DH and I are moving to the house across the street. It has a fenced in back yard so that my sweet baby, Zackary, (my doggie) has a place to go without us worrying about him wondering off. He has never done that before until recently. I think there are some female dogs around here that have been in heat and he was checking them out. But he is getting older now and I do not want to lose him. He does not understand about cars since he has never had the opportunity to go across the street. He is now 11 years old.
The big thing for me is that there is almost no sun at all in the yard. The back of the house is totally shade because of some huge pine trees. The front is mostly sand that is used as a driveway. I've never seen people park in the yard like that before. There is a driveway but people have always parked in the front yard. So not much landscaping can be done. I guess I will have to find some plants that can grow in the shade for my back yard. I will sit my pots full of plants (the ones I already have) on a table in the front yard.
I am not looking forward to moving all of my plants but I do like the lay out of the house better and my sweet Zackary will have a place to go without wondering off. And the house is only 4 square feet smaller than the house we live in now. And what I really like is that the living room and kitchen are open to one another. Here the kitchen is closed off from the living room and I don't really like that. The bedrooms are about the same size, one for us and one that we use as an office.
The other thing I don't like is that I will have no porch space like I have at this house. I have a lot of hanging baskets that I'm not really sure of where to put them. I guess I will find some where. But I do like that house better for the most part. My DH will need some help moving this time because of my bad knees and back so I guess we will have to hire someone to help him with the heavy things. The boys in the neighborhood have volunteered to help and I need all of the sticks picked up in the back yard before it can be mowed. I told them I would pay them a little something for helping us move and getting things cleaned up.
I guess that is about it. There are positive and negative reasons for moving or staying but I think the positive outweighs the negative. I do not like the kitchen here and I stay out of it as much as possible. I'm looking so forward to having a better kitchen over there. Plus my kitchen floor here is black and it is so depressing. I will have a much nicer kitchen over there.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to me. I really appreciate it.
Jesse
OT but I am moving
Jesse, your new place sounds like heaven and a great place for Zackary to run and play. I love houses that have a more open design especially the kitchens. Hopefully later you can do something about the sand lot and make it plantable..Good Luck and Happy Moving......Lauri
Jesse, good luck! I would hate a depressing kitchen. My sisters kitchen is burgandy walls, not sure about the floor, and black grantie countertops. Its just too dark for me. My kitchen here at the house we rent is huge, and airy, but its done in country blue and white.... I am NOT a country blue person... I like bold colors. The kitchen in the house we want to buy is teeny tiny, but I can brighten it up.... no real windows tho :((
Best of luck to you Hope it is everything you want!
Janis
Hiya Jesse,
I know how you feel about the move.
You can see the good & the bad , that's a good thing.
You can always start a shade garden & all your hanging baskets can go under the tress for shade. If you need to you can cut some limbs to let light threw.
You are creative & I'm sure you will figure it out.
As far as the kitchen...it's sounds like a good thing. I love my new kitchen it has a great counter top that's wonderful for potting plants on...lol
Hugs,
MsC
Jesse~ Some of the most beautiful gardens I know are shade gardens...I love to get books at the library and just look through them for inspiration. As for the sand lot, start collecting pots at salvation army, etc. You can have a really nice garden all in containers as you start to make the soil. Extra bonus is that you can move them around when you get bored with how they look!
We just moved into our house two years ago and had to start the gardens from scratch, too. I also have some health limitations so I can't do much at a time...but I seem to always just start in a little corner and do a bit. Then a bit more...then another corner. Two years later the front yard is starting to look good and the backyard has a veggie garden. And I really can't do much at a time. So you can do it!! Just give yourself lots of time and you will make a garden that you love. And your doggie will be SO happy!
Good luck and best wishes...moving is a hard thing to do :)
Jesse sounds real nice ! 99 percent of our garden beds here are shade some morning sun. But in Florida no plant loves Full sun ~ There are so many shade loving plants !
When we moved down the street last year my plants came last. Hubby just packed them all up in plastic boxes nice and snug taped on lids or we cut large sip lock bags opened them and taped on top, And laundry baskets were filled. He put them all in the van drove down the street brought them into our new home. Put up my stands and lights and on went the plants. It was as easy as can be !
When are you moving ?
Sounds like the yard will be wonderful for your dog and keeping him safe !
