Before and After - Western Border

I have a confession to make...

Unfortunately I am terrible about taking "before" pictures. I guess nobody really likes showing their yard when it isn't at its best.

On the other hand,I love looking at other people's before and after pictures. Gives me hope that my yard will look like their "afters" someday. Well, I figured it's about time I put some of my own up and gave back to gardeners of the world!

Here's my western border showing before and after. There's a few years between the pictures. Last year my neighbor's weed killer had some drift into this bed, so I am very relieved that it has come back so strongly. That's my neighbor's yard behind this bed. I am taking the picture from inside my own yard.

In this bed I have ornamental grasses (seeds for the birds, winter interest), coreopsis (nectar for butterflies, seeds for birds), baptisia (fixes nitrogen in the soil, nectar, seeds, cool pods for four season interest - make a noise like mariachis!), holly (berries for birds, winter cover when it gets larger), a dwarf evergreen (seeds for birds, winter cover), sedum (nectar for butterflies), forsythia and lilac (early nectar for birds and bees). It's coming together really nicely and I am very pleased with its progress.