It is safe to say that the pandemic threw my 101 in 1001 days goals out the window. Most of my goals were travel and experience related so I will be playing a lot of catch up once vaccinated and approved to roam the streets again! Thanks to coronavirus, I turned my attention to internal pursuits. It doesn't get much "closer to home" than actually purchasing a home - which is what we did last summer.
Much of the last seven months or so have been spent buying, renovating, and decorating our new home. I wasn't entirely sure what I was in for when we decided to go for a fixer upper. The rose-colored glasses were fully on and I expected it to be a bit more like some entertaining HGTV venture rather than the stressful, expensive mess that it turned out to be. I know, I was naive. Nonetheless, we are grateful to be in a home that is ours and we are slowly chipping away at repairs and updates that need to be done.
It has been an abnormally cold winter - there have been multiple chances for snow - and this Southerner has been looking forward to Spring. In preparation for the warmer months ahead, I have started planning changes to the garden and overall landscaping on the property. The prospect of having my very own rose garden is what I was most looking forward to in home-ownership! So, I thought I would share some of my plans here.
Late March:
- Previous owners built a few raised beds in a particularly sunny spot in the backyard. The owners before us let them fall into disrepair and they have been overtaken by mint (as it is wont to do). We are going to deconstruct the old raised beds and pull up all of the mint.
- Our neighbors to one side have fencing separating our properties but on the other side lives an overgrown and patchy hedge of holly trees and miscellaneous shrubs. We need to trim back the trees and shrubs, and potentially install some sort of more private border between our properties.
- In the front yard, we plan to pull up dead rose bushes and generally just clean up existing shrubbery. Our neighbor's beautiful magnolia is growing above our driveway a bit so we will plan to trim that back as well.
Early April:
- We have a small deck on the back of the house which desperately needs tending to. We are going to powerwash the deck and the driveway - I am probably most excited about this. Afterwards, we will reseal the deck.
- If I can get my hands on some, I'd like to plant camellia bushes along the front of the house. There are a couple camellias already there but I'd like to fill them out. Perhaps some hydrangeas as well.
- We need a new mailbox (the existing one is sadly drooping into the street). After the new one is installed, I would like to plant some rosemary bushes around it. I absolutely love the smell of rosemary. I hope our postman doesn't mind it!
Late April:
- I plan to repot an ivy plant and start forcing it to grow around iron railing off the stairs next to the back deck.
- We need to purchase a few ferns to place around the deck. Theoretically ferns will last through the winter and start growing again in the Spring but I've had no luck with mine. Thankfully, they last all summer and into fall here so buying new ones every year isn't a total waste.
- Lastly, we'd like to construct new raised beds, starting with a small one for an herb garden closer to the house. Since we just moved into the house last October and have been busy with major renovations, we didn't have time to start seeds or prepare the raised beds in time for vegetable gardening. Fingers crossed for next year! This year, we can make due with planting established herb plants such as basil and lemon verbena to get us through the summer.