Sounds like a good move! :-)
I'm thinking there might be something you can do also with the sunny front side of the house, or are you going to continue to use the area for parking? You could probably put some raised beds around the perimeter, even so... I also had a notion about your hanging baskets, if they're mostly sun plants.... What about putting up some posts and a rail going across them, almost like a high hitching post? You could put it at the end of where you want cars to park, near the house, and hang your baskets from the rail... it would serve to delineate the car parking space without being something people would drive over, especially if the baskets were high enough to clear the hood of a car.
The floor plan of the new house sounds wonderful, and I know you'll like having the fenced back yard. It's amazing how much more spacious and airy those open floor plans feel!
We need pictures! :-)
Yes, I love the floor plan of the house. Lots of open room and that makes me feel not so closed in. And my Zackary will be safe. I'm even going to put in a doggie door so he can go out when we are home. But I will lock it when we are not home since he is a breed that is often stolen. I don't trust people around here. We have already had 3 bikes stolen. But our backyard here is open for anyone to walk through and get anything they want. At the new house everyone on that side has fenced in back yards and a lot of time that deters people from going in your back yard. Also, this time we have a surveillance camera so if anyone messes with anything it will be one camera. This was another one of those trade type payments about two years ago and we put it up but did not have anything recording it at the time. And DH says that the new house has an alarm system too. So that is a plus. But overall, I love that kitchen and living room combination. And there is a back door there for the dog to go out. There is not one here. I'm looking forward to living there, I just hate moving. But if I can find some shade loving plants I think that will be okay. And I will show pictures when I get chance to take some.
Here is a photo of my sweet baby Zackary.
Jesse
Look at that happy grin! Zackary is a handsome boy!
Once you start looking, flipping through catalogues, etc, you'll find there are a lot more plants that grow & even bloom in the shade than you might think.
If you have that much trouble with things being stolen in your neighborhood, I take back my suggestion of finding some way to hang your baskets in the front yard! You'd have to padlock them in place, LOL.
They have not stolen my plants. So I think I'm pretty safe on that. The only thing that they stole was two pink frolwers off of my wondering jew. I was so upset because they don't bloom that often. But I got them over here and told them I had sprayed poison on all of them so they should not touch them. The haven't after that. I have a surprised to show you guys but I was waiting until it was fully open. I will show you soon.
Do you think it would be silly if I hung some of the hanging baskets from the awnig? Put them across the house??
Jesse
Show us a photo of the front of the house, and we'll probably have all sorts of suggestions, LOL!
You may have to be careful about the weight of anything you try to hang off the awning. I'm still thinking some sort of post and crossbar arrangement might work, but I don't know what your front entrance looks like. There will be a way! :-)
Hang in there Jesse. We will be moving in a couple of years. Not looking forward to that. Across the street sound better than across country. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I know you will love the new kitchen.
I liked Jill's ideas about "hitching posts" in the front yard. Your hanging plants would look beautiful. I was wondering about an open fence-like arrangement that you could hang plants on.
Would love to see pictures of the new place.
Jesse we are moving too ! Next door. We just moved here from down the street a year and half ago. Each time getting the homes cheap Hubby has to gut them do new plywood floors do them all over....
The home next door I will have hardly any windows , mostly shade gardens but nothing in Florida likes to grow in Full sun. But our home here is 12 x 48 ft and the one next door is 24 x 56 feet ! My plants will have their own bedroom again ! But the house has hardly any windows, Front of the house is all screen rooms hubby can close in with windows should be good for growing Begonias, Epsicas and more. My Neighbor she died grew her Orchids and many other plants there .
Only bad this is until we sell our home well'll be pinching pennies more as we will have to pay two lots rents two of electric and so on. But we felt it is an offere we can't pass by !
Not looking forward to extra cost,,, Robert just finaly got this home fixed the way we want it..
Moving everything... But once it's done it's done..
Why will you have to pay two rent payments and two electric bills and so on?
Gosh everyone is moving. Keep notes and pass on all the knowledge you receive.
I am going to start getting ready. I think if I do one room at a time we should be ready when it's time to go.
Ick...moving is the biggest most undesirable chore in the world, IMHO!!
Luckily you two aren't moving too far.
