Ever since we moved into our house two years ago, we’ve been meaning to do something about the bushes. The old couple we bought the house from did a horrible job maintaining it, inside and out. We focused on getting the inside fixed up right away, but we held off on some of the outside work partly because of money, and partly because we were busy with two tiny kids.
This spring, we were all ready to deal with the dead, dying and just plain ugly bushes and shrubs. Joe and I were all set to get an estimate to have them ripped out, but then the hateful old biddy next door made some snotty comments about how all the neighbors were making bets on how long it would be before we got rid of the dead bushes. And this is a good example of the stupid mean passive-agressive things this woman does. None of the other neighbors care about our bushes. But her nasty little comment made me want to leave those bushes there indefinitely just to annoy her.
Here are the worst offenders…And take a look at the garage next door. That’s the old biddy’s garage. Nice fake butterflies on there, right?
This ugly shrub thing by the back door needed to go. I think it was just a giant overgrown weed.
This was our very own bramble patch. These bushes had no shape, didn’t flower, and they were stuck right in the middle of our side yard with no apparent purpose. So typical of the former owners and the way they took care of the house.
This hedge along the front was deceptively good-looking from afar, but they were taking over the sidewalk, and we couldn’t trim them back very far because they were all dead inside.
These three were providing potential cover for someone looking to break into my office room window, not to mention the fact that they were crazy shapes and falling down.
While I was taking the before pictures, I snuck a picture of the old biddy’s front yard. This is the woman who complains about the state of our ugly bushes….that photo just speaks for itself!
Finally, I gave in and gave up the hate for the woman long enough to go ahead and agree to get rid of the ugly bushes. The crew showed up this morning, and an hour later we have a clean slate…
And a lot of gaps to fill in. I think I’ll wait till next spring – partly to piss off the old biddy, partly because that’s the best time to mooch plants off of friends and family when they’re small and easy to split. Joe’s parents have a ton of hostas at their house.
Here’s a tiny little nugget of knitting content – I’ve been working on that second Sockapalooza sock this week, and making decent progress. I just want to get it finished up so I can move on to the other five things screaming at me for some attention.
So Biddy lives on Tacky Drive eh? LOL
I think that your house looks so much better now. Yes, I often think about big huge bushes, and how people can take their time and break in.
In Italian there is a saying… loosely translated. This is *my* house and *I* rule it!!
Don’t pay Biddy any mind.
The sock looks great.
BTW, what size Niddy Noddy is a good all-purpose size? TIA
You could plant a bunch of gnomes in various sizes where the biddy could see it. plus a large plastic flamingo or two. and the wooden thingies of a boy bending over with his butt crack showing, and wooden tulips. Ah, this sounds like fun.
Go check out garage sales and buy the tackiest stuff there.
tee hee.
Ruth in NJ
What a sad empty life your neighbor must have to be so nosey and nasty. I feel some pity for her–imagine going through life with no sense of taste.
Good luck with the gardening–I’m hoping the bunnies in our yard will eat the weeds but it’s just not happening.
I love a clean slate! Why not think about creating backyard habitat (http://www.nwf.org/backyard/)? It’s great for the environment, fun for kids and, with a little luck, you’ll have some real butterflies to ogle over.
Too bad the crew couldn’t have hauled some of the neighbor’s junk away when they tore out the bushes…I love your blog, thanks for the fun visit to your place!
Whoops… I was going to tell you how to fix those front hedges, but they don’t seem to be an issue now.
Biddy does seem to like the tacky lawn ornaments, doesn’t she?
Put up a couple more “Peace” signs in the front! I’m an antagonist at heart, and wouldn’t be able to resist myself. Good on you! I suppose tall prairie grasses are out of the question. That would give biddy something to complain about ;D
I think your old biddy’s sister lives next to me!!! She ripped out all of her grass and paved the yard and then installed green indoor/outdoor carpeting on her cement porch. She has plastic flowers in pots and 37(!)plastic butterflies…
I’m so glad there is a buffer between us and the “Biddy House”, I’m just sorry it has to be you.
Your clean slate looks great. The bud had a great time watching all the work being done out the window. He is in a big truck and machine phase right now.
It never crossed my mind that niddy noddies came in different sizes, but, duh – it makes sense.
I had a comment once from my neighbor after I spent all afternoon trimming my front bushes…Oh that looks SO much better! Yeah well – we all do not have hours of time to spend gardening do we? It is amazing how different the house looks without your bushes.
A friend of mine spent a great amount of time and a fair amount of money installing an herb garden and lovely lavender bush edgings on her front walk. When they sold the house, HER passive-aggressive neighbor told her she was going to help the new owner rip out all those “weeds.” I guess her seasonings all came from the Piggly Wiggly spice aisle! Enjoy your planning.