Spring is coming

 

 

Late winter bloom.  One sign that spring is coming. "Arnold Promise" Witch Hazel.



Making old newish ?

 

Going back to August/September

 

Well the ivy was removed from my have of yard/garden. This is just one bed, looks a mess but it gets better.

 

 

So with what plants survived plus a few new ones, I started to lay out the plan. Another bed is in the works...ok, in my head for next year.

 

 

 

 

Well everything is in for now and of course had to put up doggy fencing otherwise they would be running right through the beds. On the right side is their(dogs) 50 ft long path to the end of yard ( nothing can grow there anyway except some ivy, so they can run around the yard at super speeds. 

This other beds got invaded with vinca and massive amounts morning glories so a redo had to be done. It's going to stay this way until I recover from surgery in 5 months (I'm good just can't sit normal and movement is limited). Only got as far as the plastic in this one bed to keep the evil invaders from returning next year. Come spring holes will be cut out where a few new plants can be put in and lay down weed cloth like the other bed. No mulch  do to neighbors massive tree leaves that drop all over and our own mess so now the leaf blower can be used for entire yard. Need life easier :)

So the side of the drive had 5 shrubs strangled by neighbors ivy (which THEY LOVE) and had to be removed. After arguments with nasty neighbor over property line which I knew he invaded but it really didn't bother me till now ( neighbor had removed wooden fence 18 years ago but refused to take out the 4x4 wooden post from fence that was in our yard plus a few inches) so we decided to clear it all out and do something different after paying for Another survey. And if you're wondering why bull dozers...well his tree roots were in our yard and prevented us from doing what needed to be done.
Those last 2 arborvitaes near car we thought we could keep but things change.

This is the end result. Unfortunately his ivy will stick to vinyl fencing but it's better than wood. Husband dug a thin trench behind the retaining wall which had to be put in place before the fence and cement. In the 51 foot trench backed by 2x12 wood are stones which we plan to spray with weed killer as often as possible to keep the horrid ivy away from the fence...Any better ideas ? Let me know.
Oh, you should see neighbors ugly dead trees/shrubs on the bottom. If he removed the Ivy and Carolina creeper like we did ...the tops would look half dead.

Ok, on to a positive note , we now have a wider driveway ...Think some tall potted drought resistant plants in the far right corner would be nice. Three pots is a good number and different heights. Thinking of  transplanting some sedum from backyard that never needs watering in one pot. Oh, the reason for drought resistant is because we don't want to get water anywhere near that IVY. Hey, ideas for this would be helpful also. Remember zone 7A