My niece moved to an apartment just down the street and moved many things (including her bed!) on a 'kiddie wagon'!!
I agree .....Jesse....a lot of things love to grow in the shade, as long as outdoors.
I put a lot of my hoyas, epiphyllums, gesneriads, brugs, etc....under the apple trees in our front yard, and they really thrive, as the *outdoor* light is much stronger than the *indoor* light.
Hope everything goes smoothly for all of you moving!
Jesse beacause we live in a mobile home park , we own the home but not the lot. Buying the home next door we must totaly gut out and re-do it. Plus we need to sell out home . In the mean time have to pay two of everything.
When we bought our first trailer down the street about 4 years ago Hubby gutted it we did not move in for 4 months. When he bought this one it was 7 months ~~~
Hopefu;y we can get this one sold and other one fixed faster..But it needs everything from New Plywoods floors on....
Sounds as though you've got one ambitious, industrious hubby, Allison!
Wishing you both 'smooth-moves' LOL!
Either that he is crazy lol This is our third trailer we bought ( Cheap) and he did over in less than three years. I enjoy picking out wall border and wallpaper.
This home has three bedrroms, two full bathrooms one right in the masterbedroom. My plants once again will get their own room ! There is I guess two living rooms one smaller about the size we have now then another one twice the size. lots of closets , dinning room off of kitchen. Front screen porch about 24 ft. by 12 ft. very nice after it's all fixed up. I can grow certain plants out there ! And double drive way and nice size shed connected to home with washer , dryer hook up..and another nice size screen room on this side of the home. And it's right next door to our home.
We got a great deal but will take about 3-4 thousand to fix it up...then need to get a roof over down the way .
Now everyone cross your fingers and pray we sell our home fast ! This home is 24 x 56 and the one were living in now is only 12 x 48. It will be awhile before were living in it.
Allison,
Prayers are said for all of you getting new abodes, fingers & toes are crossed...even the Chi's have their tails crossed for you in your new home! It's a shame hubby passed up the job offer in Florida...we could've been neighbors! That would be too much fun...lol
Wow Allison, I know that must be exciting getting all knew stuff. We are going to wallpaper this one. I used to hang wallpaper for a living but not sure how much I am able to do now. But I'm hoping my brains and hubby's strength will get it done. I am so happy for you that you get to decorate a new home. You and your DH sound like you make a great team. I hope you enjoy it.
Jesse
Well Jesse it's not going to be easy.. and doing a little here and there with limit income it will take a year or at least until after we sell out house. God willing we can sell it fast.
The house needs gutting and just the plywood floors will cost over One thousand dollars...that's not putting down, carpet, tiles or such ...first hubby is hoping they come get the rest of their juck out tomorrow or we will have to pay for a pick-up. Then he has to bomb and scrub walls and ceiling and tide with bleach won't make them clean their bad....he has to tear up all carpot, flooring, and dispose of , we have to again pay for pick-up. Then he has to put down all new plywood floors. The home is a 1973 and they did manufactuered homes with particle board in those days does not make sense ...but they did.
All rooms have to be primed and painted.
Frig, stove, and so on bought .... Might sound like a little but it's a lot especialy for my husband's age and health and he works and takes care of me 24/7 .
When it is done it will be nice. If we can just get it liveable now..whew that's a lot of work.
I went in once to see but the house smoke and smell is so bad I could not breath. I won't be back in for a long time....
I don't even like him in there. He threw out all ash-trays full of ciggerettes, threw out all window treatments open all doors and windows. Now the scrubinng
Lot's of prayers needed.
Thanks MsC.. it was a big stem for us exciting and scaery too.
A lot of prayers are being said for you from this way too. And I hope that you and your DH get to enjoy your lives there together in your new home when it is done.
Jesse
Thanks Jesse were hoping we made the correct descion ..but it done can't look back ..lot's of prayers are needed.
Jesse, it sounds like you've found a wonderful place to move to! I know you'll feel better having that fenced yard for your sweet baby to romp and play in. Send us pics of the yard when you get a chance. I'd love to see it!
And one of the things I hate most is the kitchen being in another part of the house from the living room. I feel like I'm locked in the dungeon while everyone else is lounging in the other room! LOL I'll keep you both in my prayers that everything will go smoothly.
