A house by the lake is a dream home come true for a lot of people.

The expertise of Master Gardener Barb Herreid has made her home next to Camelot Lake in Adams County even dreamier.

But that wasn't the case for the yard when they bought it in 1997.

Barb says "all the people who lived here before us weren't really gardeners, so I spent the first year tearing everything out and just worked on it from there."

Barb estimates she works on her yard 15-to-20 hours a week, not including the planning in winter.

She likes to focus on one area per year. From the fence in the front of the house to one in back that's a tribute to Wisconsin native plants.

Barb admits she gets ideas from checking out other people's outdoor artwork during the annual garden tour.

"It allows us to go into other people's gardens and you get your best ideas from other people's gardens,"" she says.

Her hard work has turned every part of her yard into a show place, but when it comes to the flower garden by the lake, that's for more than just beauty by the shoreline.

Barb says "putting the bed along the lake instead of having grass up to it is that the roots run deep and that prevents runoff into the lake."

A lake that will always have the watchful eye of this gardener, because, as a plaque by the Herreid's patio says...

Heaven is a little closer, in a house by the water.