"Movie" of my yard

 

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I gave away all my huge potted roses: Graham Thomas, Evelyn, Peace. Also went was my much beloved daphnes. They were blooming so were in great demand.

I could hardly pry my fingers off the pots of my miniature pomegranate, azaleas, gardenia... Now I am left with those plants that no one wants, but I still love them. Why don't people appreciate Rose of Attar (scented geranium, Pelargonium)?  Don't they know that those are more rare, and are truly collectible, than hybrid tea roses or English roses?

The 'citrus grove' of Nagami kumquat, Bearss lime, Ruby grapefruit and lemon are in the ground so they will stay. The camellias are blooming so they add a little color. The Stephanotis still has not adjusted to being planted in the ground so it hasn't filled in the pillar trellis.  The huge classic roses (Salet, B. de Prevost, Musk) and the lovely Eglantyne are still in their severely pruned state. The rosemary (blooming), tarragon, sage, garlic chives should make the next cook who lives here happy. The yard will look so much better in 3 months.

Even harder to give away is gardening materials and tools. Bags of compost, potting soil, hand tools, soaker hoses, trellises. I had accumulated so much gardening-related things over the years! I had not noticed that I had invested so much in the yard. Even though I had put in so many plants and made so many changes (dug up Nandina hedges and replaced them with roses), there is much, much more that can and should be done to make the garden wonderful.

Why am I destroying 15 years of gardening work? I'm getting it ready to be sold. Boo-hoo-hoo!!!!!! We are selling the house so the yard also must look impersonal, clean, commercial... No more Maria's Garden with pots and pots of flowers being propagated and tropical plants growing wild.

I made a 54-second 'movie' of what the yard looks like now, after $2,500 of removing roots, bushes that were 'in the way,' re-locating paths and decorative stones, and adding tons of mulch and turf. It looks good, but it's not my garden anymore.