Before & After: A Side Yard Goes from Barren to Bountiful

If you live in a typical suburban house, chances are good you have a side yard — a barren little strip of land between the side of the house and the fence covered in grass or rocks and probably not much else. But one California homeowner, instead of seeing an awkward, useless space, only saw potential.

Clued in by the sun streaming through her bedroom window, Rebekah realized her sunny side yard would be the ideal place to grow vegetables. So she developed a little plan for the previously neglected space: vegetable garden on one side, pathway on the other.

The brick path actually serves a very practical purpose: it allows a hand truck to pass through the side yard, to easily transport materials from the garage to the backyard, without going through the house. The brick, which was salvaged from a nearby lumber mill, is laid in a herringbone pattern. Creeping thyme, an adorable little ground cover, fills the space between the path and the garden.

But the big draw of the side yard is the plants. Ranged along a long, two-foot strip on the sunny side of the yard, they consist of a series of raised vegetable beds, interrupted at intervals by citrus trees in pots. Rebekah even assigned a bed to her two sons, who visit the side yard daily to check the progress of their plants.

The original side yard overhaul took place in 2012. Now this once-barren space is a flourishing garden, where both citrus trees and vegetables thrive happily.

You can read more about the transformation (and maybe get a little inspiration for your own side yard!) at Wild Ink Press. And check out the garden mid-June in a garden update right here.