My parent's house is my most favorite place in the world. This is what is funny about that. My parents frustrate me very badly and I don't really get along with them very well. However, their yard is very relaxing to me and I think of it as an oasis from my busy life. My parents do not have a professional landscaper and do the work themselves, which is amazing to me since their yard looks like it came straight out of one of those landscape magazines.

My parents live in the middle of a big city on a quiet little street. For most people, beautiful gardens are more imagined in a rural area, rather than in a big city, but my parents have combined the best of both worlds. In landscaping magazines, they don't usually feature homes that are in the city, they prefer using more rural, country settings. If you look in a magazine, you will see that the yards that they feature include large open spaces and huge blooming gardens that don't look like they have ever seen air pollution. When I look in those magazines now, I try to imagine that garden in the city, rather than in a rural setting.

My parent's personalities do not lend toward the idea of them planting beautiful gardens. They are not earthy people, which makes the beauty of their gardens hard to understand. Although they are not the typical gardener, they are hard workers who see their landscaping adventure as a canvas on which to paint. They look at the garden as a big adventure that they are taking the journey on. They realize that their garden is a commitment that will take a lot of time and effort that will give them a great deal of pride and enjoyment. A beautiful garden gives them a great sense of peace and relaxation and they are willing to work to get that result.

In most cases, landscaping magazines do not write articles that feature gardens like the one that my parents have created. In fact, from reading the landscaping magazines you may think that the only people who can create a beautiful landscape are either a retiree or someone who really enjoys nature. It would be surprising to readers, however, to find out that my parents do not know much about nature. They look at it as more of a scientific journey, where they learn how to balance light and moisture to make their plants flourish. They think of it as putting a puzzle together to make a beautiful landscape.