Landscaping – Finally!

When we bought our house last year, we prioritized the money (oh so much money) that we would be spending on making our new house a home.  We felt the first priority was furniture.  What’s the use of a pretty lawn if you have to come inside and sit on a futon and pack your clothes up in rubbermaid bins?  We’d both lived like college students for long enough!  So the year we bought our house, our efforts went to the interior (and to that trivial expense of our wedding).  Now, we are finally getting to the landscaping.

By far the biggest project has been the preparation of the new garden beds in the back.  When we moved in, the back corner of our lawn was already dug out and landscaped, although pretty pitifully landscaped.  So we extended on to that area to increase how many veggies I could plant.  That preparation was much slower and more intensive than we expected.  Did you know that a mere 2 inches below your soil may lie a rock quarry?  We didn’t either.  But alas…here’s a post I wrote on my other blog about the monumental task of excavating the rock from that garden bed.  It was AWFUL.  Luckily, we put those rocks to good use for filling in the area under our deck.

Drainage Rocks

Greg and I have spent many weekends working on the beds, and they are almost ready for the vegetables to be planted.  Today’s project was the installation of edging stones (Greg’s task) and the planting of a bunny repelling border of marigolds (my project).  Here are the fruits of our labor, it makes it all worth while to stand back and look at how pretty it is!

The New Garden

Marigolds and Spirea

We decided to plant bushes (the Spirea) along our neighbors fence, because the less I have to get near that fence, the better.  As you may recall, it is the source of months of anguish due to poison ivy last year.

I also got some wonderful satisfaction from the removal of the Yucca plant in our front landscaping bed.  I hate this plant.  Its ugly and collect leaves.  I’ve been lobbying for its removal for months and was finally given the green light today.  I have to tell you, the last sickening CRACK as the bulk of the root ball broke was fabulous.

Death of the Yucca

I believe Greg’s words were more in the neighborhood of, “you can cut it back as much as you want.”  So he was mildly surprised to come out and see that I had employed a shovel.  I don’t ask twice and I don’t wait for second guesses.  I seize the moment, and in this case, the shovel.

The Yucca, where it belongs

I wish I had gotten a photo of the real “before” when it was in its fully yucky Yucca glory, but this is so much better.

Hostas, minus the Yucca

Since there was now room to spare, I decided to plant a few Caladium bulbs I bought a while back to fill in the empty spaces.

Planting the Caladium

So what’s up next?  If I can actually wield a shovel tomorrow (which is questionable due to my back), I will plant the rest of the spireas in back and some beautiful Azaleas we bought for he side of our house.

Spirea and Azaleas

Greg and I are so dog tired from today’s work, but when you get a day as beautiful as this in Kansas in Spring, you must seize the moment!