I could just stay here all day, but if you really must go back, click here.

I believe gardens, like children, benefit from a little benign neglect. So I raise my garden like I raised my kids, with only as much supervision as is required for health and safety.

If something wants to volunteer, or multiply or spread, I let it - unless it comes up someplace really inappropriate - like the raspberries currently trying to come up in the middle of the driveway.

I don't mess around with annuals - too much work! In the perrenial section, I prefer the ones that say "Caution, may be invasive." I prefer to call it enthusiastic. I don't plant anything that's not a solid zone 5. The nurseries sell zone 6 plants in Denver as "tender perrenials". Another name for that is "dead in the first frost." Anything that has to be babied doesn't last long in this garden.

Although I appreciate formal gardens and all their structure, for my own garden, I strive for a more natural look. I want to create a wild place where animals and elementals feel right at home. So far it's working. this summer's sightings include 3 foxes, 2 bunnies, a hawk, a heron, goldfish (which we didn't put in the pond), a bull frog, and plenty of garden snakes and squirrels. In short - the whole food chain. The pair of foxes actually had their baby behind a shed at the back of our land. They raided the neighborhood to bring him toys until our yard looked like some demented kindergarden - 5 raw hide dog bones, 2 baseball mitts, and at least 20 leather work gloves. I'm sure the workers at a nearby construction sight were just scratching their heads.

I've spent the last three summers ripping out rock retaining walls and redistributing the boulders so they look like they're naturally strewn across a mountain meadow. I don't like to use chemicals, so sometimes the weeds can get a bit out of hand, but in the long run, the land is healthier. My friend Anna and I have talked about making a horror film for gardeners - "The Attack of the 50 Foot Bind Weed"