front yard, i challenge thee!

Ah, the front yard. It is a challenge, having a garden that big. Especially one that hasn't been really renovated for quite a while. I think, as much as I was alarmed at some of the things that happened in that garden this past summer, it was a good idea for us to let it grow and see what came up. I have a much better idea of where I want to go with it now.

The main issue for me, aside from the periwinkle and excessively happy euphorbia, is the cedar tree. It is kind of stuck there like a giant phallis. Okay, it might not be quite that bad, but it's definitely out of place. Part of the challenge is going to be incorporating it, because I'm pretty sure it's not coming out. It's big enough to have a sizeable stump at this point.

I think I'm going to surround it with other shrubs, maybe a small tree. I was thinking a witch hazel, but fish wasn't so sure about that idea. Whatever it is, we need to get it in there soon-ish. If not this year, then next. I am going to turn that corner into a little shrubby, sheltered area for the birdbath.

The spirea is coming out too. I don't like it. It's too bland.

The other big change we're making this year is taking the hostas out and putting some of the backyard grass up in the front. The hostas were lovely in the spring, but by late June they were getting burned, and by August they were really struggling. They're lovely hostas, big and sunny green, so I'd like to keep them.

Those asclepias are going to go in the front corner, where out of desperation I planted nasturtium that promptly took off like wildfire. That may say something about how hot and dry it is in that little corner. The lavender we were given last year grew like crazy, too, despite being planted up there in a dry spell in mid-July. If it keeps it up, it might give the periwinkle a run for its money.

Anyway. I have been scheming this winter, as part of my staying-sane-therapy, and here is the result:

Surprisingly enough, that is the product of several hours of work. Sigh. And it will take years to turn out the way I picture it, and I'm not fool enough to think that it will ever look as neat as I plan. Still. It has been good fun, and a good distraction... and it gives me guidelines to go on.