In the Beginning ...

We purchased our first house at the end of October, 2005. This is the photograph of the house that was posted on Craig's List when it was first listed for sale. Although the previous owners had worked hard to transform the interior of this boring 60's ranch into a more modern living space, the landscaping was still in need of some updating. For starters, the front beds were horribly overgrown, under nourished, and just plain ugly.

The left bed consisted of four bushes; two dying azaleas and two overgrown, nutrient-sucking behemeth bushes that had grown together to form one lima bean shaped lump. The right bed consisted of no less than 6 bushes of various types, planted at inconsistent distances from each other and from the front and back of the bed, giving an overall disheveled appearance. To add to the eye sore, various types of monkey (mondo) grass were planted here and there in the same bed. It was apparent that our first order of business would be to replace these plants with something more tailored and hopefully colorful.

I have always been a big fan of the classic types of bulbs; tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, etc..., so we would also need a flower bed of some sort in the front of the house. Since we have a nice view of the front yard from the large bay window in the living room, it would be great if we could see the flower bed from our couch, and even enjoy the scent of flowers from an open window. I purchased close to 200 daffodil, tulip and hyacinth bulbs in November 2005 and planted them in pots in hopes of transplanting them in the Spring. I stored them on the back porch where they would remain cool and get limited sunlight. We did not want to rush our landscaping plans, and since we were very busy with moving and unpacking, there was no way for us to plan out the flower bed and have it appropriately prepared before the first frost, so I would have to take my chances with transplanting the bulbs in Spring.

There was an old deteriorating flower box on the far left of the house that would also need replacing. The new one would be deeper to accommodate the daffodils and tulips. The construction of the flower box seemed simple enough to imitate, so this should be a relatively easy job. Matching the burgundy paint might be a little more difficult though.