2015 Already?!

I can't believe the last blog post for the Manor was in December. The Master bathroom refresh is complete and the rough-edge shelves are awesome. We are enjoying the clutter-free arrangement and lighter color in the small space! There's nothing like freshly painted bathroom baseboards!

I have been thinking about our home-renovation philosophy and always having a project going. We have a master plan that involves a porch conversion, and a few more large scale landscaping projects that I'm chomping at the bit to get done. House/garden projects are my favorite creative outlet, but lately I've felt a the need to dial back the big $$$ projects. There are two reasons: the first is that it's probably foolish to spend all one's money on home improvements, and more importantly: it's also unwise to invest so much into an asset that isn't really appreciating. Comparable houses in the neighborhood are selling for way less than we bought our house.

I'm fine with being a little upside down or flat in value. We didn't buy the house as an investment really, but rather a place to live. But it seems silly to pour every spare dollar into a house that has flat (at best!) value 7 years after purchase.

Part of launching the blog was to keep track of the improvements to the property, to see how far we've come, and to loosely keep track of the time and money we've put in. And it's been a lot. The roof, kitchen, fence, front landscaping, front door, patio, insulation, security system, exterior paint - we're talking thousands of dollars over the years (not to mention the blood sweat & tears!)

Most years, we have a plan for what projects we're saving up for. For 2015, we're switching gears. We're maintaining everything, doing a little garden work, but not spending the moolah. We can continue with the upgrades that don't cost anything and keep them more in line with what the neighborhood and markets will support.

Ongoing posts will consist of less hammer and nail kind of stuff, and more posts of things like: flower arrangements (yes, I'm a sucker for those!), garden edibles, plants that I dug up from one part of the yard and replanted in another (a favorite free hobby), and hopefully clutter clearing projects.

Front yard landscaping complete!

We installed the back row of boxwoods (which puts us at about 150, phew!) and can say that we're done with the front yard landscaping project! The plants are still looking a little dinky, BUT the boxwoods are starting to spread out a little - hopefully to create a nice leafy border and dimension to the front slope.

So far, maintenance has been low key. We opted to go without weed tarp (thinking it would cause mulch slippage, plus - I kind of hate the stuff) and so far, so good. there are some sneaky fireweeds (my nemesis!!) and clover, but a quick sweep about once a week has knocked them out so far. It's so much better to drive up to the Manor and see happy looking grasses & herbs, instead of the dreaded dead grass eyesore that got me in trouble!

Front Yard Landscaping in Progress

If anyone remembers "Church Ladies complain about my front lawn", they will be pleased to see that something is being done to reclaim the lumpy, weedy, mass that used to greet the neighborhood. Earlier this month, we hired some guys to come and dig out the fireweed, dandelion, and general funkiness out front. They hauled it all away and replaced it with composted manure.

Then we got to do the hands-on, fun stuff. Which included rounding up about 50 boxwood hedge plants (I think we bought all that were available in Humboldt), some lavenders, grasses, heathers (from Farmers' Market!), and twenty-three 2 1/2 gallon buckets full of small mulch. Then spacing out, planting, and putting mulch on the hillside.

Foundation planting

In April of this year, we ripped out some of the lawn bordering the front porch and put in some foundation plantings. The idea was to reduce the amount of lawn (it now takes 10 seconds less to mow the frontyard!) and to create an organic buffer to the tall Victorian foundation skirting.

Ripping out the grass by hand (with a maddock) was a challenge.. let's just say it was a good workout and I got to skip the gym for a couple days afterwards. We planted Mexican feather grass, California poppies, Rockrose, Heather, and some dogwood.

Before/during (including canine supervision):

After:

Church ladies complain about my front lawn

Although I would like to take credit for the brown lump of dead grass that is our front yard, I would like to point out that it was like this when we moved in 2 & 1/2 years ago. The first year we lived here we were optimistic. We watered, fed, seeded, aerated, & said nice things to the slope, thinking it could be cured with a combination of lawn care products & plucky optimism. It showed signs of hope all spring until about June, when it became clear that our efforts were futile.

It didn't take long for us to give up the not-so-good fight. In year 2 of our residency, we adopted an environmentally-friendly attitude, and stopped watering altogether. We considered it a sign of green pride that we weren't wasting water on our lawn. This had the added benefit of letting it die off so we didn't have to mow. As you can imagine, it looked freakin' fantastic (not really).

Months later, I was at a "ladies tea luncheon" with my mother over christmas when one of the ladies politely (kind of) said to me,

"Oh! Your house is looking great! except for that lawn (tisk) - looks like you have some work to do! Have you thought about fixing that?"

I could be indignant and say she was being rude, but she's right. The curb appeal of the house is stymied by the washed-out dirt patch that greets passerby.

Now that we're on year 3, we are ready to realize our dream of drought-tolerant, slope-friendly, low-maintenance plants to replace the grass. We want something interesting, non-invasive, beautiful, yet hardy. Is that too much to ask? California poppies, sage, Ceanothus? Plus, what do we have to do to prepare the washed out soil for new plants.

Suggestions?