Taming A Garden

I don't think my son Steve and his wife Aw will disagree if I say their house falls to the bottom of the chart for curb appeal.

That didn't bother them when they bought the place three years ago because once you forced yourself to go inside, you could see lots of potential.

She is a fabulous cook and he is a fabulous carpenter/contractor too busy to tend to his own place and gardening doesn't fit in their list of interests.

After I whimpered and mewled for a while they gave me the green light to tackle the front jungle with my grandson Jamie as helper. That means he got to do all the digging.

The road on their block is being upgraded (i.e torn up,along with driveways and sidewalks.)
Probably not the best time to take on this challenge but I was hot to go.

This is a "before" view of the front on the bedroom side.



It wasn't intended to be a lovely landscaping job--it had to be quick and dirty and something that would care for itself.

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Jamie. Some day they willl shudder at the sight of those low-crotch pants. They will shudder won't they? Please.



Below is "after" in that corner. We took out some scabby shrubs and things that had been planted too close to the foundation to flourish and tucked in the hydrangea and dwarf Alberta spruce.



Below is the "before" of the area under the porch.



And after.



In the spring we'll level the ground and plant grass seed to cover the places where the old garden beds had been.

Aw says that next year she will plant lots of colorful annuals in the blank spaces and that's encouraging. She might even find she likes gardening.

Next on my whimpering list is to get them to paint over that obnoxious false brick front.

Some people might describe my actions as nagging, but Steve and Aw are too nice to say that.
And the neighbors love me.