3 days later












3 days later and this is how much better it looks already.

what i did...

mowed
edged
dug up the ferns in the left flower bed
turned the soil
weeded
removed unruly shrubs
started thinning the ferns on the right
filled 3 green trashcans full to the brim
maybe broke my back

but there is still so much to do and i'm actually excited instead of dreading it all.

yay.

this weekend i hope to further thin the ferns
and maybe even
plant some annuals.

we'll see about that.

anyway just wanted to thank you all again for your suggestions and support.
the gardener's cottage lives again!

have a beautiful weekend.

xo
janet

33 comments

  1. Janet you are a warrior. My back hurts just thinking about all that work. But wow. Amazing difference! It's looking great! You have such a lovely space.

    Don't kill yourself, but have a great weekend in your garden! Weather should be perfect :)

    xo
    Karen

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  2. Love, love, love the learning tool on your camera angles..............

    2nd is amazing.

    XO T

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  3. What a lovely retreat before and after all your hard work.

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  4. That looks great! I kind of like the big mass of ferns over the right too. Big masses are more peaceful.

    You're planting annuals and we have six inches of snow on the ground. I just took the laurel garlands around my front door.

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  5. Magnificent! Damn that's a lot of work in a short time! How fabulous.

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  6. Janet it looks beautiful and I am sure you are inspired now to carry on... Brilliant.. Happy, happy weekend! S xx

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  7. Janet,

    You accomplished a lot of such a short amount of time! Looks good already.

    It always amazes me how much better our front yard looks when my husband mows the lawn. (and our lawn is far from perfect, between our dog and those darn gophers there are a lot of bald spots)

    Have a great weekend!

    Linda
    xo

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  9. You go girl!!

    When the weather breaks, and I can see grass instead of snow, wanna come to NY and help me with mine? LOL!

    Looking great!!

    xo,
    A

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  10. I bow to your energy, Juanita! Have a fab weekend! xxx

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  11. Wow it's looking so lovely, well done!

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  12. I knew you could do it! It looks better already. Wish I could get out in my garden. Someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that Spring arrived 2 days ago. We woke up to 4 inches of show this morning.
    Martha

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  13. that should be "snow". But it was quite a "show" :-)

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  14. i always think the hardest part of a big project is just getting started.
    there's so much dread and inertia to overcome & once you finally just do it, everything seems easier.

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  15. I am so NOT surprised.If I send you a xanax and a plane ticket will you come and help me?

    xo Jane

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  16. Janet,
    You are amazing! The garden looks so much better and it's so neat that you are enjoying the process, well, maybe not your back.

    Keep us updated on the progress.

    Caroline

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  17. Janet. I had a weird coincidence. After seeing your post about the unruly garden I went to meditation and my teacher talked about the unruly garden of our minds. She talked about the way we want things to be, the way things are, the way gardens sometimes revert to their essential nature no matter how much we try to control. Etc. It was essentially about the being-ness of things and the letting things be and accepting. I know this is not much use when one is trying to master a REAL garden but the parallels of this with life really struck me.

    So let your garden be its essential self. Haha. And embrace its gardenness. :)

    Xo Terri

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  18. Lovely garden ! Lovely peaceful feel to it.

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  19. LOOKING GOOD...BUT...LOTS OF BACK BREAKING WORK IN A SHORT TIME. WHAT A GREAT JOB!, yea!
    bONNIE sCHULTE IN wi

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  20. Looks great so far!
    Here in the PNW we are freezin' our butts off and crossing our fingers that the snow forecast for next week will leave the trees and lilacs alone.
    My kids live in San Diego. We are SO moving to SoCal!

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  21. Oh how you have worked! Those healthy strong biceps came in handy no doubt! It looks so pretty. What a good feeling afterwards, isn't it?
    -Suzanne in Illinos

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  22. I'm so disappointed in you. Thought you'd have it all done by now.
    xo

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  23. Wow, big difference! It looks great... you have inspired me to get out in my yard and do some digging, weeding, and trash bag-filling!

    Barbara

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  24. Well done you! Isn't it wonderful when making an impact gives us the fuel to keep going.

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  25. We are waiting patiently in Massachusetts for the snow to melt, and hopefully the ground will thaw quickly because we have trees and bushes that need to be planted! It's encouraging to see someone else's garden while ours is still buried :) Thank you for sharing the list of what you did, because there is so much more involved to keeping a garden healthy and beautiful than I ever realized before and it's helpful to see the steps.

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  26. Go, Janet! Still too cold in Connecticut to garden, so I'll settle for tidying up my houseplants.

