In the Weeds….
Our front yard has been a mess the entire time we’ve lived here. That is, until VERY recently. Somehow making the house livable was more pressing than the flower beds. Go figure….
I believe our neighbors are so thankful that we purchased the house (the former occupants were squatters that started a fire in the garage) that they are willing to overlook our weeds. I’m thankful for that grace, as this place has taken plenty of time to get in order.
We did have to do some safety work early on (April 2022). For some reason, the original homeowners installed two giant concrete planter “boxes” that housed trees. One of the trees must have died a while ago as it had been cut out.
The problem with this was that the box now had a very dangerous patchwork of metal sticking out of a scary hole. This deathtrap would have made the Vietcong proud. There were some grates left but there were also holes that someone could fall into and get impaled.
Not sure how the government (the VA) thought this was “safe” when they winterized the house, but they must have because they didn’t do anything about it.
We had our friends at Faithfull Landscape remove the scary metal and fill the hole in with dirt. They also removed the sad looking tree from the other box and filled that hole in as well. Once those were secure, we didn’t do anything much outside for months.
In September 2022, we decided it was time to do some work. We purchased two ornamental crab apple trees from a local nursery and some yellow day lilies. Well… we were TOLD they were all yellow, but some turned out to be orange. A fact we didn’t discover until this summer. We planted the trees and lilies in the giant planter boxes, formerly known as the “deathtrap”. At least we had a tiny part of the yard looking better.
We also were blessed to have the cedar roots pulled out of the ground in the beds closest to the house. Our good friend, Ray, had to pull them out with his truck and chains. This was AFTER he tried to chop them up. They put up quite a fight, but Ray won out in the end.
In October, Ray brought a verticutter to our house and he and Jeff got to work on our front patch of weeds. They cleaned that area out and planted grass seeds. Moles had made that patch of yard very spongy, but it’s much better now.
In November of 2022 we started work on the beds next to the house. Since we have a ton of cardboard, we decided to use it as weed mat. That dealt with two issues: too much cardboard to recycle and needing cheap weed mat.
We ordered gray gravel to cover the cardboard beds. The style of this house is French country, so I decided that gravel would look best. In the French Countryside, they use gravel for driveways and patios, which we imitated with our choice.
After the gravel was dumped and partially spread, we left it until spring 2023.
In April, for my birthday, Jeff and the boys purchased and planted some hydrangeas. They are a type of hydrangea that can thrive in full sun, which was a must for the front of the house. They will eventually grow to 6-8 feet, filling in the back wall very nicely.
In May, we moved the rock that Jeff’s dad gave him the year he passed away into its new position with the help of our brother-in-law and nephew-in-law. It says “Brown” on it and looks great with the rock that was already there. We also planted more day lilies, knock-out roses, and some boxwoods in the front planter with the rocks.
Jeff and I had a bit of a disagreement about several tatty (my description) bushes in the front bed. I wanted them cut out. Jeff wanted them to stay. I finally compromised with having Jeff cut them way back, secretly hoping that would kill them. Alas, they survived, and I’m afraid I have to admit, they look good now. Not that I will ever admit that to Jeff….
When buying more mulch at Home Depot, I discovered hydrangeas at a much cheaper price point than the ones we planted in the spring. I thought they would look great under the windows of the house. Jeff didn’t quite agree so I had to bat my eyelashes and sweet talk him into it. He relented and now agrees they will look great once they get a bit bigger.
We also wanted a water feature out front. I had priced fountains, and they were very expensive, so I decided to create one instead. We purchased an inexpensive planter from Home Goods, and Jeff silicone the hole at the bottom so it would hold water. I bought a solar fountain which works well and has the added feature of lighting up at night. (I also discovered you can throw a Clorox toilet tablet in the fountain water to clear it up. I’m a problem solver!)
Jeff and the boys moved the concrete table and benches to the front of the house from the back. It is one of the only things the previous people left behind that I appreciate. (Mounds of trash and plant detritus that they left behind was not appreciated….)
Jeff, Tyler, and Zach also moved a concrete birdbath to the front, and I put another solar fountain in it. The local birdies seem to appreciate it.
In June, Zach and Jeff cut out the evergreen tree by the driveway so you could see better when exiting the drive. They also cleaned out the area and planted more hydrangeas and day lilies. We purchased a similar birdbath to the one that came with the home but didn’t put a fountain in it.
In July, we lost some trees and some limbs in the big storm. The heat wave has ruined a few of the hydrangeas, but most of the plantings survived. It feels like you make progress and then something happens which sets you back again. This is why I purchased hardy plants….
Our backyard will have to be featured at a future date. Let’s just say that we’ve let the “native grasses” take over and we are enjoying the local wildlife. We even named some of them.
Jeff, Tyler, and Zach have been working on the yard for a year, and we still have so much to do. We’re hoping to fix the deck and get the rest of the house painted in the fall. (It’s only ½ done.) We also need to clean out all the weeds and fallen trees.
Maybe someday we’ll be out of the weeds and into a fully usable yard, but until then, we’ll enjoy what we have….
