What do you see when you look out your front window?

When Louisa and I were talking last night (only last night? Time sure flies!) she said she would love to know. So would I. Here goes:

From my downstairs front window, I see a perennial garden with trees (weeping hemlock and weeping cherry and magnolia)in the way of seeing much else. I can't even see my roses!OK, upstairs.

From the upstairs front window, I see a whole bunch of houses; mostly surrounded by grass lawns. Lots and lots of trees, too much in the way to see more than about 30 yards in any direction. The trees are mostly silver maples; some oak, hickory, a few hawthorn and American elm.

From the back upstairs window, I see more of the same: lots of trees (few silver maples visible from the back, though)

I will go over to a bridge where I can get above the tree level. OK, now I see the skyline of the city. There are two rivers north that join about downtown. Lots and lots of creeks feeding into the rivers, but very flat country all around. Looking at the city I see mostly concrete. Looking away from the city I see mostly suburban houses surrounded by green lawns and trees.

What do you see when you look out your windows? Trees? Mountains? A city? Help us see the world -- not with maps, but with gardeners' eyes.

From the front of the house, I see rolling hills, with pastureland, soybeans that are being harvasted, hayfields, trees on the far hill and can barely make out our neighbors house about 1/2 mile down the road. On the west side I have a garden, beyond that more pastureland. On the east side are my main gardens, our barn and barnlot. More pastureland and a graveyard beside the church. On the back of the house are 3 gardens, 2 garages, a barbwire fence, cows in pastureland, cornfields, a silo, and more hills.

Well thank you for the tour Kathy and for the lovely picture. I take it that's the front of your house!! Well now lets see. From the back of our house I can see our woods with all the native trees, including dogwoods, oaks, maples, tulip trees, and birch. This is where the birds feed and drink and where the deer come visiting too. The same view to all sides of the house except to the front which faces south/west and from here and my bedroom window I can see a few trees with the rolling land opposite which leads to the lake. What you can't see are the mountains, not on this picture because they are to our North. A few houses are visible, not many but if I walk onto the road I can see nearly all of them on my street. We are well into the country so the concrete is not visible at all!! :-)

I hope the tour of my yard will change alot next year. Now, when I look out the front door, I see piles of topsoil. I can't look out my bay window, since it's not in and still has house wrap over it. When I look out my back patio doors, I see more piles of topsoil. LOL! That's not all bad I guess. At least we were smart enough to pile the topsoil up and save it rather than mixing it with the rest of the gunk that we dug up later.

I hope to have a better view by next summer, and an even better one the summer after.

Well when I look out my front window I see my neighbors house. lol but in my yard I see mums and asters and some snapdragons a few odd daylilies that decided it was time to bloom again , forget me nots some cosmos and a lot of shrubs that need to be trimmed and a front door that needs replaced..... oppps better get back to the pretty stuff. lol Really my yard looks great right now with all the rain things I thought was gone have come back to life. But then most of my garden is my back yard I don't have much in the front yard that is not maintenance free.

Joan you did good to keep your topsoil. The builders took ours away and probably sold it. Two day's ago we had to haul in a truck load!!

When I look out any of my windows,I see my reflection. Heavens; the thought of that!
What a scary thougt that is

This message was edited Friday, Oct 18th 7:57 AM

My house sets sideways to the road so im not sure which ways front!!! ;]
I can see trees and the road or trees and the pool,the barn,tractors and cars!
But right now i cant see past the plants in either of the windows!

lol Dori and Coco!!

My house is in a very small pocket that was once part of a larger, older and more dignified neighborhood. Now cut off by 4 lane roads, dead end streets, and commercial buildings, we enjoy a bit of isolation in this small city. Feels like being on the edge of the farmlands if one can ignore the sounds of truck taffic, which now just seem like white noise to me. I even hear a nearby rooster crowing every morning (and the 7:10 train whistle, LOL) but we're just 4-5 miles from the heart of downtown Asheville.

Out of my front LR windows or door (that also needs replacing!) I see my front perennial beds flanking the concrete sidewalk (that has a couple of breaks from frost heaves). Still in bloom are copious amounts of red dahlias, yellow snapdragons, a few blooms still on the purple butterfly bush.. and I see a huge pile of composted manure waiting to be applied and dug into the beds.

The red twig dogwood is just beginning to lose the leaves that will let the wonderful red stems shine out against the landscape in the winter, and the same with the Harry Lauder's Walking Stick. Craning my neck off to the right I can peek between my very tall cedar tree clump on the corner and the house diagionally across the street, and see the nearby mountains on the hazy horizon...

