The BIG Picture

When looking at the 'Big Picture' of all I have to do in my garden I am daunted. All the weeds, more ferns to prune, the second rain barrel that needs to be attached to some sort of drainage system, the old beds that need to be refurbished, the tree stumps and roots that need to be removed, and how, oh how, can I arrange plantings so that the elephantine grey house looks
less obvious; now there's a challenge! Every morning I stroll the yard with my last cup of coffee before work, pulling a weed here and there but mostly I look very closely to see what plants are pushing up and which buds are opening and I scan, and pause to envision what changes could and should be made to make better use of the space and growing conditions.
Today I went to West Seattle Nursery to listen to a landscape designer give a talk on revitalizing front gardens. You probably have noticed, all my pictures are backyard shots, there is a reason for that - the frontyard is ugly. But that will be changing, although not overnight. We have already begun by tearing out a pyracantha hedge and some low growing evergreen ground covers and one of two stunted norway pine trees. As I write this I realize I had better take a picture of the 'before' so everyone can appreciate the transformation. Oh, and the landscape designer said that Europeans call the area where they put their trash and garbage a 'yard' all other parts of their property are referred to as 'gardens'. So I shall take her lead and try to use the term garden to refer to the various vegetation habitats around our domicile.