Etsyblogger Carnival: Gardening Plans

This week's carnival is hosted by Sweet Sallys Soaps. The choices were"

1.Tell about your gardening plans for the upcoming growing season.
2. Show me your all time favorite piece of art and why you find it inspiring.

This was a no brainer. Gardening. Why? Because we just had landscapers here this past week tearing out the old & crumbly BBQ thingy in the back, moving around the mooshed together tall grasses & mutant Black Eyed Susans. Okay, so they were not mutant. They were just doing what they do. Growing. Lots!I wish I had a recent pic of the front. And I swear I have some somewhere. The newest I could find was from 2007. Let me show you the first year after we had all the gunk torn out.
btw...gunk = gravel, stones, pebbles, 3 or 4 different kinds of bushes and random stones & brick.
The only pic of that catastrophe is not digital.

This is the first year sans gunk.


Then we added a stone border. The stones...free! Well, more like found. There were at least 3 areas in the back that were bordered by these. And very very very random areas at that.


And the "now"...everything looks tiny again. The grasses were all moved to the backyard. The Susans were split - some went to the back. The remaining bunches were moved closer to the house. The Sedum stayed put.


And this is close up on the one side to show my favorite part...and a big reason for the Susan move. Along the front I again have space to play. The flowers & grasses just got too large to plant something seasonal along the front like I could those first couple years. So now I can play with color & style every year :)


But the biggest change is out back. Gone is this "lovely" BBQ thingy with it's crumbling brick, falling stones and overgrown Ivy throughout...literally - right through the structure. Although, as a picture, it looks kind of cool. With a 5 year old & a dog playing in the backyard...not so much.

And the "now"...again, kinda tiny now. The Susans were put above and below some boulders that were in the ground along the back fence. Made for fun mowing. Hubby is quite thrilled to have these moved. The grasses will fill up the outer edges. I may change them up or add in some with color as the years pass. It also leaves room to expand down the fence line. Looking forward to that someday too.
Those of you who follow my blog (and thanks for that btw) know that were are doing lots inside right now too. More than I have yet to mention actually. It is going to be one busy summer. My hope is that when Fall comes around the dust will have settled to leave a home that does not leave me frustrated & stressed just by being there all day. *crossing fingers*