The Williamsburg Garden

   This garden is adjacent to the patio, to its north.  Its name, and the garden itself, was inspired by my trip to Williamsburg, where I was impressed by the formal gardens there, often including antique paving bricks.  I began the garden in the late 1970s, and it has changed considerably over the years.  In 1999 I leveled it by digging down a foot on the north end.  About 15 years ago I added brick walls on the west and north sides.  This year I am rebuilding them, and I will add a cedar top to the walls, the four "pedestals," and the center cylinder which was built to cover the well casing.  I will also remove the boxwoods on the north side, replacing them with a low perennial that will not block the view of the bricks (what was I thinking when I planted boxwoods there, anyway?).

   Because it was getting increasingly difficult to grow grass in the shade there, I replaced the grass in 2017 with moss.  The species is Climacium americanum, a moderately common moss found in eastern North America.  It is especially beautiful when the new growth (yellow green color), in a hydrated state, is backlighted by a low-angle sun--shown in the last two photos.
   The Japanese garden is visible to the north of the garden.
   The flowers are wax begonias.