a dream come true

the first maple we got Paul (on the right) , probably worth well over $1000 now, the one on the middle pillar is the one we bought last year
those daylilies I got for free five years ago! I drove through a McDonalds that was redoing their landscaping and throwing them away, I said, throw them in my truck, I want them! The workers were glad to put them in my truck instead of the dumpster across the parking lot. They are gorgeous in bloom. I also got lots of hostas there.
a teeny maple, we tell the kids fairies live under there... I promise I carried all those pavers...

The history
Five years ago, when we moved into this house, we had no back yard. No grass, no landscaping, no nothing, just dirt and rocks. We moved here for the big yard. We had visions of badminton games, green grass under our toes and watching the sunset every night. We also had visions of a paver patio with a wall and pillars. Being the ever frugal people we are, we decided to DIY the patio. It took us about a month to do, each stone carried by yours truly, placed by my hubby. The digging and measuring alone took two weeks! Once it was complete, we decided we had to landscape it properly. We had another vision of a crimson lace leaf Japanese maple tree at each pillar (4 in all). These are specimen trees, slow growing, a collector's tree. They cost a ton. We couldn't get all four at once, did I mention at that time we were paying 2 mortgages, and we had no landscaping at all!!! Now five years later, our vision has come to life. Last year for Father's Day, I got Paul the last maple to complete the plan. Now they are in there full glory. It looks magnificent, if I do say so myself. It's hard to believe we did it and even harder to imagine that we'll be leaving our masterpiece if our house sells. We have been having a lot of dinners outside in our little bit of paradise, enjoying all that we'd hoped for five years ago.