Backyard Project

I did a lot of this work Saturday morning. Everything to the right of the steps was just grass, and a strip of dirt and gravel mix extending about two feet out from the house.

More of those great cobblestones courtesy of South Orange Public Works, a new rhododendron, a boxwood and a couple of small Japanese holly bushes. Rounded out with red mulch, and a few planters and garden tchotchkies.

The forsythia to the left of the stairs are our miracle project. I dug out a few cuttings when I lived at my old house, and brought them over in heavy-duty ziploc bags. The proceeded to get covered with the massive snowfall of December 26, 2010 and sat, frozen the rest of the winter.

Once the snow melted, we dropped them, baggie and all, into the planters up there until we figured out what to do with them. Assuming they were dead, we were surprised to see them sprout leaves!

And so they sat all last summer. Then, in the fall, we dug out that little garden and plopped them in with some fresh topsoil and mulch. Whaddya know, they’re thriving!