gorgeous

So, the new picture showing as the "profile" picture on this blog was taken today, after we removed the shrubs from the front of the house, and trimmed the crapemyrtle and the other big thing in front of the house that we don't know the name of.

The smaller shrubs that were in front of the house fell victim to this summer's drought. There was a hydrangea, and three small bushes that I never identified before they died. The two bushes that were still alive are relocated to the back yard.

NO idea what they are! But they should do better with a bit more shade.

The front of the house looks a lot better with that dead stuff all pulled out, and the overgrown shrubs trimmed up.

The skinny pine tree, can't remember what it's called, either, will stay, and I plan to put some ground cover in the bed at the ends, and put perennials in the space between, where the bushes were.

Ideally, that space will have spring bulbs so that there will be daffodils and tulips in spring, and also bergamot and Indian Blanket flower to fill in and bloom in the heat of summer.

We're going to trim the willow back so that it hangs more like 2 or 3 feet off the ground, instead of the fronds resting on the ground.

The back yard? Well...that's going to be a huge project...but tomorrow, we will start it by taking the round edging bricks from under the willow into the back yard to line a new fire pit.

We will gradually do the back yard---but we found out today that we need almost $700 for the materials alone to build a deck. Before the deck can be built, we need to come up with the money for our longed for hot tub...so .... it will clearly be years before we can have our dream back yard.

Meantime, though, the fire pit gets put in tomorrow, and as fall deepens, we will dig out our beds for next year's gardens. I want 3 long, narrow garden beds, and one round one.

Then, along the back fence, we plan to add plants that will create a natural privacy screen.

Some day, several years down the road, it will be gorgeous!