Kathleen
Cupcake
I shared my heart-break over losing my huge tree (with a 4 foot diameter trunk). The tree gave the backyard a park-like feel in the center of the city, and it gave us a lot of privacy as well as shade. Lastly, it blocked the view of of shopping center that is behind the brick wall with a parking lot that begs for trouble. To remove the tree, they had a crane, and had to run a Bobcat (mini-bulldozer) through the yard up and up the hill.
The tree crew tried hard not to make and leave a mess. However, the Bobcat ripped up the yard and destroyed pretty much anything in its way. I don't have an easy way to get access to the back yard, so even though they had a crane the pieces had to be removed through the yard to the front of the house. Scorched earth came to mind.
Since the yard, side yard, and back yard were destroyed, we opted to extend a stone pathway from the back to the side of the yard. We also had the front walk (which was crumbling) replaced and had a flagstone patio installed in front of the shed on the hill. The bare spots in the front were seeded with clover.
I was really worried about the flowers on each side of the walk which was replaced. I planted several types of flowers from my mother's garden along the walk way. Iris, daylilies, peonies, and a few others. Our contractor ensured they were all kept safe as they built the mould for the concrete.
The shed had some oak-leaf hydrangea and azaleas around it that were going to be ripped out for the patio in front of the shed, so I asked the contractor to move them to the barren hill and along the bottom hoping they would reseat. (I used pink flags to label where the plants would be placed and then I watered them daily.)
We love our boulder stairs, but I am falling more as I get older. Therefore, we decided to install a railing. Again, flags helped show where it will go and where patio light poles will go.
A bit thicker than we envisioned but I told the welder to make it really sturdy.
I had planned to plant pyracanthra along the brick wall because it is pretty, grows fast, and is related to apples so the berries can be used to make jam. Instead, I am going to use the space to grow more things like the little sunflowers that are suppose to grow between 12 and 16 feet. I will also plant okra, beans, and some acorn squash. I've also planted a crepe myrtle in the space between the fence and Mountain Laurels, which is supposed to grow quickly. My hope is that it will provide our missing privacy. Since we now have sun in the back, we also planted a raspberry and blackberry bush.
We also split and planted some regular hydrangea, some grasses and hostas returned. So here it is as of yesterday.
The tree crew tried hard not to make and leave a mess. However, the Bobcat ripped up the yard and destroyed pretty much anything in its way. I don't have an easy way to get access to the back yard, so even though they had a crane the pieces had to be removed through the yard to the front of the house. Scorched earth came to mind.
Since the yard, side yard, and back yard were destroyed, we opted to extend a stone pathway from the back to the side of the yard. We also had the front walk (which was crumbling) replaced and had a flagstone patio installed in front of the shed on the hill. The bare spots in the front were seeded with clover.
I was really worried about the flowers on each side of the walk which was replaced. I planted several types of flowers from my mother's garden along the walk way. Iris, daylilies, peonies, and a few others. Our contractor ensured they were all kept safe as they built the mould for the concrete.
The shed had some oak-leaf hydrangea and azaleas around it that were going to be ripped out for the patio in front of the shed, so I asked the contractor to move them to the barren hill and along the bottom hoping they would reseat. (I used pink flags to label where the plants would be placed and then I watered them daily.)
We love our boulder stairs, but I am falling more as I get older. Therefore, we decided to install a railing. Again, flags helped show where it will go and where patio light poles will go.
A bit thicker than we envisioned but I told the welder to make it really sturdy.
I had planned to plant pyracanthra along the brick wall because it is pretty, grows fast, and is related to apples so the berries can be used to make jam. Instead, I am going to use the space to grow more things like the little sunflowers that are suppose to grow between 12 and 16 feet. I will also plant okra, beans, and some acorn squash. I've also planted a crepe myrtle in the space between the fence and Mountain Laurels, which is supposed to grow quickly. My hope is that it will provide our missing privacy. Since we now have sun in the back, we also planted a raspberry and blackberry bush.
We also split and planted some regular hydrangea, some grasses and hostas returned. So here it is as of yesterday.
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