A stroll through Betty and Don Hostetler's backyard could bring to mind nature hikes through the rolling foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, although their terrain is not as steep.
The property on Hammond Drive rises behind the house. Shaded footpaths meander through an arbor in the center of the yard, winding toward a covered swing in one direction and through flower beds in the other.
On the east side, the yard dips toward a shallow creek, across which Don has built three small footbridges.
More than 20 years ago, the yard was dressed for their three children's entertainment, covered in grass and sporting a basketball hoop.
"We didn't do a whole lot of yard work until we retired," Betty said.
Betty retired from Hammond Hills Elementary School in 1990 and Don retired from the Savannah River Site in 1993.
Betty began to nurture a love for gardening that was planted by her parent's own love for the craft. She said her mother gardened while her father tended vegetables and fruit trees.
One of Betty's dozen or so camellia trees came from her mother's yard.
Despite their decidedly more "grown up" appeal, the gardens also entertain their 7-year-old granddaughter, Lucille Bach, who has her own garden of Gerber daisies.
"She likes to water," Betty said.
Don cultivates the four or five varieties of tomato plants, some of which encircle a sundial in the center of the yard. More grow in a raised bed in the western corner of the yard, while still more grow, upside down, from hanging baskets on a wooden frame beside the house.
Betty said she enjoys spending time working in the yard. Each morning, she walks through to enjoy her plants and see what needs to be done.
"I spend a lot of time out in the yard," she said. "It's like housework; you never get through."
Reach Lisa Kaylor at lisa.kaylor@northaugustatoday.com.