Past the front perennial beds, I see the privet hedge that needs another trim before frost, the narrow composite asphalt street, and the triangular shaped vacant lot across the street. That treed lot is edged by a band of yellow locust trees, now dressed in the vibrant fall reds of the poison ivy climbing into them, and a couple of very mature oaks scattered in the lot... we (myself, and the 3 adjacent neighbors) all use the center of the lot for overflow guest parking.

Fortunately the lot is there, vacant and overgrown, because beyond the lot and across the side street is a several acre milk processing plant and always a bunch of 18-wheel tractor-trailers waiting.

Looking out the back, it is delightfully bare of seen buildings, as the back lot line is ringed with tall pines and another wooded vacant lot beyind them. I just see my 2 very tall oaks and the woodland shade garden I am building.

I like it here, even if it is not my ideal site. :)

I can't see out through the dirty windows...

We have too many windows :} But from all I see snow and dead plants. Cool.

I see two pear trees that have lost almost all their leaves, and a lilac that still has green leaves. Below them is an asortment of sweet william going to seed, dusty miller, the poor little pink argeratums that were never happy there, and some yellow daisy thing with leaves like corieopsis giving me the last few blooms it can muster. Some invasive blue bell shaped flower that likes shade and mounds of violets are next to the front trellis, and a day lily that is going to be dug up and replaced with a honeysuckle to climb on the trellis. Along the walk are clumps of alyssum, white and still in bloom. There is a jumble of invasive soapwart that goes into the corner of the rail fence and runs into another lilac bush. Behind that next to the rail fence is a peony that looks tired, the leaves are getting yellow. Beyond the fence is our parking/turn around area and a row of lilacs on the right side of that, a barbed wire pasture fence behind them with horses eating their hay. Beyond the parking area where my stock trailer sits on the far side is the neighbor's hayfield which doulbles as pasture for sheep or cattle in spring and fall, (it has cattle now with little calves) and in the distance the tops of cottonwood trees that surround the neighbor's house. Behind them are some sagebrush covered hills starting about 1 mile away, then foothills covered with evergreen trees that look bluish in the distance. At a distance of about 20 miles is a long ridge of the Wallowa Mountain range, several mountains all stuck together that are all in the 8 to 9000 foot range. They have had new snow on them in the last 2 weeks but our recent sunny days have melted all of it so there are only the rocks now. Then lots of blue sky. Out the back beyond the porch railing is a flower bed with lots of iris and a variety of other things including a patch of a 2 foot tall wild dusty miller type that is way too big. An elm tree is next to the the rail fence that separates the yard from the horse pasture, and beyond the small pasture is another larger one with rolling hills. In late summer and fall everything grassy turns yellow since the irrigation water only lasts until mid July, and we seldom have any rain. We have a stock pond down there about 1/4 mile from the house. Beyond that is rangeland with sagebrush on the hills. The Keating valley is below that and we can see hayfields with irrigation lines looking silvery in the sunlight, (they are on a different irrigation system or have irrigation wells) then beyond them more sagebrush hills for miles and miles and miles, then sky, usually blue. To the right of them is one house on a hill, it is about 10 miles away and has some trees around it. That is so far away we can just tell there is something different there so we get a better look with the binocculars. The background on that side is another ridge of mountains, the Elkhorns, their forested slopes reach down to the Baker valley floor which is out of our sight. They are in the 7 to 8000 foot range, and blue sky behind them. The Elkhorn Mountains are about 20 miles away. We really enjoy our view, we can see a few houses in the Keating valley but none closer that about 5 miles away, and a couple of roads in the distance. Except for the county road we do not have traffic noise unless the wind brings it to us from a highway we cannot see. I hope you enjoyed the view from my place.

Mary I always love a trip to your house!
Psssssss.... you forgot to tell them about the eagles! ;]

Interesting question. CoCo you are hilarious.

From my LR window I see the street. In another neighborhood this would be a cul de sac, here it's a dead end street. I live at the very end. There's my neighbor's houses and cars. My little green fence and a tiny piece of my tiny garden with my lilac at the end. And a small American flag on my fence.

Water, lots and lots of water

CoCo, I also love your answers. With all that water out there, you should be able to get a clearer view now? *grin* Helping to wash away the dust from the drought.

Mary, your tour was spectacular. I love "being there" beside you as you describe your part of paradise.

Evert, what happened to your heathers? They didn't die did they? Brrr, I don't want to look at snow surrounding my in October (or January either for that matter :D

Elsie, being at the end of a dead end street beats being at the very beginning of a subdivision, as I am. No traffic zooming past all hours of the day and night.

