Last Thursday was moving day. It was an extremely long and tiring day yet I was up at the crack of dawn to explore our new surroundings. I did a walk about the gardens with the camera noting some of the plants that I haven't grown before or have very little experience with.

Greenspace

Our property is on a deadend road. A greenspace dotted with a stand of trees separates our road from the main road. The greenspace buffers any noise from passing traffic while creating a wonderful scenic view when leaving the house.

I took this photo just as the sun was rising on June 29. Sunrise is one of my favourite times of the day. The air was cool with little humidity promising a beautiful day.

Laneway

After walking back up the laneway I turned to take this photo. It was the first photo of our new house to appear on my other blogs. I think it is majestic and peaceful. The boxwood (Buxus) lined laneway beckons exploration. Not shown in the photo is the garage. The laneway ends with an asphalt to the front of the garage for extra parking and a pad at the side of the garage for driving into the garage. I have no experience with boxwoods so will be learning a lot about them in the very near future. Watch for a post focusing on boxwoods soon.

A large weeping willow (Salix babylonica) with a trunk diameter of about four feet or more graces the garden area between the garage and road. I have never had a weeping willow of my own but I grew up with weeping willows. We used to swing on the branches Tarzan style over the river until my mom caught us. These beautiful trees are quite popular along water banks. Years ago we rented a house with a weeping willow so we know from experience that these can be dirty trees for vehicles. Prior to this house, the last experience with a weeping willow was from my neighbour's property. Spring storms clear out a lot of the dead branches and some new ones as well. The only real maintenance for these trees is removal of dead branches and pruning underneath if they overhang laneways as ours does. Saturday we pruned the bottom to allow the vehicles to pass underneath.

On my walk about I noticed the following plants that I have no experience with: buttercup, hostas, miniature rose bushes, coral bells and silver grass. There are a few so far unidentified plants as well. There is a lot of English Ivy being used as ground cover. If you read the previous entry on English Ivy, I can attest it does provide a good habitat for rodents. Other potential pests I noticed were: grackles, squirrels, earwigs, and carpenter ants. Measures are already underway for rodent and ant control.

Stay tuned to see more pictures and read about my new gardening adventures.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2007