A Little This..A Little That. AnD What Do I Do Now?

Today I thought I would share a few pics of our house.  Now that the trees have been trimmed . . . 


I actually don't know which is worse.  The before or after. 
Now I don't know what to do with this space between the very overgrown nandina's that the landlord wouldn't trim.  Said it was our job!

I'm thinking of planting the ornamental grass that I have in a pot. 
Remember it  . . . 


This is what the pots looked like at the apartment.  They were by the front door and got the super hot afternoon sun.  The apartment faced the west.  

This is a similar grass at McDonalds there is one that I think is just like mine at a neighbors house.  

I think the grass might do better in the ground.  So that is my task for tomorrow.    
                      
One of the things I love about Texas is once we get past the summer our weather is gorgeous.  It might be cool in the morning but the afternoons are always nice.  

Here's a shot looking toward the nandina's you can barely see the house behind them.  I was grateful the beds have decent edging. 
There were two chrysanthemums one was purple.  The other wasn't watered well so the blooms were dead.  But the plant is green.  You can't see from this shot but there is one in the pot with the crazy begonias.  I'll put it in the bed too.  

The caladiums will be dug out of the pot too and stored for winter. 

A close up of the begonias

I don't think I have ever seen any this big.  They are like a bush. They love it here!  There were originally 6.  All crammed in a hanging basket.  I got them  from my daughter and grandson for mothers day.  I separated them about the end of June.  This is what they look like now. 

This is one of the chrysanthemum's . . . 

And some weeds.  I'll be pulling them up when I replant the one I have in a pot. 

I'm hoping to get a few pansy's, dusty miller and lambs ear for this area. 

Here's a shot of the same bed from the front . . . 

This is where the 'What do I do now?' comes in.  You can barely see that pot of caladiums.  I have no idea what to do with this rose bush.  I'm thinking they should have cut it waaay back almost to the ground.  It's really tacky now.  

This is the other side of past the nandina's . . . 

I don't know if you can tell but this is a crepe myrtle.  It was taller than the house.  Just past it was completely covered in scrub brush and trees.  Actually the entire front bed was covered in the scrub trees.  They were all 4 ft. high or more. 

I should have taken a picture of the pile of brush before they hauled it off!

There are three crepe myrtle's in the back yard along the side fence.

An old ball was uncovered from all the mess. 

And now a shot of probably my favorite part of the house . . . 

I love this room.  It is so cozy.  I sit inside almost every evening and read till it get's too chilly.   I was sad that they didn't trim the huge overgrown crepe myrtle that is beside it.  

One bad thing I found out about the property. It might be hard to tell from this shot.  But just past the foreground is a sunk railroad tie.  Then there is pea gravel covering the ground all the way to the house. 

Here's a better shot...

You can see how big the bush is.  The area behind it was completely overgrown and covered in weeds and scrub.  

I planned for the area to be a vegetable garden.  Sadly I found out from the neighbor that 3 years ago and for about 2 before that it was a fenced off area.  A kennel for dogs.  A lot of dogs. 
So I don't think I actually want to plant in the area.  

Which I guess is o.k. but now we'll have to do raised beds which will be more expensive.  Not sure how many we'll be able to afford for the spring.   

Since we won't have a huge budget; I'm considering something like this . . . 

There is a great one over on my pinterest board but the pic is water marked so I didn't want to use it here.  But if your interested here is the link. 

So I'm wishing and dreaming and doing some planning.  

• And wondering what to do about that  rose bush.
• What to do about that open spot between the bushes in the front. 
• And how to get a vegetable garden in that back yard. 

 Any suggestions? 

Did you see my parties page?  I've been trying to get it updated to list all the parties where I link.  I'll be linking to some of my favorites.  

Leave me a comment and give me your suggestions for fixing up this yard!  

I'm tired thinking about it.  

                         I'll just put my feet up for now.