Every Day ~ A Step Further!
The landscaper has finished with most of what they are doing for me, namely cleaning out all the grass, weeds and unwanted shrubbery right around the house. To me it was an overwhelming job, but in two days, they came in, dug it all out, laid new ground cloth and new mulch down! It looks fabulous now!

From the street it looks so much fresher, not only due to the new paint and gutters, but to have all that weedy mess gone! I'm hoping it will be much easier to care for now! They also worked on the bare spots where the huge old cottonwood trees were removed. They added soil to the low areas and seeded it with grass. In a few weeks, I hope it starts to fill in!

As you can see, I did decide to paint the arbor white! Even with just half of it painted, I'm so much happier with it! I'll finish that job this morning hopefully! Then my youngest son will be here to help me get it finished and help with some other things! I was able to get the beds planted with the roses I purchased earlier in the season. From this end to the left I have planted Boscobel (David Austin - DA), Evelyn (DA), a pink Rugosa Rose, and Climbing Iceberg. In the other bed, I've still to find a climbing rose for the other side, but will hope to order a Zephirine Drouhin for next year. I've also got planted a white Rugosa Rose, Lady of Shallot (DA), and Sharifa Asma (DA).

Where we had the big old stump ground out, we discovered a few big tough roots off to the side that didn't get ground up. Because they are beyond my ability to deal with, we opted to place my mother's old iron cauldron over that spot. It's so heavy that it takes two of us to lift it even when empty! She had my father drill drain holes in the bottom of it years ago and it always sat on the slope by our back steps filled with Basket of Gold. It looked lovely in the spring. For my daughter's wedding, I've filled it with pale blue lobelia and white alyssum and will add a white geranium to it as soon as I can get to the store to get one.

On the other side, I've placed my mother's old birdbath basin. I'd love to get a little fountain to fit the small space on the back of it but am not having much success finding anything other than spitting frogs, which I am not fond of. Now if someone would just make a nice little songbird that spit water, I'd be all set!
Every day sees measurable progress!
Still much to do. The arbor needs painted, the rest of the flagstone needs leveled and the gaps filled, the main flowerbeds/garden needs weeded, the side step platform needs more dirt, sand and flagstone placed, and there is a small flagstone path between the side terrace and driveway that needs finished. There are more flowers to plant along the same path and around the flagstone terrace on the side. Then there is a pile of old gutters, shutters and other debris that needs hauled away. The sprinkler guy still needs to come and adjust the sprinkler system to fit the new garden beds and the fence installer should be here any day to put up the low perimeter fence around the yard.
Right now it still seems like a long way to go, but when I look at where it was just a few short weeks ago, it's really amazing how far things have come! Once it's all done, I'm going to do a post of before and after photos!
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FlowerLady
Sherry on Little Rock