Every spring I like to purge. I started my spring cleaning a little early this year. I cleaned out my closet and donated 3 huge bags of clothes to Ronald McDonald House. The teen will be doing her closet this week. I'm sure here clothes will be a bigger help to the charity since hers are more stylish.
After the closets are finished I'm going to rearrange some of my planter beds. The yard is in desperate need of attention since we've had little rain. I'm looking to plant a few trees in the center of the yard. We found out recently there will be a house built across the street. We want to keep our view as natural as possible and trees should block the building nicely.
Okay, the truth is, I want big, fast growing, thick trees. When we moved here we knew a house would go up on that lot eventually. We've seen what's been popping up in the neighborhood. People are moving to the country, leveling the lots, and making our quaint area like city plats. It's crazy.
I'm thinking about planting Austrees . They are not indigenous to our area, but they look like exactly the effect we want and they're supposedly non-invasive. We're still doing research on them.
I've also thought about planting a run of Oleander, which is indigenous. However, I don't think these bushes will be enough for blockage. We have several established in the yard already and they seem stubby and short, but the flowers are nice. One big benefit of the Oleander is the deer don't eat them.
I wish the people who built our home would have left more trees in the yard. There are still remnants of stumps and roots where they leveled the lot. We've been working on clearing those, what a pain.
I hope everyone doing spring cleaning and planting this week enjoy it as much as I do.
Happy Spring to all!
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I've been doing a fair bit of spring cleaning myself... even though we are heading into Autumn here in Australia.
ReplyDeleteI now have a new office space which is fantastic and made room elsewhere in the house so it's feeling fresh.
Closets are the next step along with kids toys. We will be donating them to the victims of the recent bushfires here in Victoria.
I enjoyed reading what you're up to. Have fun!
Hi Ange!
ReplyDeleteI love getting new spaces all set up. We're hoping to add on to the house in the future so we can have a designated office only space.
It feels good to give. I read about the fires...So sad. I'm sure they need all the help they can get.
Have fun with your cleaning too!
Yes, Muse, it's spring--I think we've all got the itch going on--I've been getting together the donations bags too.
ReplyDeleteAnd good for you for researching before planting. I used to live in Tucson and people planted so many "wrong" trees (olives, mostly) that it went from being the allergy free town to the worst for allergies!
Hey Conda!
ReplyDeleteAfter I visited you yesterday, I gathered another bag to donate. I think I'll take this one to our community church, it's household items.
I'm interested in those Austrees, but I haven't seen any local. The site says they're good zone 3-10, which has us covered. Still, I'm going to take the kids to our local nursery to see what they've got and see what they suggest.
Have a great week!
I'm feeling the urge to purge, too. Perhaps from watching my cats dash outdoors and eat grass each spring...and then...
ReplyDeleteOh, dear.
Back to writing and bagging up old stuff.
Your mention of oleanders reminded me of my parents' yard when I was in high school. A solid wall of oleanders.
Muse:
ReplyDeleteAs we've gotten older Spring cleaning has given way to relaxing at the local Borders bookstore. My Queen still cultivates her flower garden and we have some deliciously big beautiful roses. But, for the most art, it's time to relax.
happy trails.
Hello Kathy!
ReplyDeleteWe're still undecided about what to plant. A lot of the neighbors have the wall of oleanders going on. I'd like something a little more scattered I think.
I'll be purging more today...I swear it's an endless job. Why do we keep so much stuff.
Have a good one!
Hey Swu!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for the time when I can spend my spring break doing that! I think it comes after the kids have left the nest.
Take care!
Hi! I think we've thrown out as much as we can from the house. Now it's time to get rid of the rubbish from outside and there's a ton of it. Due to a recent storm we lost our last huge pine tree. A bit sad really as the kids used to climb it to the very top. Anyway, it should be good for the wood fueled BBQ after it dries out.
ReplyDeleteAustrees are known here but I think we have the non-sterile type as they have been known to spread here in New South Wales and Victoria.
We do have some of the kids clothing left but I still wear them, so they're not going!
Take Care,
Peter
The big thing I'm missing back home are all the wildflowers coming up in our yard. According to the wife it looks like our Texas Bluebonnets have spread like wildfire.
ReplyDeleteI've got over 20 maple trees in my yard (front and back) that I grew from seeds starting about 13 years ago. The smaller ones that are only about four years old are aleady over 20 feet tall.
Muse:
ReplyDeleteBusy, busy bee. I remember those spring cleaning days, but now we just go for a long drive in the country. Our daughter felt so bad that she bought us one of those robot vacuum cleaners. It's great. But now I'm so lazy that I want another one so that we can do the upstairs and down stairs at the same time.
Happy trails