Even MORE renovations

On the east side of the house, there is a small garden bed that was once full of lovely plants. Pampas Grass, Rhodies of all colors, Honeysuckle and small Red Cedar trees (which is the trademark of the Northwest). And in it's day, when it was first planted, I have no doubt that it was lovely.

However, it now looks like this: The cedars are growing so fast and so big that they are starting to overtake the side of the house. A willow tree also decided to set down roots right next to the cedars. The pampas grass was overthrown by regular grass and the honeysuckle, sadly, met it's demise by another who's name shall not be mentioned.
Not only were the essential plants being covered but to have a cedar growing that close to a house - let alone EIGHT cedars - is not a great idea. They do tend to tip over during a storm. They don't allow any light during the winter months for natural heating. There were just too many of them.

After much deliberation, we decided that the whole entire area had to be cleaned out and the trees taken down. This job was going to be too big for just the two of us when we only have maybe one, sometimes two days a week to work on the yard. And when you have five acres, maintenance is ongoing.

Mario to the rescue! Thomas (again with craigslist) found Mario and his crew to come and help us out.

And now it looks like this:Now I can plant more rhodies in more colors in that bed as well as pampas grass.

To be clear, I am a huge fan of trees and like to plant them all over the place, but I also know when a tree needs to come down. The kids were quite upset about the loss of the cedars but I have vowed to replant more trees to replace the ones gone. Especially down the fence line to cover up the monstrosity that was built next door; THAT will be a pleasure.

Another job crossed off the list. Only ..... 30 more to do. Yeah!