I think this is some kind of sea grass. It was here when we bought the house. The cool thing is that it takes up a bunch of room and changes its appearance throughout the season.
It pays to plan
I have no plan. This bizarre graphic is as close as I’ve come to a plan for the front yard. The dots represent empty locations that need to be filled. Actually the begonia and gerber are annuals so I’ll need to replace them next year as well. The euphorbia seems to be doing really well as is the columbine in the right corner. The speedwell not so much.
Bulbs are not just for Christmas trees and other things I have learned
As I mentioned before, our first fall in this house I planted a few peonies. They are still going strong so I figured this year I would plant some other bulbs. I’ve bought some bulbs already and am planning on purchasing a few more. I started this yard revitalization project in May so I think I have late spring early summer covered. What I really need are early spring bloomers and things to fill in the blank spots. I’ll also need them for the front, back and side each of which have different shade/sun factors. Of course I’ll just ignore all of this and buy what looks pretty.
What I’ve purchased:
What I think I want to purchase:
FYI, I found most of these by browsing Holland Bulb Farms.
The day I decided we needed a boulder
I’m home with a sick kiddo today. So at nap time, I decided to catch up on my tv viewing and watched Terra Nova. And now I want a boulder. This is what is missing from the front yard. A big huge boulder nestled up against the juniper would be fantastic. I have no idea where to buy a boulder.
you’re doing a bang up job!
The other day a friend stopped by to return the mini-muffin pan she borrowed from me. She left it at the front door. We don’t usually use our front door. We just park the car and go in through the kitchen. We open the door and grab the mail but that’s about it. So, it wasn’t until I went to get the pan that I realized just how freaking ugly and uninviting our front yard is (and that my friend probably will never let her kids come over ever again). I also realized that the mail carrier must think the house is abandoned and is probably shocked that the previous day’s mail has mysteriously disappeared when he delivers the mail. Maybe he thinks we’re vampires or ghosts. Something had to be done.
I think every teenage girl at one time thought she might look fabulous with bangs. So she went into the bathroom on a Sunday night and, channeling Vidal Sassoon, tried to create the perfect bang. Five minutes and ten inches later, she realized with desperation that she really didn’t have the face for bangs. Maybe if she just made them a little shorter. Maybe if she just evened them out a little. Next thing you know, she has a two inch fuzz of hair sticking out of her forehead and because it is Sunday, no way to fix it. It wouldn’t be until the next morning after crying herself to sleep that she would have the idea to go for a side part and forward sweep of hair to cover or at least minimize the bang fiasco. Really, this never happened to you? I’m the only one?
Why is this relevant, you ask? Because when I started to trim the juniper bushes out front in the hopes of making the house look cute, I ended up with the equivalent of two inches of crooked bangs sticking out of the ground. I swear I was just going to trim them so that you could approach the front door without getting scratched or smacked in the face. Next thing I know–POOF! We are down to one bush and one gnarly stump. Will I ever learn?
In an effort to make a side part out of a stump, I made a few purchases. First, plants that thrive in the shade like hostas. I also bought some partial sun plants because I’m not really sure how shady the front yard is throughout the day. Next, planters because that bush was taking up a huge amount of space and I don’t know what I want plant. We still have a few huge bare spots but it does look better.
A word about taking pictures for a gardening blog–don’t try it with your kids around. I love my children but for the love of all that is holy I couldn’t keep my son out of these shots to save my life. He couldn’t believe that I could possibly want a picture without him in it. Pictures will also show you all of the paint you may have missed when you scraped the tacky green fake grass/carpet off of the steps and you’ll also be able to clearly see just how crazy your drainage system is.
I should state that although I started this project on my own, I did have to get some assistance. I trimmed the tree but couldn’t get the stump out by myself. Yes, once again, I had to call my husband out to the yard because I started a project that I couldn’t finish. And yes, once again he came outside and helped me out of the hole I had literally dug myself into. True love. Anyway, now I just have to figure out a way to discretely inform my friend that our front door is now welcoming. The mail carrier is probably going to think we moved and that the new owners are freaking awesome.
Lush
No, this isn’t my yard. This is the landscaping around the building where I work. I mean really, how am I supposed to compete with this? We’ve had droughts, earthquakes and hurricanes this summer. This yard still looks gorgeous and mine looks like crap.
Want to know real reason my yard is neglected? Freaking mosquitos. Do not get me started. Too late. I can’t get from the house to the car without them swarming me. I wonder if there are mosquito repellant plants? Hmm, I just might be onto something.
hi, hydrangea!
Wahoo! Things are still growing! This hydrangea is blooming, baby! You may think I’m using too many exclamation marks but I am very excited. You don’t understand! After the self-inflicted drought while we were on vacation, I kind of thought things were over for this year and I’d have to start all over again. Then, the hydrangea blossomed and I was saved! Praise the great gardener in the sky! Ok, I’ll shut up now but I really think this proves that hydrangeas belong on the “Kristi won’t kill it” list.
lighting
The fancy garden shows make a big deal about lighting. I used to think whatever but after we put some cheap solar lights in the back, I find myself lingering by the kitchen windows whenever I walk by in the evening.
Frankly, the yard looks much better in the dark (don’t we all?) and the little lights make me think of summers spent catching lightening bugs and eating honeysuckle. So as much as I don’t like yard work, I do like the results. Ignore the leaves.
the n word
Neglect. I have neglected my yard and my blog. You see, I went on vacation and I neglected to schedule or write any posts. I also neglected to ask our neighbor to water the plants. The grass died and some of my plants have turned a most unbecoming shade of brown. (Don’t worry I’m much better with the kids than I am with plants and blogs.) We also figured out that we have some poison ivy or oak somewhere in our backyard as evidenced buy the crazy blistery rash our son developed on his hand. His doctor dared me to kiss it better. I gave our boy a big hug instead.
I did buy some more solar lights from Target— faux copper on sale for $1.40 each. I also went to Behnke’s to buy a gift card for someone and managed to NOT buy anything for myself. I figure I need to spend some time investigating what blooms in the dry July and awful August before I spend any more money.
Where to sit
Speaking of crappy chairs, I don’t know what we should do about seating for the yard. My uncle bought us a cute little bistro set. It is faux cast iron and came with some not so cute cushions. (The cushions are standing up because I had just finished scrubbing the bird poop off of them. Sometimes the great outdoors aren’t so great.) No problem. We changed the cushions and voila it is perfect. The problem is that it only has two chairs and we are a family of four. We also might want to have guests over again someday. (We owe our neighbors like six cookouts.) Now, I don’t believe that everything has to be matchy-matchy but it would be nice if they didn’t clash style-wise and if our guests didn’t have to sit on something that may fall apart at any second. So what should we do? Part of the problem is that I’m not sure what we should be aiming for–lounging or dining? Also, I’m not sure where in the yard it would go. I’d really like to not spend any serious bank on this. Maybe I should check out Community Forklift for something cool and funky. My husband’s biggest fear is that I’ll make the yard look like this. I think it is awesome but will probably settle for some adirondacks. I’ll just continue to dream via my Pinterest pages.
my yard hates me... 