Spring 2007

There is nothing better than shopping at your local nursery. We went this morning to purchase a lilac bush since I have wanted lilacs in my garden for so long. This is the best time - as they are on sale now. The person working was so extremely helpful. She explained (without us asking) how to plant the lilac, she asked questions about our soil and told us exactly what we needed to do to our soil to prepare to plant. This is not service you get in the big box stores. No way. The big box stores may sell the plants cheaper (and not always) but the service is terrible. They hardly water the plants and they are half dead. What happened to the small businesses of America? It is sad to see so few left. You may pay a little more but you get quality and the best service. They also know exactly what is the best plants for your zone.

We also purchased creepers for our garden path. Again without us asking a sales person explained to us that we do not need to buy too many as they will spread and this is the perfect time to plant. She helped us pick the right plants for our path since it depends on the traffic level. We left with great knowledge and enjoyed our time at our local nursery.

Summer Progress

The area by our shed was also overgrown with ivy. We removed the ivy during our first year but just now started to prepare for another garden next to the shed.

Here is our back garden and our poodle neighbors. This section was also all ivy and no plants at all. It was like a sea of ivy.

Here is our front garden before our new fence. It is starting to fill in this year. We planted two lilac bushes which we hope to enjoy next spring. This again was a sea of ivy and bushes and no plants at all.

Here is the same area with the new fence going up.

The new fence painted white with new plants filling in empty sections.

We found the bench in the garbage and George painted it a shabby green.

Our summer ended with the new fence install and dreams of what we will plant next summer.