Deb Jedynak is sharing her garden with us today.

I’ve been gardening since 1985 when my husband and I purchased our first home in Chicago. When we moved in, the garden was a mess and thoroughly neglected. It took me years to get it the way I wanted it. I studied horticulture and became a Master Gardener in the ’90s. But then my beautiful tiny garden became infested with termites and rodents, and I was forced to rip out all the vegetation, which saddened me. Living in a big city is precarious. When we bought our summer home in Holland, Michigan, I wanted enough property to recreate another garden, which I did on a third of an acre. We purchased this home in 2004, and I proceeded to fence it in and start from scratch. When I moved to Holland permanently in 2010, I really started adding more and more landscaping every year—plants and more plants. My garden is always evolving and changing, especially with the recent addition of a memorial garden for my husband, who passed in 2017 after a long illness. Following two knee replacements, I continue to move forward, making my garden a haven for animals and pollinators. My garden recently became certified as a butterfly and wildlife habitat. The hummingbirds love it too. Garden center greenhouses make me feel alive! And I get excited wondering how many plants I can stuff in my car.

A raised bed overflows with delicious fresh vegetables.

An absolutely perfect rose bloom

The beds along the fence, with rose bushes coming into bloom

This wide view of the backyard shows the various beds and the fencing to keep the rabbits at bay.

A bench for sitting and enjoying the garden

Containers and vines help add height along the fence.

Every gardener’s favorite thing: a new haul of plants from the nursery!

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