Wednesday 21 July 2010

A spot of light gardening!

As I mentioned on Monday, the Dacosta clan have been doing a bit of light gardening. Light gardening, ha! What started as a whim on Saturday morning to cut down the tree you can see in the picture below, ended up being a complete overhaul and re landscaping of the front garden. We actually had an audience by the end of it, and people were coming up and congratulating us on how hard we had worked all weekend.
The tree climbing up the fence had basically taken over half the front garden and was encroaching on our window in the picture below. It had been allowed to take over and hadn't been chopped back in years. There was I with my secateurs, thinking I will easily cut it back - it ended up with hubby having to buy an electric chainsaw to cut the branches which were as wide as the top of my arm. I wanted to pull the whole thing down, but as hubby now has his chainsaw, we can keep an eye on it. So we spent all day Saturday pulling the whole front garden up, with the aid of my kids too. It took three trips to the dump and a very humpy hubby as his car which is his pride and joy was full of mud and bugs! I kept telling him to stop being such a woose!

The big spiky trees were left in the garden, much to my disgust. How we haven't had an insurance claim from someone claiming to lose an eye, I will never know.
On Sunday, we went to the garden centre and piled up the car with new plants. Apart from my indulgence, hydrangeas, which I love and are pictured below, the rest of the garden took on a red and white look. I bought a few different plants with red leaves and many with red and white flowers which should come out before summer. Hubby then put down black bark to hopefully discourage the weeds from returning. I am really pleased with my new front garden and I am actually watering it, which really is a first for me. If plants could talk, my old front garden would have been wailing with thirst.
By the end of the weekend, hubby and I were exhausted. Both of us had back ache and sore knees. I had over twenty splinters in my hands from cutting the bushes the previous day. The back garden now needs doing, but I imagine it will be next year, before I venture out there. Let's not rush, folks.



20 comments:

  1. Ooh, it all looks wonderful! That always happens though, doesn't it? YOu think you're going out there for a quick job and end up doing so much more! But well done.

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  2. An amazing transformation, you really did work hard. Too wet to garden here, the weeds are loving all this wet, arm weather.

    You have also been busy doing a bit of spring cleaning on your blog, I love the new lool.

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  3. It's beautiful Viv. A little hard work always pays off doesn't it?

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  4. A weekend well spent, I'd say. It looks fantastic!

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  5. I can only imagine your exhaustion - but the end result is just beautiful!!

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  6. Your new garden looks bright and cheerful. I think we're ready to give up yard work and move into a loft.

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  7. What an amazing transformation and how quick! I love hydrangeas too. Am getting one for the big pot in our garden (It's to go in the pot that had Mums tree in but which I managed to kill!) I'm dithering between purple or pink. Purple because it was both mine and Mums favourite colour. Pink because you don't tend to see many that colour round here. Hmmm.

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  8. My grandmother has those exact same spiky trees in her yard! Or at least ones that look exactly the same. We always hide Easter Eggs in the branches, making it difficult for the kids to reach in there. Not something I think is a good thing (I'm always rushing forward to grab it out before the kids can), but something they do nonetheless.

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  9. I completely understand how you would need a break after all that work. It looks great!

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  10. Lovely! But it is "toil in the soil"!

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  11. Clover - thank you

    Petty Witter - the blog background change was a necessity rather than a choice as they are making changes on the site I got it from and mine would have disappeared on Friday if I didn't change it. It isn't my favourite, but I keep getting thrown off the site when I try and change it again.

    Diane - but I am not good with too much hard work!!!

    JoAnn - thank you

    Molly - exhaustion is correct. I haven't felt that tired in ages.

    Kathy - I like your style. The less of the garden the better.

    Carmen - I have seen some lovely purple ones that have a range of purples in them. They look gorgeous, but I am a bit partial to a bit of pink.

    Amanda -those plants should definitely come with a health warning.

    Alyce and Suko - thank you.

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  12. Everything looks so fresh and beautiful. I love your spiky trees...although I haven't had the pleasure of visiting you and getting poked in the eye.
    I love the story of your husband and his chain saw. That reminds me of my ex...get a chain saw in his hands and he was a maniac. Looks great, Vivienne.

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  13. The new garden looks fantastic! I always love peeking at other people's gardens. It is a lot of hard work but I think worth it in the end.

    I don't see any background on your blog right now except white.

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  14. It looks lovely - the result of all your hard work. Well done!

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  15. It looks lovely! Now you need to come help me with my yard lol. My front yard beds needs a good weeding. We actually bought wood chips last month in preperation but we never got around to it. :)

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  16. You guys worked so hard but it looks great! We definitely have to do something with our garden but it is just so hot out to do anything! I'm hoping that by the time fall rolls around I can get out and do something. We'll see as I don't really have a green thumb :)

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  17. Wisteria - you should have seen hubby with the chainsaw. It was hilarious. Quite glad to hear I haven't poked your eye out with my plants though.

    Darlene - I think I am going to have some trouble with my background over the next few days, as they are changing them around. I might need to find a new
    supplier.

    Mary - thank you

    Ladytink - I'll be right there, LOL.

    Illiana - I definitely don't have green fingers either, so fingers crossed they don't all die.

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  18. It's gorgeous Vivienne! We worked so hard on our garden last spring and now the heat has zapped everthing out of our poor flowers. I really should dig the up but I don't have the heart to. Wish I had a gardening buddy here!!

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  19. Take your time, Viv! You're absolutely right. No need to rush. You have a beautiful garden. Happy gardening!

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