I finally bit the bullet and talked to my dad last night about moving, and he was very understand and supportive. Turns out a lot of the concerns I have about my current house, especially the amount of time and money required to renovate it, are things he was concerned about also. It’s great to have those feelings validated, because I feel like I can let go of my current house without guilt. I did a lot of work on it while I lived here, and accomplished a lot, looking back at the pictures. I had forgotten what the backyard looked like; there was no gravel; only dirt and grass. I forget that there was no backdoor, and crappy peeling paint, and the living room was terrible.
Our friend lisa’s plans for yardwork are really exciting to read, because unlike interior home improvement (which I tolerated) I LOVE working in the yard, and I’m very excited about it. At my current house, I always felt guilty about the amount of time I spent in the yard because there was so much work to do on the inside.
The new house has nice big flowerbeds in the front yard, (full sun!) and a long border bed down the south side of the house, (more full sun!) and a nice big backyard where we’re going to plant some raspberry bushes. I pulled out my gardenbooks, but there’s nothing in them about planting raspberries and how to amend the soil, etc. So I’m going to do some research online about that. Having full-sun beds will be really cool; perennials that grow better in sun are usually brighter colors, so they’re more visually arresting. This current house is mostly shaded by the neighboring houses, so I have lots of hostas.
We’ve had great luck going to garden centers in our neighborhood. Well, they’re at least close to our neighborhood. The folks at Edgewood Feed & Seed are VERY helpful. Our neighbor across the street has a garden, and he’s lived in his house for like 20 years. He’s been a good source of info, too. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find some good neighbors who’ll share their knowledge.
Also, you might touch base with the folks at the Garfield Park Conservatory. The city grows a lot of their plants at Garfield Park. Good luck and congratulations.
I’m starting to realize what a great resource the mom & pop garden stores in my area are, too. There’s one in my neighborhood that carries grass seed blends developed at the big Ag university down the road from me, specifically for my area. How cool is that?
Anyway, I’m totally like SQUEE!! about this house! If you tell me when raspberry season is, i might, um, show up– but I’ll bring my paintbrush and trowel 🙂
I’m glad your dad was so understanding. You’ve made a huge contribution to the life of your house, which is more than a lot of people would have done. You can now pass it along to the next person to keep it going.
I am so glad that your dad was supportive! (Your fireplace is one of the coolest around town – whoever purchases your home will be very proud and lucky to have it!)
Congrats on you new home you guys – I am so excited for you! Maybe you should call your new casa “RUBY” … cause there’s “NO PLACE LIKE HOME!” 🙂
“Altums” is always a great source for your garden needs – they have wonderful perennials and often offer free classes to the public … I should know I gave some – when I worked there … one of my many jobs!(wink wink!)
Hooray for both of you again! VERY AWESOME!!!!
Raspberries (in my experience) are fast growing and hearty – very weedlike, actually. My mom planted a few small plants at two different houses, and in no time they were taking over a large swath of the backyard. So…either prune heavily or give them a spot where they can really spread out. Also, the bees love them (just fyi), so hopefully neither of you is allergic.
Hmmm… that’s good to know. I have managed to kill two separate sets of raspberry bushes, but maybe it’ll be different at a new house. We’re considering getting them from somewhere other than Lowe’s this time.