I thought it might be neat to have a Before and After thread for gardening projects.
I've been trying to get some hedges back under control lately so here is one of mine. This is the back portion of the west side of my house. Unfortunately the before photo does show the pampas in the back corner that I have finally gotten out.
I pruned the photinias back by about half so now the laurel has some breathing room and I can acutally see out of the windows on that side of the house LOL
The empty spot along the fence is where the pampas was until yesterday
what a differenc a little trimming makes!
I will contribute to the before and after thread, when I have an after to show for LOL
Ok this one of the patio was taken in April.
And this one was last week. There is still a lot to do but even I had forgotten how far we have come!
oh how nice!
Okus, great transformation! But I hafta ask....has that man been sitting on the porch the entire time?!?! ;-) LOL
-Julie
PvillePlanter, I really should get some things trimmed too. But my DH nearly has heart failure everytime he goes into the garden and sees something I've had my sheers or clippers at LOL And I just cut off several lower branches off of our largest tree because they were nearly touching the chrysanthemums in the bed below LOL! I think I need to wait a while til DH recovers from that before I go whacking at anything else ;-)
-Julie
Julie,
I have to wonder if that is a man thing. My DH is the same way. I have shrubs that cover windows completely, are trying to grow thru the eaves of the house, and a huge tree limb that is using the fence as a chin rest and he's says they are fine just like they are. But let the grass grow an inch and he revs up that lawnmower like he is responding to an EMS call...LOL.....go figure!
Hi Salvia- Lover - Thanks, the man on the porch is DH, he stops for fairly frequent rest breaks as you can see, but does move occasionally!
Heck! I had some before and after pictures I was going to post (you are right - I am becoming a picture monster). I looked and looked for them, then realized they must have been on my computer before I had the total crash and lost everything I had. I sure learned to make backups on an external drive.
LOL Julie! I was going to ask Okus the same thing! It looks like it was all just built around him. Beautifully done I might add.
Why thank- you for those kind words about our efforts. The really big effort doesn't show at all though, there is 100 feet of french drain running from side to side across the yard - all dug by hand in solid Texas clay in late June at that!!
I have just noticed, I have several interim pictures and DH is in the same place in all of them!!! LOL
It has to be said though, that so am I, behind the camera. Must be that I take my pics at coffee break time!
I should have taken pics of the scheffelera that was taking the whole side of my house before I trimmed it! There are two hibiscus trees and the scheff and you couldn't see one whole side of my house because they were huge!
P'villePlanter, It looks a lot neater after trimming the shrubs back.
Oakus, I love your new patio. My front walkway has a circle just like that, it has a BOP in the middle.
Calalily, please what is a BOP? That picture is the back of our place, the HOA would have a fit if we did things like that in front!!!!!
BOP is Bird of Paradise. Does anyone know if I'm supposed to chope those things back? They are still blooming.
I think only if too large. A couple of mine had individual stems cut back yestreday to get into GH.I'll know next year if it was a good idea. I don't recall seeing anything other than dividing when they get too large. This is smaller one when in bloom in August.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larrystropicals/album?.dir=/3bef
This message was edited Nov 23, 2004 8:14 AM
I love those but I don't think they would do well quite this far North would they?
They are beautiful. Considering as few blooms as I get, I am beginning to question whether they are worth the trouble of taking them into house or GH each year for winter protection . Mine were 8-10' tall this year. I guess foliage is so striking, I'll keep one of Blue and one White. The rest, I am going to plant in Spring and see how well they can take our mild winters. Hope this helps.
Larry, have you seen the white one bloom? My neighbor has a huge one and the flowers are so pretty. The previous owners of our house cut the white ones back to the ground, they are growing again but it will be a while before they flower.
