After a lengthy (and frustrating) search, my sister and I finally found a near-perfect home for our family. We had a long laundry list of “must-haves” and unlike the house-hunting TV shows, we were not willing to make many—okay, okay, the correct word here would be “any”—compromises. We moved in this past November and our long-suffering realtor, Katie Beamon, danced a jig at the closing!
We love the house. Period. But I have to tell you, we jokingly call it “The Money Pit.” It’s been a shockingly steady stream of plumbers, electricians, HVAC guys and handymen. Repairs, repairs and more repairs!!
Inspired by last month’s spring-like weather, we turned our attention toward the outdoors. We hired Chris Price and NoCo Landscaping to come in and do a complete “spring cleanup.” With 2 acres, there’s a lot of cleanup!! I’ve had two tree experts come and give us their ideas on how to save a couple of our trees and what to do with the overgrown messy condition of the rest. Let’s just say that we’ve already spent thousands of dollars and haven’t planted one flower, bush or tree yet. Here's a sample of Chris' work! (not our house!!)
The most important items on our landscaping/gardening hit list are:
- Move two rose bushes from our family farm. This one’s easy because the NoCo Landscaping crew will transplant for us in mid-May. All I have to do is show them which two bushes from Mom and Dad’s rose garden we want moved.
- Plant perennial flower beds in the front and the back yard. I’ve never done this before, but I’ve ordered a Garden in a Box for the front yard through the Fort Collins-Loveland Water District. If anyone else is a late planner like me, some kits are still available for May pickup (you select your location at checkout). Garden in a Box offers professionally designed, waterwise garden kits tailor-made for Colorado yards. These affordable, DIY gardens are super easy to use and will get the yard looking gorgeous and saving water in no time. It’s a fantastic program and available as far south as Castle Rock, all through metro Denver and up the Front Range through Longmont, Greeley, Loveland, Windsor and Fort Collins. We picked "Honey Bee Haven" (picture below). I know it’s going to take three years for these special plants to really take hold, but if we’re saving some water and growing beautiful flower beds with blooms from mid-spring all the way through the fall, I think it’s worth the effort and wait!
- Get approval from our HOA and plant a row of trees on the north side of the house and pasture. This one is a critical project because our FOUR furry friends have a new hobby; they obnoxiously BARK non-stop at every passerby. We’ve been researching trees on the internet and the species we originally picked is called Emerald Green Arborvitae. Fortunately, we got email advice from a LOCAL tree guru!! Mike from The Tree Farm in Longmont quickly pointed out the downsides and suggested several others that would work better for us. Now we're keen on Spartan Junipers. They're a quick growing upright juniper. Its densely branched pyramidal form holds rich green foliage all year. A picture is below. Seems perfect for us!
That's it for me today!! Thanks for reading :-)
Your friend in Northern Colorado,
Deb