Messy is truly in the eye of the beholder. One person’s mess is another person’s comfort. No where is that more true than in a garden. Some people are enthralled by manicured lawns, crisp cut-in edges, raked gravel and clipped hedges. Others are drawn to the cottage-style of loose and overflowing flower beds all mixed together. Still others like their gardens to revert to nature, native plants under the trees or in a meadow setting.
I fall somewhere in between. I don’t do lawns, I have as little grass as possible. (I would make an exception for a playing lawn if we had a large flat space. We don’t.) I like my flower beds defined, but am not a stickler about every plant being in its proper place or about the edges being particularly crisp. My vegetable beds during the growing season are packed but fairly organized.
That being said, I pretty much ignore my garden all winter. I allow it to run wild, leaving seed heads and dead growth for birds to eat / hide in. Unfortunately on the west coast, that usually means allowing the weeds in as well. So I give you my Messy Tuesday, my last vegetable box before it got cleaned out by the boy yesterday. Note all the paraphernalia around. My garden truly is an extension of my house.
Rocks, Waves, Beach 
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