Clearing the Front Garden

Before Chris and I married over 2 years ago, I had never been a home owner.  Until that day, I lived in apartments. When you live in an apartment, the last thing you need to worry about is gardening.  I didn't keep house plants because, well, I have a bit of a black thumb when it comes to house plants.

Two years ago, Chris and I bought our current home. I finally became a home owner for the first time and all the responsibilities that come with it--including gardening.  Of course, knowing that just by buying a house plant I should be arrested for attempted murder of a plant, I was nervous about how gardening would work out for me.

The front of our house about 7 months after we moved in. Little landscaping.

Now, two years later, I find myself working on our garden a lot.  My current goal is to get rid of some plants  in the front of the house, under the office window. The plants that were there when we bought the house are not the prettiest or nicest. I'm also not a fan of the edging. I think the scalloped bricks look crappy.  Chris insists that it could look better.  I believe him, but I've seen other ways to edge that I prefer.

The landscaping now. Weeds took over (despite efforts to quell them).
If you look close, you can see Daisy watching me through the window.

Yesterday, I began working on removing the plants and edging.  The biggest challenge will be the removal of a rose bush.  I had thought about keeping the roses, but it seems that two trees have begun to grow behind the rose bush (right along the wall).  In order to get the trees out, I will have to remove the roses.

The rose bush with 2 small trees behind it, along the wall.

Come Spring, I want to put in a few bushes, definitely a perennial or two, some annuals along the edge, and put in some new edging.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish digging out all the plants yesterday.  Hopefully, I will finish that project this week.



It will be a lot of work, but totally worth it.

The scalloped brick edging. (See how the grass tried to take over.)

Hard at work digging out plants.

What I was able to accomplish. Half done.

Looks good there! 

I cut back most of the roses so that it will be easier to dig out. Hopefully.