My daughter and I were discussing summertime the other day and how in the past we’ve not really enjoyed it. But, the seasons are a gift from God.

“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” — Genesis 8:22

When you realize that, you begin to look for more ways to enjoy each day and be thankful for it. I’ve truly enjoyed this summer.

I have taken on quite a few projects in this season and they all involve working at home in the gardens. I find my peace and work out my problems there. I completely understand why Jesus frequently went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray with His disciples… see John 18:2.

This morning I completed a transformation that I started on Friday in my cottage gardens beside our small greenhouse.

I have some really tall Black Eyed Susans that are pretty at the top but scraggly at the bottom. I needed to come up with a solution to hide the bottoms and still enjoy the blooms as long as possible. The Goldfinch, butterflies, and bees love these flowers and give me a good reason to keep them around.

I’ve seen many pictures of cottage gardens in England and France with rock walls, but I’m on a budget. I had decided I didn’t want to use our old keystone pavers around the patio area I have been working on, because it would just make another wall for me to have to weed eat around. Plus, I thought it would be an eyesore in the middle of the yard.

I already had the pavers, they’re paid for—nothing to spend money on— and I decided to see if I could lay them in a way to make it look like a true country, cottage garden. Boy, did I have fun being creative with what I had on hand. Here are the results.

This is the before picture.

I removed the rock border a few days ago and used those rocks in the landscaping on the other side of the greenhouse.

Following are three after pictures at different angles.

The Zinnias you see here in this last picture reseeded themselves from last year so I didn’t have to replant them. I’m looking forward to making excursions to garden centers to find interesting flowers to add to these gardens.

I also plan to make a flat border of some type in front of the keystone where my husband can set his mower tires and mow in front of this area and prevent the need for weed eating. Right now there is just mulch in front and there will soon be weeds if I don’t fix it.

What projects are you enjoying this summer?