I moved into my new (for me) home in the fall, and now I am confronted with a not so clean slate to work with.
Assets in my new home:
-mature trees and flowering shrubs in the front
-a back patio
-a lovely mature crepe myrtle and ‘Little Gem’ Magnolia in the back
-a Carolina jessamine that is presently blooming its head off.
Problems that came with the house:
-two half-dead ornamental pear trees (strategically placed so that not only did the magnolia have to lean away from them, but also so that no other trees could be planted in that half of the backyard)
-no late-summer thru winter interest at all in the front
-the patio is just a scoootch to small
-a bed full of over-grown yet half defoliated hybrid tea roses that needed to be dodged by the kids whenever they wanted to access the rest of the back yard.
Problems at least partially solved:
-the ornamental pear trees are gone: in their place I managed to squeeze in 5 fruit trees, none of which will interfere with the magnolia (I tried endless combinations on graft paper until I found the optimal solution while still taking into account mature sizes). I’m also planning on using the branches and twigs from the trees to build a play shelter for the kids.
-most of the HT rose were dug up and given to a friend who loves them. I kept two, and have temporarily filled in the rest of the bed with perennials that are ‘butterfly plants’ to amuse the kids while I decide what to do with the bed and how far I’m going to extend the patio.
Yes, I have a problem…
I just referred to ‘perennials’ as ‘temporary’!!!
Of course, they aren’t, I’ll just transplant them.
You know you have a serious gardening addiction if you plant something intending to transplant it later!
