Garden: The Monster on the Other Side of the Street

The die was cast about fifteen years ago when my neighbor Jean decided to forego regular maintenance on her modest, mid-century home.  So it was probably inevitable that, last year, she sold her home to one of those developers who post "Cash for Ugly Houses" signs on telephone poles and bus shelters.  No one knew that she was going to sell her home and, as far as we know, it never went on the market.  As her neighbors, the first sign we had that something was afoot was a 1-800-GOT JUNK truck pulled up out front, closely followed by a team of surveyors who scouted out the property boundary markers.  It was pretty obvious what was going to go down and it was Jean's house.

Jean's house bites the dust.

Fast forward to today, when the new monstrosity goes on the housing market.  I view the new house with more equanimity than most.  Although I feel crowded by it and rue the loss of the view of morning sunrises, it is not looming over my home as it does its immediate neighbors.   But it is painful to look upon it and to reflect on the poor design, the missed opportunities, and the builder's failures to make the most of the architecture and the "landscape".  I could go on and on (and, in fact, I have--to whomever would listen) about the lack of thought that went into the design of the sides of the home, the bilaterally mis-matched windows, the inclusion of the gimpy bathroom windows which completely ruin the appearance of the facade, the poor design of the enclosed roof-top deck, the (to my mind) incorrectly built stoop, the unlivable floor plan, and the complete failure to honor the "paperclip" design motif--but I won't.  Today, I want to focus on the failures of the "landscaping".  It's just so bad.  And the coup de grace is that I overheard the landscaper and the builder in discussions and one said, "Well, it's all going to die anyway, but it looks good now." And the other one said, "And that's what's important, isn't it?!"  Enough said!  Well, maybe not.  Judge for yourself if it looks "good" now.

This is the new house in all its glory.  The planting on the left includes a small maple, a pieris, and a cordyline or dracaena of some sort,  On the right there's a weeping pussy willow planted about six inches from the foundation.  And on the very far right...

Look at the poor azalea that's squeezed into a square foot and a half of soil to the right of the stoop.  Do you see why I think they built the stoop incorrectly?  Wouldn't it make more sense to align the top of the deck with the outside of the wood paneled portion of the facade?  If done that way, the little bit of unclad foundation wouldn't be exposed, the line of the deck would make much more sense in relation to this portion of the facade, and the step would extend all the way to the driveway--thereby negating the need for the odd little bit of mismatched paving and the azalea.  Mistakes were made, in my opinion.

So sad azalea.  Infill patch of random, tumbled pavers.

Along the sidewalk--boxwood, vinca, ajuga, boxwood, vinca, ajuga... (and horse-tail).

Along the driveway--juniper, skimmia?, vinca, ajuga, juniper, skimmia, vinca, ajuga... Don't forget to check out the swale in the Home Depot paver walkway (top of the photo)--that first step's gonna be a doozy when it rains.  And why didn't they think ahead to pour the walkway (and maybe other landscape features) at the same time as they poured the cement driveway?

Potted arrangement of dracaena and Clematis armandii (I think).

SO.  That's the new house.  I'm going to start working (right now) on keeping my opinions to myself.  If past experience serves as a guide, the new residents will have an uphill battle to become part of the neighborhood.  Most neighbors feel as though purchase of a home like this is a public display of moral failings.  And, certainly, it will be hard to respect the design sensibilities of people who can not immediately register the shortcomings of this construction. But not as hard as it has been to ignore the recent, chipper remarks of the real-estate agent who thinks we should all be happy that this new home will raise our property values! And that's debatable because it is cheaper (in every way) than is our home on a per square foot basis.

Garden: Spring Comes First to the Carport Bed

Plants in the "carport bed" are among the first to wake up in Spring.  This is a small bed--about 12'X8', and is located to the right of the entry path and adjacent to the carport.  It faces East and South and receives full sun in the morning and early mid-day (during the Summer) before becoming shaded by the house.  

In some ways, this is my "most complete" garden.  It has an open canopy provided by two multi-stemmed vine maples, understory shrubs (Ribes sanguineum and Fothergilla gardenii), grasses (Chasmanthium latifolium and Hakonechloa macra), perennials (Myrrhis odorata, Geum "Flames of Passion", Salvia lyrata "Purple Volcano", Allium "Summer Beauty"), and ground covers (Ajuga genevensis and Ajuga reptans "Mahogany").  I think it fits with the overall aesthetic that I am trying to build--a sort of casual place (well--I don't know if my control-freak tendencies will ever allow "casual" but, at least, I am striving to avoid "fussy") where moist meadow meets ungroomed hedgerow or woodland edge.  This bed is especially pleasing in early Spring as the Ajuga remains fairly evergreen and robust throughout the Winter and is among the first of my plants to push out new growth.  When I planted this bed, I'd hoped to see the Ajuga and the Geum flowering together--mostly, they do.  Yea!  Here it is today and the bloom will continue to improve over the next month or so. 

As the planting matures, the layering should become more apparent--with trees (up), shrubs filling in underneath and masking the fence a little bit, and grasses and ground covers bringing it all together.

Green and purple ground covers mingle.

Geum "Flames of Passion" gets a close-up.  I wish the flowers were a mustier color--they're a lot brighter than I'd hoped to see.  Still pretty, though, and very welcome in the Spring.

Ajuga genevensis pushes upwards.

Geum with purple background contributed by Salvia lyrata.

The plants included in this bed also look pretty good all season.  The Salvia lyrata blooms early in the year, but the flower stalks are rigid and strong and the bracts bleach to white on the purple stems giving an effect that, while different than the flowers, remains attractive throughout the year.  I do tidy-up the spent stalks of the Ajuga and the Geum, but that's about all the maintenance that is required in this bed.  

In an effort to extend the bloom and to tie this area together with the rest of the front yard garden (across the entry path), I planted a small cutting of "Jolly Bee" hardy geranium last Fall.  I am already second-guessing this decision.  "Jolly Bee" ran rampant last year and almost ate the rest of the garden.  Here, it will easily outpace its neighbors and I think the Ajuga, at least, may resent being covered-up.  But, hey, the Geranium can be cut back as needed.  I'm trying to hold firm to my decision and see how it plays out.  

So, that's the carport bed on this Spring (rather odd Spring) day.  Bye, all!