The Move to Georgia and a Brand New Garden

Georgia: the Before Photos

This blog began in central Missouri, then moved to our condo in New Orleans. Lloyd passed away last year, and I moved yet again, this time to a gated community northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, where I am near my sister and her family. The house is great, just right for me. The front yard is well landscaped and kept by the Home Owners Association. The backyard, however, was unimaginative, to say the least, and suffering from neglect.

In the past, I've patiently waited a full year to see what a new yard has to offer before doing any major landscaping. This backyard, however, with its line of edger bricks parallel to the fences and much too close to them, plus a barren area dead center, has been grating on my nerves over the winter. The Rose of Sharon bushes are threatening the integrity of the fence, and the small clumps of iris and daylilies are scattered and looking lonely.

Click on the photos to see a larger view.

This is a Google view of the yard from a few years ago. The center of this deep yard has a large area of clay and stone with a sparse crop of weeds. It's really a mess.

Here are some before pictures, taken this spring.

This is the gate/entry area from the street. The fire pit is way too close to a very dry wooden fence. Poor Buddha is sitting on his drum where the movers unloaded him last October, on a concrete pad that held a small garden shed, which was removed by the previous owner. The shed will be replaced, as garden tools kept in the garage must be carried around the front of the house and into the backyard via the front gate. Not very efficient.

This is the long view from the patio. The back gate is about 70 feet away The line of bricks is visible along the left fence. There is also a line of bricks along the right fence. They are hidden in the shadow. Most of them will be taken up and used to form an island in the center of the yard that will cover the rocky, barren spot..

The brown area in the foreground is dormant Bermuda grass. This is a very popular grass in this area. Silly me thought the grass was waking up. Not so  The greenery is weeds. A lawn care service has given it an initial spray and will keep on it until the weeds are gone. It appears that sod was laid from the house to about where the line of greenery marks the end of the dormant grass. Whether there is enough Bermuda to fill in the clay and rock area beyond is debatable. We'll see.

There are four large Rose of Sharon bushes planted along this side; they probably would not survive moving, as with them so close to the fence, there is no way to dig a large enough root ball to give them a chance. They need to go. The plants along this east-facing fence receive more sunlight than those on the other side of the yard and are considerably larger. There are six much smaller Rose of Sharon bushes along the opposite fence; they will be relocated in the yard.

The small patch with the bird feeder in the foreground will keep its brick edging. Not sure what will be planted there -- peonies are top contenders at the moment, maybe annuals.

This flower bed contains azalea bushes, some kind of perennial that is just beginning to send out leaves, and numerous weeds. There is a hydrangea at the far left. This is the north side of the house. My initial thinking is to move the azaleas farther out into the yard, maybe making an azalea garden in the very back, and to plant hostas and other shade-loving plants here.

I have a general concept of where I want to go with this project. I want to add three or four trees and some flowering bushes As well as create some kind of island to cover the ugly center of the yard. Just eliminating the straight lines of the fence borders so it doesn't resemble a bowling alley will be a good beginning.