Four orange rocket barberry shrubs now greet me in my front side yard. And I love it.
Now that Gene and I have paid off our house, I am comfortable spending more money on making the front and back yard look nicer than just dirt and weeds. While I originally wanted to hire a landscaper to do it all, Gene convinced me that I could save money by coming up with my own plan and executing it. What started as a grandiose plan, has become a realistic one that I am very pleased by and excited about. The first part of the plan is now complete – I purchased barberry shrubs at my lovely local garden center and planted them all in one afternoon.
I just happened upon the barberry bush (in fact, I saw it in the garden center’s email newsletter!) but it turned out to be exactly what I’ve been looking for. It grows up to 5 feet tall, so it makes a decent barrier, and it looks amazing in every season – at least spring through fall. Granted, it takes like 15 to 20 years for it to grow 5 feet, but I’m going to enjoy it between now and then anyway.
Gene helped by digging all the holes and so it only took us about an hour to get them all in the ground. Two more bushes are in the backyard.
Today made me realize that while my landscape plan is realistic, it will take me a lot of time so I’m going to have to spend almost every nice weekend outside between now and first weekend in June when I pick up the flowers and plants I pre-ordered. I’m so excited to share my progress!
And now, two really cute pictures of Pippin from this weekend.
Just Lauren 