Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Saying Goodbye to the Holly Bushes!

Hello friends!


I am generally a person who believes that "where there's life, there's hope", and that even applies to plants. But that does not hold true with unfriendly bushes, vines, and weeds.


One of the things that we hated about The Wren's Nest was that in back of our little garage (which is very small since it was built only to accommodate the former owner's Harley, or perhaps a future golf cart), there were four overgrown, ugly and very unfriendly holly bushes. The only place I want to see holly is in connection with Christmas decorating, and even that, very minimally. So imagine how anxious we were to rip them out and plant something less assuming. Of course, that didn't happen last year because flooring, bathroom, and painting were the priorities, but when we arrived up there two weeks ago, that was the first thing we tackled. I imagine it was really important to Mr. Perch as he was the one that got stuck in the butt by these things every time he walked out of the garage.

 Ugly old holly bushes
with sharp pointy leaves,
and never a red berry to be seen.
These things must have been planted
when this little old mobile home was young...



It took us a whole day to get rid of them,
Hubby first cutting them to pieces,
and then digging up the roots and cutting them
 apart underground with a reciprocating
saw...


Because the leaves were so pointy and sharp,
we used gloves and handled them very gently,
putting them into a large trash can until...
 

...we could bag them for the garbage pickup.
They will take branches only if they are bagged...


So the next day we went to Lowe's
to choose some replacements,
not to mention mulch and garden soil,
and while the Mister busied himself with
some other laborious but necessary task,
I planted a new garden in the semi-shady area
vacated by the murdered hollies.
The name of the game was perennial and 
no-fuss, since we are not there all the time
to take care of the gardens.
A beautiful deep pinkish-red and lime
hydrangea in the middle,
surrounded by three kinds of hostas
(one of which was divided from a clump
that I hijacked from Birdsong before 
we put her up for sale last year),
caladiums in the same colors as the hydrangea,
and some annual vinca just for some 
all-summer color...


I tried cleaning the foundation stones
with Clorox, but it was no match for 30
 or so years of accumulated mildew,
and I could only get some of it off...


I would like to add some ferns,
but will take some from our shade garden
here the next time we go up.
Isn't this hydrangea gorgeous?...
 

I hope that it stays this color, 
because it is so different from any that we
have at Plum Tree...


I can't wait until it all fills in.
And I can't wait until it covers the mildew!!

 ***********************************

Have a great day!


6 comments:

  1. Wowzer what a project Sue! I don't know too much about Holly, as the won't grow in (most always) dry Colorado~ But I do like your replacement choices! Beautiful work and it must feel rewarding : ) I know it was for us a few years ago when we ripped out 4 very old prickly bushes that were overgrown and ugly. My husband had great fun and felt some real satisfaction hooking up a chain to the back of his truck, and then around the roots. . . you can guess the rest! LOL ~Karen O

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    1. Thanks for your compliments! Once I bought an older home in Sarasota Florida. It also had some overgrown old bushes in front. I was single then, so my dad hired some local with a big pickup who did the same thing. Yanked those babies out in just a few minutes. Great way to go if you can fit a truck in your area!

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  2. Hi dear Sue,
    what a wonderful difference, with the beautiful bed of pink flowers, after you took away the holly bushes.
    I don`t like such eighter in my garden, only in christmas time, lol. The hydrangea and your other plants together, looks now so beautiful. Sorry I have been away from her, but have spend almost a week with my daughter and grandkids :-)
    Dorthe, xoxo

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    1. Hi Dorthe! Glad you like the garden. I'm so happy that you got to spend some time with your family. I hope it was great! Hugs to you.

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  3. Oh goodness this garden is so pretty! I remember having holly bushes at my old place and that is where the snakes hung out :-( not sure if you had that problem as well? I sure love reading your updates on your sweet place. I would so love to find one down south to run to in the Michigan winters!

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  4. We didn't have snakes, but that makes me even happier that we got rid of the bushes! In our community up there we actually have folk that live in Florida but spend the summers there, and folk from up north that spend the winters there. I guess that it's all relative!

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