IT DOESN'T GET MUCH WORSE THAN THIS

Yesterday we were walking to a nearby neighborhood event and took a new route . The street was lined with beautiful homes but the frontyards were beyond belief. My mouth was hanging open for a few blocks.

For the life of me I couldn't even begin to imagine why a homeowner in a nice neighborhood doesn't give a thought to how their public face looks.

I didn't have my digital camera with me so I used my cell phone. I was surprised that the photos came out as well as they did.

An apparent need to obliterate the house ?

A house hugger

This is not Iowa people !

Fake flowers among the real . Who are you kidding?

This frontyard was the worse I've ever seen. It was packed to the gills with everything imaginable. There was even a kitchen sink. Oh, and a big fat fake snake dangling from a tree !

I'd like to be the garden czar for this new administration. I'd issue tickets to homeowners with bad landscapes and make so much revenue we wouldn't need a bailout. Honestly, if bad taste were a crime, the homeowners on this block would be wanted in every state in the U.S. of A!

FALL GARDEN MAKEOVER

Before

After

Carex buchmananii, or Fox Red Curly Sedge

The shortest summer in a century has passed by very quickly and an early cool Fall has arrived. It seems like only yesterday that I had 50 Spring Flingers visit my garden on May 31. The newly planted bed ( photo 1 above ) filled in very quickly and while it looks pretty good, pretty good is not good enough for me.

This was my first experience with Fox Red Curly Sedge which I fell in love with and planted two in the new bed. I think that the other plants overwhelmed the sedges and that they needed their very own space to appreciate their special qualities so I moved them to the front of the beds. I like them much better now that I can see their full beauty.

The two Walker's Low Catmint that I planted this Spring seemed a little lost so I transplanted them toward the front .

I divided phlox, blackeyed susans and sedums and planted them at the back of the border. Once the annuals expire I will plant Spring bulbs in their spaces.

And that's just the back border. The front garden borders need attention as well. A gardener's work is never done.