautiful blooms come after the hardest pruning.

Here’s to new beds, new seasons, and new beginnings — barefoot, blooming, and built from scratch.

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P.S.
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