Very nice! We'll need to see pics when it starts to fill in, too!

These projects are always a lot of work. They don't look like much at first but wait til it fills in! Be sure to post pix then. Marg

Thanks for sharing your project.
Do take more pictures and share them with us.

I admire gardeners from zone one. It must be challenging?
Or perhaps since it does not factor in Chinook winds, then it may be a matter of choosing appropriate plants?

Yes,Marg, It was a lot of work. My old body feels quite wrecked, even today. I removed a wheelbarrow full of rocks and gravel from under the topsoil that was there, and then just mixed the rest together. I probably should have removed more of the fill. But it will have good drainage anyway, as the soil is sandy and gravelly. I stuck some semps in there too, even though it's shady.
(Many years ago, the driveway extended right to our back door, which is off to the left. The grass was just plunked down on top of that compacted clay/gravel and may be why it never grew much.)
xaroline, I think Calgary might have a more challenging zone. Usually we get reliable snow cover. IMO, we are more zone 2 than 1b, but that's the designation the new map gives us.
This little area of my yard is quite sheltered, nestled between 2 houses.

Job well done! Now you deserve to sit back with a cold beverage and admire your work.:) It will really look awesome when everything fills in. Remember to show us more pictures of it next year.

Yes!...great job well done, it looks very neat!... Would never know that
this is zone 1.

Konrad

It looks great! I think some heucheras would go nicely in there too. :0)

I think it looks great, adds some 'depth' to the flower bed and it's nice that it's not your standard rectangular shape. I can relate as some of my corner flower beds somehow have expanded throughout the years little by little as I made them bigger by removing grass. I love the hostas, should look great when they fill in with the contrasting leaf colors.

Wow! Zone1,I thought it was difficult to garden in 3,so I won't complain anymore.I will ask though if you can keep hucheras in 1?I planted 5 last year and lost them all.If you do keep them, which kind are you buying?Any info will be appreciated.Judy

Thanks everyone. I'm still admiring my little project every time I walk by. This project was a case of instant gratification, I think. I know I did it all wrong, but I like it anyway.
About heuchera, the only one I have that is totally hardy is the old fashioned h. sanguinea. I don't know which variety I have as it was given to me from another gardener. But I love it. I would like to try some of the newer ones, but I hear so many in milder zones having difficulty wintering them, so I haven't bothered. I did grow a mix from seed years ago and enjoyed them for several years but one by one they died. Of that mix I still have one that almost packed it in this winter, but I've given it a bit of TLC and I hope it makes a comeback. It is a nice variegated one.

Just FYI Marie (I think you're Marie??), if Heuchera sanguinea grows well for you, you might try some of the Gardens North seed mixes. Most of my successful heucheras came from those. You never really know what you're going to get but I have a nice clump of bronze maple leaf shaped ones and also some frilly leaved lime green ones. Palace Purple is also hardy for me here but not as hardy as the Gardens North seeds.

Yes, Northspruce, I am Marie.
The heuchera seed mix I originally grew was a Garden's North mix. I was able to enjoy several different ones for a few years from that. My lone survivor is one from that planting.
Anyway, don't get me thinking about growing more seeds! Right now I have a whole bunch of veronicastrum, amorpha nana, agastache, mukdenia rossii, and a few New Zealand delphiniums looking for homes in my garden! Of course they have to make it through a winter before I'll worry about where to put them. But still, it's silly, I know.