Allison, I so hope everything goes well with your move. We've remodeled almost our entire house (that's my husband and me doing all the work), plus remodeled a couple other houses for resale, and made a "play room" out of an unfinished basement at my parents' house, so I know exactly how much work is involved. I sure hope your hubby has someone who can help him with some of the work. I'll keep both of you in my prayers, that your current home will sell quickly, that you will find a good price on all the materials and appliances you'll need, as well as praying for the health of you and your husband. You're such a special person, Allison, and you deserve the nicest home in the world!
Thanks Amy You know this will be the Third trailer in 3 1/4 years hubby has gutted out and totaly did over . And moved us 100 percent only . Not one person ever helped with anything. Oh last time he was bringing in my hospital bed which is mega heavy and the electricina updating our ele. here and on new CHA being installed helped him with my bed. No one ever helped. The first tome I seen him mount in our home down the street one of those big corner cabinnets you know the ones up top with all the sides and turne tables that weigh hundreds of pounds go over your head that kind. I closed my eyes after that one the others were easy.
He has spent many a day in bed and could not even get out of bed to tinkle ,
So lots of prayers are needed believe me.
Bless his heart. He sounds like my husband. He can do, repair, or build anything, and if there's no one to help, he figures out a way to do it by himself. It's very scary sometimes, I know. I worry so much that he'll get hurt, and I know you have the same worries. Rest assured, you'll have lots of prayer help from me.
Hugs to you both...
Okay. I took some photos of my house. It is nothing fancy to look at right now but I'm hoping that in the future it will look much better. It definitely needs some paint and better landscaping but that is a problem. As you will see, most of the front yard is sand. I do not know why people parked their cars there when we have such a nice driveway. I'm open to all ideas that you all might have. I did talk to my landlady and she gave me permission to rip out the bushes that are there and plant some nice flowers. But I'm so new to this that I do not know what to do. Here is a photo of the house.
Jesse
I took the plants that were at the other house and sort of threw them all together in the front of the bushes. I had to do something with them. Here is what that looks like.
Jesse
I was at Walmart today and they had the Kong Coleus at a super buy so I bought 3 of them and some other pretty plants. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. And I found out that my yard gets a lot more sun than I thought. The trees are so tall and all of their lower branches are gone so I do get a lot of sun. Here is what I bought tonight.
Jesse
That's a great collection of colors & textures in those plants!
What a lovely house!! I love the brick. :-) You've got some foundation beds that you can have fun with, especially once you remove the overgrown shrubs on either side of the front porch. I wonder if your landlady would let you put a bit of your rent money into a "curb appeal" project. I'm thinking trellising would work really well with than entryway, either perpendicular to the house to frame in one or both sides of the porch (both sides might create too much of a boxed in feeling, so you might go with railing-height structures), or how about big white trellises against that pretty brick on either side of the door? Whether you planted climbing roses, clematis, jasmine (I think you might be far enough south for confederate jasmine?), or whatever, the trellises could add a lot of archetectural interest.
That front door needs to have more "pow!" to suit your personality.... I just don't see you as a "white walls" person (could be totally wrong, of course!). In fact, once you've changed out the beds to your liking, you might try envisioning a different color for the front door. I don't think you'd need to repaint all the window trim, etc, but another color on the door would really add some punch.... maybe a matching medallion in the center of that peak over the porch, too.
I'm assuming you have no need to use the front yard for parking.... you should take advantage of the sun there! If it was used for parking for a long time, I imagine the ground might be pretty compacted, so I'm not sure how much luck you'd have digging up the sandy area -- although if you were willing to plant and/or reseed, your landlady might spring for getting somebody in with a tractor tiller and a load of leaf mold or compost. (Your landlady might not give a fig for what the front yard looks like, but I figure there's no harm in trying to sell her the idea of a joint venture.)
If it really is that compacted, you'd probably have better luck building up with topsoil. It looks flat enough that you wouldn't need to do anything major in terms of edging materials. If you mulched, you could probably just taper down the edges of the beds and not install any edging materials, maybe dig a little trench to define the outer edge and make mowing easier. You could make a raised bed "island" (or several), or you could do a big bed sweeping from the driveway up to the foundation bed, basically following the contour of the line where the remaining grass ends. I think it's actually an advantage to have a nice big area that you can lay out as you choose without having to worry about trying to dig out sod anywhere you want to put things!
