Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Waving "good-bye" to our palms

The decision to remove the current landscaping in our front yard has been a long time coming.  For a number of years it was pretty easy to take care of; we had the irrigation on timers and had hired a gentleman to come by every two weeks to mow the lawn and provide some additional yard maintenance.   

Every spring the agapanthus send out their peduncles, each with the promise of a beautiful violet-blue flower nestled inside an almond-shaped bract.  This annual awakening, along with the appearance of “my” brilliant yellow oriole, assured me that spring was here and summer is not far behind. 



Unfortunately, lately, the lawn has started to look pretty bad, the pigmy date palms are getting too large for their space, and the agapanthus, daylilies, and jasmine have begun to need more care than I’m willing to provide.  Although we will miss the spring colors, we have decided that we are willing to trade them for less maintenance and lower water bills. 

A neighbor has taken us up on our “you dig them out and haul them, they’re free” offer of the pigmy date palms.  This has saved us the time, effort, and maybe money, to have them removed.  Hopefully they will survive and thrive in their new home.



In the meantime, our yard is looking more open and exposed and we need to get a plan in place soon.

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