Good bye ivy

Well, for those of you (Amy) who thought that the ivy in the front yard was ugly, you won't have to look at it any more. The cold snap that came through in April killed what little ugly ivy was left. So, we decided to make landscaping the front yard the project of the summer. We were fortunate that Pat works with someone who does landscaping on the side. He was able to give us direction on which plants to use and where to put them. Below are a few pictures of the end result. You may notice that there isn't flashy color everywhere. The main reason for this is that we chose plants that would stay green all year. We also didn't want to be spending a bunch of money and time on annuals every spring. So, with a selection of about 60 evergreens and perennials, we have a yard that will not require much maintenance or money in the future. The guy helping us with the design suggested that my little rock wall wasn't going to cut it. So, I built a new retaining wall out of cut limestone. Hopefully we can keep everything alive. Next summer, the side of the house and the back yard get a makeover.