Another option might be to use that area for a collection of containers, which would look stunning, especially with your eye for planting combos. But big containers can get pricey, both for the containers and for the potting mix to fill them, so you might be better off putting in some raised beds. The red brick and white trim has sort of a Georgian look, so if it appeals to you, you could think in terms of a more formal geometric layout of smaller beds with pathways between them... with that compacted sandy stuff, you wouldn't necessarily need to put gravel or anything on the pathways.
Well, how's that for a random collection of midnight suggestions!?! LOL I'm just glad you're moved in and having fun with your new place!
:-)
Jesse
Your home is adorable ! Just you colorful plants and little fencing looks cheery and pretty !
I would for sure see if your landlord would help out $$ as you don't onw the home you want it to look nice but not put in a hugh investment .
It's also good to get cuttings from people too. I know ones people sent me rotted real fast and look so pretty in our Garden Beds... Bob sent me some wonderful ones ! Their all growing in a morning sun shade garden and loving it !
I think you can rake up the front yard good. Maybe put a layer of the organic manua soil it cost about $1.00 40 pound bag at Wal-Mart . use it in our gardens only and all our plants love it. Rake it all down even and buy those large pieces of sod you can do it yourself. You have to water each day for 30 days . All cities I've ever known will allow new sod be watered everyday for the first 30 days. Do you have to cut your own lawn ?
Your so lucky fenced in yard and adorable home ! Good luck and have fun !
I like the house too, Jesse...it looks 'stately'!
I like critterologists's idea of the trellis(es) on one or both sides of the entrance......(wow, critterologist....you do some *good* thinkin' at night!!)
Our house is brick, too, and IMHO anything 'colorful' (like your nice new Coleus collection) really goes nicely with the brick.
Why *do* people park in their yards when not necessary?!
I'm reminded of a house I pass every day on my way to work.
Just 2 or 3 years ago, there was an elderly man living there (he owned it) who had, you could tell, his 'pride and joy' flower garden in front.....beautiful rows and rows of daffodils and tulips each spring.
The man must have moved away or passed on, and the house is now a rental......the people PARK where his lovely flower garden once was......I hope he can't see it!
I can picture it with those doorside bushes yanked, white lattice on either side of the door, and pretty beds between the lattice and the corner bushes. We have a red brick house with white trim, too.
I decided I wanted to picture it other than just in my head, so I've been entertaining myself this evening, LOL...
Here's the house with the existing foundation plants removed (via the magical "clone brush):
You'll have to excuse my drawing, as I am just not that good with the mouse... but this might give you some idea of the way trellises could look on either side of the door. I can't tell how wide that foundation bed is, but if you have the space, you might think about a couple of repeating elements, like a low growing azalea or small leafed rhodedendron under the windows... then fill in with a wonderful hodgepodge of coleus etc.
And this is really random.... but it might get you thinking along the lines of what you could do in front with raised beds in that grass-free sandy area. :-)
There! That should get your creative juices flowing, LOL!
OMG I love what you have done. My DH had to come over to look at it too. I love your ideas. What kind of vine could I put on the trellis that would live year round? Or is that not possible in my zone. I love Morning Glories by they aren't year round I don't think. What do you put in the beds when it gets too cold for the regular summer flowers?
Jesse
I'm glad I could give you a start! Having something interesting to look at year round is why I suggested something like the small-leafed rhodis, which are evergreen but have a different texture than juniper etc... what are the plants at the corner of the house? are they evergreen?
One of the cool things about a trellis is that it adds archetectural interest even if the plant climbing it dies back in the winter... in summer, you'll see mostly green leaves & flowers against the brick, and in winter you'll have the white of the trellis. So you could do morning glories or clematis... actually I think MGs or one of the clematis that dies back to the ground in winter might give you a cleaner look than a climbing rose that loses its leaves and looks "dead" in winter, but grow what appeals to you! You're a zone warmer than me, so you might have some evergreen options... I would post over in the vines & climbers forum to see what people might be able to suggest for your zone... I just looked up Jasmine in PF and found a "Carolina Yellow Jasmine" that is hardy in your area, evergreen, and fragrant to boot... might even work in combination with some blue morning glories... http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1262/index.html