Topiary is the final touch

Whilst I was away yesterday, apparently the landscapers added the topiary to our plot, thus completing their efforts. The grass has grown in nicely. Now we just sit back and wait two years for it to really look done. *looks impatiently at wristwatch.*

Landscaping in front yard, and thoughts on landscape architects

Getting to the point where there is new landscaping in our front yard was not without its agonies. Our arborist recommended Birch Hill Landscaping, but it turns out they were just not a good match for me. We should have stopped going down that path this spring when the exchanges to figure out what we wanted were a real drag: we'd ask questions, they'd answer cursorily, we'd make proposals, they seemed impatient with our lack of rush to nail everything down. They provided little detail at any stage until we asked for it. It wasn't the fun process that planning a garden could be. No doubt they have customers who prefer to leave everything to them, and the customers are happy, and they are happy. We were not those happy customers. They were not the happy service provider.

And then when we finally got it all squared away, we had a misunderstanding regarding the stump removal that needed to happen before they could do their work. It was my mistake, but their communications played a role in my making the mistake, and they were not gracious about that.

So the landscaping is finally in. It looks good, I think, but how much instruction did we get about what the plants are, and how to take care of them? None.

I guess it was a good lesson in choosing a landscaper for future projects: we need someone pleasant; someone who enjoys having a detailed discussion about options; someone who presents lots of information up front (cost breakdowns, design plans, relevant photos of their past work, communications about next steps); and someone who shares my aesthetic preferences (types of plants, European style).

Recall that after the trees were chopped down, this is what we were left with in early May

On Sep. 8, the area had been cleared but for the stump, including where there was previously grass on the right.

This is what it looked like after stump removal

Here, they've put in the rocks

And this is the final product, minus the topiary (still to come) where the red flag is. 

Rocks

In preparation to put rocks in our redesigned front plot, they piled the rocks up closer to the house, and even though it was haphazard, I found myself liking the way the rocks looked! Something to keep in mind for future landscaping.

Blurry bird photos, hooray

I know, I know, these are terrible pictures. But I think I have finally satisfied myself as to the identity of that wretched brown bird that shows up occasionally, jerks around like it's experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and then flies away before I can get a good look at it: I am pretty sure it is a Carolina Wren. That bird has been my Moby Dick for quite some time.

And I believe these are Tufted, um, Titmice? Titmouses? Best name ever, either way?

Garden happenings

So much catching up to do. So little time.

Remember this?

Now it looks like this! Still love brachyscome. One of them failed on the other side of the steps, but they've had a lot of dryness to overcome.

And remember the lantana?

Again, another winner. I wonder if I could grow both of those from seed?

Cutting back the lavender (and wormwood) in the spring was brilliant. Might be even better if I did it in fall.

And then we have our back plot, back in May:

And today:

I did eventually put in threadleaf coreopsis (Moonbeam) but it just didn't make it. It's okay, because I found it more straggly than I would have liked anyway. Next year, I need something else to fill those spots. Check out the wormwood, spilling over! The ageratum did better here than in the front, but still not great. I am not sure what's going on with the asters - they already did a very, very few blooms earlier this summer, and now?? They look healthy enough, but don't look on the verge of blooming - I can't remember when they were supposed to bloom. Something has been eating holes in the lungwort since Day 1 but they seem to be thriving anyway.

Today I cut the forsythia behind the back yard's middle tree back to almost nothing, since the darned thing barely bloomed this year or last. Life's too short for forsythia that doesn't bloom.

A couple weeks ago I donned a paper suit (genius, really) and rubber gloves and cleared the property of poison ivy. There was quite a bit.

The mosquitoes are bad this year, despite the overall dryness. I suspect the neighbors' oft-still fountain as a main source. How does one break it to one's neighbors that their fountain is so vexing?

Emma and I went today to Durand-Hedden garden, which is VERY small but cute. I loved this arbor with gourds dangling from it.

And maybe I need to plant this plant:

What else...I eventually put four poppies from seed into the front, and only one of them has made it - perhaps too dry, perhaps soil too poor. The basil I grew this year had leaves too small. The thyme has been very robust.

I think the front yard could stand to get more herbs as annuals. Both practical and pretty, not to mention deer-proof.

We hired Mackinson Turf Mgmnt to deal with crazy clover and other weeds. They have sprayed once so far. Clover died right away. Everything else, not so much.

The laurels in front of the house that I cut back in early summer are, as hoped, growing leaves from their bases.

We have finally settled on a plan with Birch Hill Landscaping to redo the front, where the trees came out. Just waiting for them to get started. Absurdly expensive. Don't like to think about it.

Remember my lavender seeds, in the fridge in April or thereabouts? Still in the fridge. Whoops.

The portulaca I planted in May (from seedlings) in front did great, and even my late-sown portulaca seeds came up energetically. Definitely a winner; I want more in the front next year.

Garden happenings

Back on May 12, I took pictures of what I think are all Spanish bluebells (though they could have been the "mystery" lily I got for free when I ordered bulbs).

Around the same time, there were lots of baby chipmunks around. They weren't much smaller than the adult chipmunks, but they seemed a little less savvy than their elders, somehow, and they would sometimes poke their heads from a hole in bunches of two or three!

On May 16, I used Pat's camera to get elusive photos of a magnolia warbler.

And today, I got a terrible picture (more my style) of a Baltimore oriole.

Here we showcase both a lovely butterfly and the rhododendrons in full swing.

Plants in the back plot at last!

I finally made the time to get plants (from Williams Nursery in Westfield, where Linda Williams very kindly picked out specimens for me before I arrived) and put them in the back plot per my design! The biggest hitch was that while my design had called for nine lungwort plants, they were a shocking $20 each (quite large, and messy-looking), so I cut back to three and put in some perennial forget-me-nots and dead nettles instead.

Note that the plan above is from the opposite perspective of the photo below - picture sitting on the chairs in the photo, and sketching the plan. So, for example, lungwort is on the right in the plan, but the left in the photo.

Light-colored plant in foreground is wormwood. Small plants are ageratum. 2 plants with pink flowers in foreground is forget-me-not. Large green-leafed plants at back of plot are asters. You can't really see the dead nettles or lungwort behind the topiary.

Also, Williams did not have moonbeam threadleaf coreopsis in stock, so there are a few gaps yet to be filled. And, as anticipated, I'll need to wait till fall to add the ornamental onion, because those are bulbs.

On right, lungwort. Dead nettles visible between the asters.

I also got some brachscome (it did so well last year), portulaca, and lantana to fill in some gaps in the front, and some ageratum left over from the back plot went there too.

Ageratum, Spanish bluebells (from planting last fall), and brachyscome.

Brachyscome, next to what's left of the daffodil leaves.

Portulaca (between last year's wormwood and daffodil leaves)

Lantana, nestled below the peonies along with lavender.

Finally, digging in the front, I turned up this guy:

Friends enlightened me that Catholics may bury St. Joseph (upside down, facing the house) in front of their home to speed its sale! Who knows how long he was buried, since we believe neither of the last two sets of owners were Catholics.