Tuesday, April 10, 2007

When the Landscapers were through...

I couldn't look. Part of my desire to go out for the bike ride yesterday was to get away from the house and the knowledge that the landscapers our landlords hired were out in the yard and I could have no control over what was going on. It's not my garden after all and it's not my sister living upstairs so I don't have any input.

My hope was that the landscapers would be gone by the time we got home, but they were still at it. I checked out the back yard and gone was not only all of the ground cover, but also all of the moss and all of the ferns. The ground under the huge pine and cedar was bare earth. I saw one discarded fern on the walkway and picked it up and put it in a planter, but it looks bleak. It's a yard with a lot of shade and ferns and moss beneath two glorious trees is very natural. Without this greenery below it looks quite stark. I did go out at one point and ask the workers if they could leave any sizeable "stray" rocks since I wanted to use them for the perrenial garden I'd be putting in. They said they would, but I haven't checked to see what's left yet.

As for the front yard, my fears were that while removing the ivy (a job which I had started a few days ago) the near concealed smoke bush would be torn away with the rest. There is a large gaping hole, but the smoke bush survived with some pretty severe pruning. I know it can take this at this time of year, but it looks so exposed and some of the cuts have taken away its full shape. So the line of mixed shrubbery following the walkway up to our house has a gaping hole in it.

I had trouble sleeping last night because I was thinking about the back yard. It looks so barren and I know that upstairs they are fans of the cedar mulch any surface that isn't grass. When did it become about the cedar mulch? i hate that look, it's so shopping mall. I tried to calm myself by imagining all that D. and I can now do with this empty canvas.

First, I'll take pictures and then go from there. I am feeling a bit better today. It does raise some questions about whether or not my landlords will like our type of gardening since some of it was ripped up yesterday. I mourn the loss of ferns and it's ridiculous to go out and buy some now. I'll have to find a wooded area and dig some up while I'm searching for some moss to transplant as well.


1 comment:

mister anchovy said...

Strange isn't it that a lot of people in the landscaping business have little sensitivity to landscaping, much less plants and nature. There is always what I'm going to call a 'top 40' look....lots of hooks and catchy melodies, not much substance.