Darius, I love the way you describe your area. If it isn't your ideal situation, you have certainly made the best of a second choice! It sounds lovely.

Joan, you certainly did the right thing saving all your top soil! Our back yard was left in virgin woodland soil; our front yard was the dreaded mixture of top/subsoil mix that turned into very deep hardpan. The back yard is wonderful (if clay is wonderful), the front yard has been a nightmare to try to landscape. But it is finally coming around. You have saved yourself an enormous amount of hard work, Joan.

Debbie, having all that open land around you gives you some incredible sunrises/sunsets. When I used to drive across country, I always loved napping in Kansas and waking up to see the sunrise. I never got to see the sunset there, but your wonderful descriptions make it easier to picture.

Louisa, your surrounding area is one of my favorites. I used to drive over to Richmond sometimes, and really, really, really loved driving through the Charlottesville area. Even better than watching the Waltons used to show.

Dori, climb on the roof and tell us what you see up there (in imagining only -- or if you do get up there: BE CAREFUL! HANG ON! LOL) My front windows are also kind of obstructed by trees, but I cleared away the foundation bushes a few years ago, so I get lots of light, or would, if the curtains and shades and blinds weren't there. When those are opened, beautiful views of flowers in the winter. Yes, winter-flowering annuals and perennials and bulbs. They make all the difference to someone who can only dream about warmth.

Who is next to show off their yard and part of heaven?

Our heathers are still doing fine. We will get warm weather in Wednesday-Thursday, +3 to +7 C, so all snow will melt. It has started already.

What did I say ;)

Lupinelover you are probably right. Unfortunatly I have a neighbor who doesn't seem to be able to make a right turn into her driveway. She drives past her house and around the dead end to park in front of her house. Two years ago she drove straight into my fence and then backed into my car. She then drove into her driveway and drove straight into her shed, backed up and drove into her steps. Lucky for me she only scratched my bumper. She had to pay to get my fence fixed. Since she did so much damage to her car she didn't think she should pay for my fence. She's a loon and every time I hear her car I cringe. Other than that and the highway in the back, it's quite peaceful

Wow elsie! Does she have a drinking problem? You had me laughing out loud! Although I'm sure it wasn't funny for you, it's just that the retelling is so comical!
What do I see out my front window? Some left over perennials that haven't been destroyed by our digging. (lifted the old sandstone sidewalks that were heaved by large roots from an old (now gone) treelawn tree.
Across the street, there are modest but neat houses filled with nice neighbors. Their front yards are semi-manicured with neat lawns, shrubs and flowers. Now there are Halloween and Fall decorations. The treelawns have beautiful red maples. I see young boys playing tag. Two pre-teen girls babysitting a toddler on the front porch. Jack and Felix, the resident cats basking in the evening sun. I guess beauty can be found in just about any locale.

Celia you are right, when it happened it was scary. It happened close to midnight and I went outside, I actually was afraid she might hit me. She couldn't even get the key out of the car - I helped her (stupid me). Her son said she was on medication, I have no idea why she was driving. Now it is a funny story - to have watched her it all those large things - I really didn't think it was possible.

Let me give you an English perspective. Out of my downstairs bay window which is at the front I can see the houses opposite,we live in aquiet road though, so there's no cars at present.My miscanthus are swaying in the wind outside, I've just had to go and try to tie them back a bit as with all this wind and rain they've flopped over the pavement.The rest of the plants are toppled and starting to die down, it looks a bit of a mess!!But the trees in the road are a lovely autumn colour, especially the one outside my house,it's a real bright orange.Out of my upstairs bay window,I'm afraid that most of what I can see is my climbing rose covering half ,and a clematis creeping the other way!there are still a few roses on it, but they're looking a bit battered.It all need pruning, but I can't manage it,so I have to wait for hubby to do it,and I just know he'll massacre it :-I look out over the town of Weymouth, and can see the Isle of Portland through the gaps.(If I stand on tipee toe I can see the sea through the roofs)Out the back is much better, Behind us we have the Ridgeway, a range of chalk hills.The garden is still very green,if a bit battered. A stags horn is glowing in it's autumn colours, the hips on some of my roses are starting to colour up.The birds are all flocking around my feeders, squabbling and fighting with each other,the leaves of the clematis montanas are falling off in bucket loads,all over my patio,another job to do!But in the background I can see the next lot of black clouds loomimg ,we've got very, very heavy rain showers this morning !!!

managed to get camera working so I just took these

this is the back view,( not sure how to put more than one photo per thread :-)

We have an open field and woods out front and the view is generally deer (big bucks), turkey and an occasional fox.

The view out the back is of gardens, decks and the "stray cats"!