Ha, the hammock stand is disassembled at the moment, usually goes out on the lawn. I wouldn't dare hang my camping hammock up under these trees during spider season

It's definitely it's own little ecosystem! Always lots of different bees, lately lots of dragonflies, a couple resident hummingbirds. The bees are currently loving the hydrangeas, looks like a constant swarm around it

Here's said hydrangea, been fading from pink to white as the season goes on.

Those pollinator-friendly gardens are the best kind, not just pretty but actually helping local ecosystems thrive - I've noticed my own garden attracts so many more birds once I let it get a bit wilder!

Funny you say that, there's a bench directly behind where I took this photo in the corner of the yard. There's a bare trellis there that it backs up to but it's very shaded so I'm still deciding what to put there.. Thinking evergreen clematis or something.

Hammock

Oh yeah I couldn't imagine keeping this yard up while also having kids, lol, my wife and I both spend plenty of time maintaining it most weekends, the weeds are relentless and I refuse to use roundup. The dog loves it! She gets to explore all the smells from the resident critters and still has a good stretch of grass to run

Honestly, what you see in the Pic is all the previous seasons leaves. Mostly magnolia and Persian ironwood. It's our first full year here so I'm seeing what works, I think a more natural approach is fine with mature trees like these