Adventures of Mooch

[jedishampoo]

I have griped about the bad things about living on the southside of Indianapolis... now I'll talk about something good. Being near my parents! If I am going to live in Indiana to be near my family, I figured I'd buy a house in the same township my parents live in, otherwise they'd never visit.

But I have discovered that buying a house means I must spend less money on certain things-- like food. I'm so poor! So I tend to show up at the folks' house for food. I call daily to see what they're doing.

Monday, 2:00 p.m.
Mom: Hello?
Me: Hi. What are you having for dinner?
Mom: Your daddy's getting Chinese carryout.
Me: HOORAY!

Tuesday, 2:oo p.m.
Mom: Hello?
Me: Hi. What are you having for dinner?
Mom: Pork chops.
Me: Awwwwwww....
Mom: But we have baked potatoes and sour cream and cauliflower and broccoli...
Me: HOORAY!

Wednesday:
Mom: Hello?
Me: Spaghetti tonight?
Mom: Yes.
Me: SEE YOU AT 5:30!

And I steal all the leftovers. They won't eat 'em anyway-- they'd just sit in their fridge and go bad. Me, now, I'm a real connoisseur of leftovers. I think I have all my mom's Tupperware at this point.

Oh, and the cicadas!

I tried to take a video of my yard with audio of the very loud cicadas. Sorry for the crappy video! Anyway, aren't they noisy? And also, can you see that crazy hill in my backyard? The previous owners took the drainage ditch and piled it with railroad ties, trying to turn it into some kind of country walk with flower beds and a 'stream.' However, only weeds grow there. I had to pay someone to kill the poison ivy and chop it all down.

On the flat parts we're trying to put down black landscaping fabric and lava rocks, but what do I do with that hill? The rocks would just roll down it. HELP ME.

Comments

When you plan a space for a long term result, it's different than quick solutions.

[7veilsphaedra.livejournal.com]

Basic garden plans for long term plantings should consider:

1. Colour:

Most ornamentals range the following colour spectrum of silver, grey, blue-grey, blue-green, hunter green, kelly green, bright emerald green, yellow-green, yellow, brown, violet and black (the last four tend to be rare.) One nice effect is to vary ornamental dwarf evergreens with deciduous shrubs that have bright red or violet trunks and stems, like Siberian dogwood or wild roses so that there is a nice interplay of colour in the winter when the leaves fall.

Texture: feathery leaves, fans, spearheads, spikes, fronds, umbrels, etc.. For evergreens: needles, firs, waxy leaves or powdery leaves. Grasses.

How it fills the space: Vines and espaliered fruit trees cover unattractive or worn wall and fence surfaces (although espaliered fruit needs babying) — at least during the summer. They can also crawl over pergolas and archways for shade and large-scale shaping. They create a nice background of colour and texture. So you plant them to break up a plain, boring wall-space. They aren't groundcover.

Shrubs and hedgerows provide windbreaks and privacy.

Ornamental shrubs can be shaped for interesting variety and contrast against the background space. Deciduous ones are usually chosen for the colour of their leaves in autumn (sumac, burning bush, wolf berries, etc.)

Dwarf evergreens also provide those interesting shapes and textures, although they tend to come in predetermined shapes that don't need much pruning (junipers are either ground cover or flare out, some trees are shaped like flames, some are 'fat and pudgey'.)

The shape of garden as it grows in: Height, shape, the space it fills. Think some tall and short trees and shrubs planted in 'staging areas', some perennials that can be switched out for variation in colour and texture (styles change over the years and you want that flexibility), and ground cover to beat back the weeds (usually lawn is chosen as the ground cover, but it looks like yours doesn't do well during hot summers.)