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  27. If it ever stops snowing in Central New York, I have so much to do outside. Illness kept me from doing much last summer and the garden when a bit wild. Fortunately, you can't see it form the road, only a small portion. Gardening is hard work and my flowers and shrubs always seem to get the upper hand quite quickly. You really did quite a bit in a short time!

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  28. I have a question unrelated to your (wonderful) round mirrors.

    Your blog has made me consider becoming a vegetarian for quiet some time now (hate to admit how much time, lots of considering taking place) and along with reading some books I recently decided to just do it. I am still eating seafood and diary though. I have done quite well with the no meat thing, haven't really found it hard, other than my husband and teen children still want to eat meat. They are old enough to make their own decisions so I make them meat and just don't eat it myself, yesterday I just had spinach and rice for dinner, but that is ok. The family is one of the reasons it took me so long to decide to stop eating meat, thinking that I would have to cook it anyway . .but I finally decided that I don't have to eat it and I DO love vegetables and salad of all kind.

    Tonight, however, I just didn't want to make something different for them or only eat "sides"
    and I WAS craving spaghetti and meat sauce, first time I had craved a meat dish. SO I got some Morning Star "sprinkles" that is supposed to be like ground beef. I decided I just wouldn't tell the family what they were eating. Only problem my spaghetti sauce tasted like little sponges soaked with a tomato flavour! It was horrible. I sauted my onion and garlic as usual, added and browned the "sprinkles" like I usually would the meat and added my canned tomatoes and herbs as usual. What did I do wrong? I must admit now that I think about it I haven't seen you use this product. Maybe there is a reason for that? What can I use instead? I have to have a meat like substitute because my teen son is like a caveman, if I offer him a plate of vegetables he makes a growl like noise, pouts and says "where's the meat!"

    Louise

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    1. dear louise, congratulatins on going meat free!

      the only faux hamburger i've used is trader joes and i've not had a problem with it. my husband likes it and so do my kids, although they aren't kids anymore. i saute it with onions and garlic and then add whatever i want to it. i try to stay away from all morningstar products as they use gmo ingredients.

      also, instead of eating just *sides*, try making them stars! there are a million ways to make what are traditionally side dishes into main dishes. almost all mexican food can be made with veggies, same with italian, chilis, casseroles, you name it. just a suggestion that may have your family wanting what you are eating!

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  29. I see that I left this comment under the wrong post, I am so glad you saw it! Thanks for your response.

    I recently read Rich Food, Poor Food and the author's state that so much of what is available in the supermarkets is not even food, our grandparents would not recognize it, it is an "edible food like substance" but goodness there is SO much to think about, not just animal cruelty and hormones or colorings and preservatives. GMO's! Arghhh! It feels a bit overwhelming at the moment, especially as organic food IS more costly and I do have to think about budget. I don't have a Trader Joe's near me but I do have a Sprout's. I'll see what meat substitutes they have and find out if they are GMO or not. Because if I am slowly going to do this (and no meat is just the start of the dietary changes I want to make) I should do it right.

    You are correct about vegetables being stars. I suppose for so long meat has been the star, but I was thinking about it, with just a couple more ingredients I could have topped the rice with the spinach the other night and it would have felt like a more complete meal.

    I do have one more question. I LOVE feta or blue cheese on my salads. Blue chees and cranberries, feta and olives, YUM. I have read that you like Daiya (sp) and I saw it in the organic section of my local Fry's the other day (and thought of you, isn't the Internet great, you don't know me but I think of you while shopping) but is there a good subsitute for feta or blue cheese. I know this isn't all about "me" and I may have to let somethings go, but honestly, those cheese along with Greek yoghurt (that I LOVE with berries) are the reasons I am not attempting to be vegan at this time. I don't drink milk or eat eggs anyway, find them gross.

    Thanks so much for listening to my ramblings!

    Louise

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    1. honestly louise i rarely buy daiya cheese. the only store that sells it is out of the way and while i do like it, i know it is just another processed food, which i try to stay away from. so no i don't know of any subs for feta or blue cheese. i always try to top my salads off with nuts and seeds and some creamy avocado as a garnish/treat. i don't mind your ramblings either. :)

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    2. Creamy avocado! Sounds good, definitey add that creamyness that the cheese brings, and with some nuts and seed . . oh I think I can do this! Thanks.

      Louise

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  30. Thanks for the inspiration to get out in my yard, roll up my sleeves and do some much-needed work. Here's hoping it turns out half as lovely as your garden.

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kindness is never out of style.

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