We got a big chunk of the front yard landscaping done. Conclusion? Gardening is somewhat habit-forming. First we took out the lawn in the backyard to put in planter beds. Then we took out the borders around the driveway and put in strawberries, mint, a raspberry, blueberry, basil, and a kumquat. Last weekend we took out the border around the rest of the lawn. We took out the weedy grass and dirt by our neighbors' side door and put in decomposed granite. In two other sections, we dug out the grass and added new topsoil and a border of bricks. And finally, I got to put in some plants!*
I was at East Sac Hardware, which I love anyway, and they've added a huge garden section. I walked in there first because it was so visually appealing. I couldn't help looking over the coleus, a plant I wasn't familiar with. There were several varieties in different shades of red and orange, but the bright red one just killed me. The guy working back there started talking to me, and he said I had to go see "Judy" out front, one that he'd overwintered at his house. It was stunning. "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes!,"** I exclaimed. I bought one myself. I snuck it on the side by the neighbors, but it's like Lucy Ricardo trying to be sneaky -- big and red and loud.
And then I bought three lavenders, because I love lavender. I have them standing like sentinels, spaced evenly across the front.
Then I picked up an echinacea, which I'd been planning to add to the garden. Zadie grabbed my hand and I tried to put it down quickly. It fell over, breaking one of the stems. I declared that I'd buy it, and I did, plus two more! I clustered them in the corner as droopy-headed buddies.
There are two hot red peppers with round fruits. I sneaked them in between the echinacea, and I'm hoping their little red balls will liven up that corner.
Later, at Home Depot, I saw a butterfly bush. It had really pale foliage, and I remembered the advice in my gardening book to vary the color and shape of foliage. Plus, it had been bashed around a bit, and it had a sad, Charlie Brown look to it. I decided I would give it some love. It's on the side next to the coleus.
Finally, I saw a crazy ornamental pepper. It has about 100 purple peppers on it, though it's only about 8 inches in diameter. I put it way over to one side in view of the front door, because I think it's cute and I want to look at it all the time.
And that is our front yard! I'm so happy -- before, we had only a lawn***, and now we have landscaping.
*I should add that this description makes it sound like WAY less work than it actually was.
** This is a Crosby, Stills and Nash joke. I realize the real song title begins with "Suite," but it works better as an exclamation if I use "Sweet." Please feel free, as I'm sure you often do, to just ignore my weirdness.
*** This is a kindness to my yard to call it a lawn. It is a dry, uneven patch of some sort of crabgrass or nutgrass that will. not. die. even though we frequently fail to water it. Basically, every home on our street has the same stuff -- it looks green in the wet season and patchy brown in the dry season no matter what any of us do. It's a weed. Someday I'll tear it all out and either replace it with sod or create more of a cottage garden. I seriously resent the "lawn".
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