I wanted to post some “before”exterior pictures even though I’ve already started some of the work I wanted to do. I’m open to suggestions of what might go where. I’d like to add roses somewhere,lots of daylilies need to be split,and since I’m not a shrub/hedge person,those all need to go and flowers need to go in their places. Just for reference,the back of the house faces straight east,front of the house straight west. Ideally (but it doesn’t have to be 100%),I’d like the front of the house to be a butterfly area and the back for the birds. I have some grass ordered that is supposed to be good for goldfinches (love those!) that I”ll put in the backyard somewhere (but again,I don’t know where). I’m fascinated by grasses these days and would kind of like to add some more too. Again,no idea where.
Garage. wood pile in the middle (shouldn't be there - too close to the house,but it is protected from the elements a little bit),peonies along the side of the garage
Clumps of peonies. They have no borders and that bothers me. I need definition,clean lines. Posts were probably for a swing at some point. We use it for bird feeders. I might put gravel under it since bird seed tends to grow weeds. Still thinking on that. There are some wood-y looking things at the base of each pole. I'm hoping some lovely vine grows up these. Time will tell. Those are the family room windows. Under them is a bed of irises. Next to that is the grass where the dog poops. When we redo our deck (more on that later),I'll put gravel here for him to poop/pee in. He doesn't need to be a muddy mess. Oh,and in the peony patch alongside the garage there is a wild mess of chives. These need to be contained. Do we want any at all Adam?
Back corner of the house. Beautiful crab apple tree is nearly done for the season. Still not sure where to put the garden fort. Right now it's bungee corded to the post for the bird feeders because it was blowing away. It's windy out here!
Swingset. I love it. It rocks.
Garden for next year. It's way too busy and I don't even know where to start. 2 trees,a tree stump,overgrown lilacs,and two shrubs. Oh and tons and tons of mushrooms (from the rotting stump,I'm guessing). It could be quite nice back here and I love to imagine it (maybe it could be the kids'garden next year?)
More of the same garden
Same garden. Evergreen tree,great climbing tree (the kids behind us get pretty high in it - it's fun to watch!) and overgrown but wonderfully smelling lilacs.
Daylilies. These need to be split. There's also a potential vine thing growing in here too. I'd love to pull the daylilies and give this vine thing a chance to grow. I wonder what it is? Megan's bird feeder that she made over spring break is also hanging there. There's already finches in it too!
Swing set. Sandbox. The kids have spent hours in the sandbox. They love it!
Raspberry patch to the right. Anybody want to come weed it for me? It *really* needs it. These dirt mounds here used to have hens and chicks and then other plants on them. I thought I was just cutting back dead growth on the plants and it turns out I killed them (one of the first weeks we were here) oops! So I mowed over the hens and chicks and will flatten this out and put down grass seed. They were hard to mow around anyway!
Here's the back of the house. peonies are on the left of the picture,daylilies (ones that I haven't talked about yet) are on the right
Here's the shrubs (hedges? what's the difference) that I've been cutting away.
See the hose spigot? I couldn't reach it at. all. when we moved in. That's not okay for this flower loving person. I need to reach water to water the flowers that will soon be filling our gardens. I had to stop with these because our yard waste container was full. I'll start up again this afternoon when they take the stuff away.
Here's a hosta. I killed them (accidentally - I didn't know they could die!) at the old house. We'll see if we can be friends here. There's another shrub/hedge thing to the left too. It will be gone today or tomorrow.
When I was a kid we had these. We called them snake bushes because that's where the snakes lived. I keep thinking that. It needs to go away so I can stop being afraid to walk in the back yard. 
Yes,I have lots of irrational fears.
So the plan for the deck is to pull out those two shrubs and pull out the railing for the deck flanking those two. Then we'll put stairs down and this will hopefully open up to an either poured or paver patio. Depends on the budget. I'm excited about this,though.
Here's the daylilies I was talking about. They're just randomly placed,have no border,and need to be split. I'd move them in a heartbeat except that the sump pump hose (ugly) pours into them. If I took these away,it would just lay on the grass and be even uglier. Not sure what to do here. I'd like something to happen.
Side of the house. It's a hosta explosion. I need borders,and then to kill the hosta growing into the grass.
More hosta. These are nice and contained and I like them.
Front shrubs. I like these,but again they're a bit overgrown. It's very difficult to get to the hose spigot again and they're starting to grow above the windows. Still debating what to do here.
My butterfly garden. Plants are on order and I have pots with seeds planted in them but it froze last night so they're being protected in the garage.
