Yesterday afternoon we took a trip to Eden Nursery where we had purchased our bottle brush tree. It suffered this past summer from the heat and lack of enough water (although the locals said it rained quite often here), so we went to buy some fertilizer to try to save it. We got advice on how to trim our bushes and on how to effectively treat the bottle brush tree. I trimmed the dead branches last night, and tomorrow we will take time to fertilize it around the drip line. I have been trying to water it each day to keep it going, and my attention to it seems to have helped. It is far from lush and healthy, but with some love, it may flourish yet.
 |
| After trimming, our bottle brush tree looks thin but better. |
After our nursery visit, we traveled to Seminole to Palm Trees Direct to buy the foxtail palm trees for our front yard. We picked out two trees that matched in height, and they were 1/3 the price than were the foxtail palms at the nursery. These folks specialize in palm trees, so their inventory is always full and healthy, and they are experts at planting them the right way. They called today to schedule delivery and planting. They are coming on Friday to add the foxtail palms to our front yard.
Yesterday afternoon, in addition to trimming the bottle brush tree, I also trimmed the gardenia tree and the lemon/lime bushes in front of the Florida room windows. Lastly, I tied the bougainvillea onto the trellis by the live oak tree. I planted two little bougainvillea bushes last spring with the hopes that they would thrive through the summer. They did. We purposely planted the bougainvillea to fill in the space between the tree and the fence, knowing that bougainvillea love to climb structures. As I tied up the branches, I remembered (painfully!) that bougainvillea have large thorns. Ouch! I am happy, though, that the thorns will keep critters from trying to climb through the gap in our fence.
 |
| The gardenia tree is about to bloom with beautiful white flowers. |
 |
| The bougainvillea frame the live oak tree. |
Today started with me tackling the overgrown bushes in the front yard. The may bush at the side of the house was overgrown with tall weeds, and it badly needed reshaping. I think that it will bloom this year with its white flowers now that it has had a "haircut."
 |
| The may bush once again has a rounded apperance. |
From there, I moved on to the bushes in the front garden which have grown at least a foot since we left in May. Once I cut them back, I could actually start to see the slower-growing crotons behind them. The front garden actually looks civilized again!
 |
| The "before" picture of the front garden. |
 |
| The "after" picture which allows the back bushes to peek through to the front. |
The final outdoor task, which I completed just before the sun made the job too hot to handle, was to weed the areas around the stepping stones which temporarily make up our front walk. Now the house looks like someone actually lives here. I cannot wait to get the pavers in so that job will disappear before next year.
 |
| The cleaned-up path to our front door. |
A major step forward happened this morning when Arry's Roofing Service came out to give us a bid on a new roof. Dave, the estimator, was wonderful. He gave us our options, made some suggestions, and put together a bid for a new shingled roof with a moved kitchen vent, a new sloped roof for the Florida room, and a solar-powered roof vent to keep the air moving freely through the attic. We were pleased that the bid came in at a reasonable price that was within our budget. Arby's is booked out for a couple months, so we probably will get our new roof sometime in December.
Dave also gave us a lead for a company that could install an insulated lanai roof. Rick set up an appointment for an estimate from that company. They will be here on Friday.
The last bid of the day came from a local electrical company who agreed to move the electrical mast on our house. Before we can add a lanai roof, we have to move the overhead wires. We need to move the mast and the wires before we have the new roof put in since the mast will leave a hole in the roof. By moving the mast, we also will be able to take the meter off the back wall of the house. That will give us a smooth, blank wall in our future lanai, making that porch much more inviting.
Rick has done an incredible job of researching what needs to be coordinated and calling in all of these contractors for bids. So we have taken care of the landscaping, roof, electrical service, and lanai... all within the last two days. We have committed a lot of remodeling money, but by the time we leave in May, we once again will make drastic changes to Gladys. I hope she appreciates the cost and effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment