To looking like this:
I know what you're thinking, why the heck did you tear out that lovely green hedge? Now you are left with brown dirt, grey concrete, and a porch that doesn't match the rest of the house.
Well, there are several reasons and, before I list them, let me assure you that this is not the finished product. We have a long way to go.
The first reason for the clear cut is that at some point we need to paint the house, garage, and deck. It needs it, badly. Painting the front of the porch would have been impossible with the hedge still in place. Secondly, our lovely plant (some sort of laurel, I believe) was a sturdy grower and was constantly needing to be pruned. As it was about 10 feet tall at the southern end, this involved Chris, a hedge trimmer, and a precariously balanced ladder. Plus, it blocked a lot of light from the dining room. And I couldn't walk by the dang thing without believing that a battalion of armed robbers was hiding amongst the foliage, ready to pounce. I am fully convinced that our hedge could have swallowed a semi truck and we would have been none the wiser. It was that big.
Bailey is perhaps the happiest with the new arrangement; he can stand at the dining room door and peer down into the street below, growling at lounging cats and passing pups.
The last bit of the job is the least pleasant: hauling this monstrous pile of greenery off to the transfer station.
Baby steps, it's all about the baby steps.
