Not-Backyard Gardens

The idea of raised beds has recently had a big resurgence around here - particularly with all of the rain we had earlier this summer... and the year before last. Too many people lost too many veggie plants because of drowning, so now they're building raised beds. I did a little walk around the block a couple weeks ago and took a few photos:

side yard garden

This neighbor doesn't have a backyard - their house is built on a hill leading down to a gully. So they put this raised bed in their side yard.

The rest of their side yard has this gorgeous peony and a few trees - perfect for a swing for their granddaughter.

front yard garden

This neighbor's house backs up to a river - so again not much going on for a back yard. So they used their front yard for a garden! The raised beds are new this year.

front yard garden #2

They've had this part of their front yard as a garden for at least a few years now, and it looks fantastic. Since I've taken these photos the plants have gone nutso growing and look fantastic. I really should take another photo for comparison...

I've definitely noticed that front yard gardening, small space gardening, container gardening, etc, have become a major trend (ugh, I hate trendy, but I'll accept this one) in the blogosphere and such, but it's nice to see it happening at home too. Have you seen more gardens popping up in your neighborhood?