Progress...

I want to start with a huge thank you to all of you who left such beautiful comments on my last post.  I was overwelmed by your kindness and lovely words.  I appreciate you all so much.  I didn't even think to ask for your prayers when I was writing, so I was touched that you pray-ers just volunteered for the job.  You are the best!   

~~~~~

In April I shared some pictures of a large weedy bed on the south side of our house.   I dubbed it the "bed of doom".   Working over Memorial weekend we got that bed whipped into shape, and also brought mulch around to the front of the house.    

Also this spring we tilled and planted to grass a compacted and bare space under a tree in front of our house.  It's not exactly lush with grass, but it does look a bit better.   Hopefully, with a little more tending and prodding, we can persuade grass to keep filling in.  

And lastly, a year ago, I trimmed some Knockout Rose bushes in a bed on the north side of the house, but I decided after all that work I just wasn't a fan of these rose bushes with a gazillion tiny thorns.  It only took one pruning job to convince me I don't need these in my life.  Greg was happy when I said I didn't want them, as that meant we could dig them up (we gave them to friends who wanted them), and he could plant the area to grass and have a simpler mowing job.  And if I want a rose fix, I can just look out a side window and enjoy my neighbor's gorgeous Knockout Roses he has trellised up the whole side of his house.  He is a pro at these roses.  I don't need to be.  

While it didn't seem so obvious to us when we first bought this house in the fall of 2021, after moving in, the outside upkeep became apparent.  We decided early on that one of our goals would be simplifying the landscaping.  It's been a multi-step process of first removing what was just too much, and now this spring neatening those areas up.  We will, undoubtedly add new plantings in the future, but they will be easy care perennials and not too many.  A future buyer can't be unhappy about that.  If someone in the future wants to plant their hearts out, we will be leaving them a cleaner slate than what we started with. 

There's more to do, but we are enjoying the property more and more with each finished project.  Below are progress pictures of these different spots.  I even power washed the gutters on the back of the house last weekend.  It feels good as I head into surgery soon that these things are done.  It will be nice to spend some time outside on pretty days relaxing and enjoying the cleaner landscaping while I'm healing up.  

So... here's the progression:

Knocking out the Knockout Roses:

Fixing the front:

A Do-over for the Bed of Doom:

Youngest son, Ben, was a great help for most of a day that Memorial weekend.

And that, dear reader, is it for today.  I'll be back sometime after my surgery this week.  

I hope you have a beautiful day!