If you've recently installed your first garden from scratch, or renovated an overgrown landscape around your first home, and you did all or most of the work yourself, we'd like to hear from you! Tell us what the yard was like before, what you wanted the garden to be, and how you set about creating it. Did you build fences, decks, or water features? Fill the whole space with flowers or vegetables? Hire a landscape professional to install a patio or other hardscape, then do the planting around it yourself? Tell us what the experience was like, what problems, if any, you encountered, what you learned, what was worth investing in, and what you'd do differently next time. We'd also like to see before, in-progress, and after photos if you have them.

Please send letters and photos to:

Sunset Garden Department
Attn: First Gardens
80 Willow Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Or email us along with low-resolution digital photos at [email protected]