What do you think of this house?
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I’ve been told that ivy will eventually kill a tree. Might take a while and it’s kind of picturesque. Maybe I’ll keep it.
That may well be an azalea or a rhododendron. That would be disappointing but not heartbreaking. I like those too and they won’t grow in my very sunny yard.
@Steve-Miller said in What do you think of this house?:
I’ve been told that ivy will eventually kill a tree. Might take a while and it’s kind of picturesque. Maybe I’ll keep it.
I see mixed opinions on ivy. It probably does need to be kept in check which means it's one more gardening chore. I love the look but probably wouldn't plant it because of the extra work, especially since it could involve getting up into the tree to prune the stuff.
Kind of like ground cover. "Vigorous" can be a good thing or not, depending on how much work you want to put into keeping it in check.
From a distance, those trees look like they might be silver maples. My neighbors have a bunch of them in their yard, all cabled. And they've been cabled since we moved in here in 1980. One or two cables needed to be replaced a few years ago when they finally rusted through and snapped.
Silver maples aren't the best trees, but they are there and provide a lot of shade. I wouldn't take them out either.
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Temps climbed to a sultry 51 degrees and I started cleaning up the yard at Kim’s house. A few highlights:
Hidden in some trees I found this yard art. Paint it? Let it rust?
@Steve-Miller Very cool. I would leave it just the way it is.
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Wow @Steve-Miller that looks like a lot of work but with beautiful potential! We had winter camellias in our house in the south, they were beautiful! The leaves are waxier than rhododendrons, IIRC (we had those too).
And ivy, we had that too, in the back and sides. It looked nice but always made me nervous. I'm glad we don't have any here. (yet! knock on wood and all that)
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Ivy IMO is awful stuff, covers your brickwork and damages it, suffocates your nice planting.
Camellias on the other hand are beautiful evergreens. We were so fortunate in our previous house to have two, planted we guessed in 1952 when the house was built. About 15-20 ft high one flowered near pure white and the other a dark pink, they flowered either side of Christmas filling the garden with a mass of colour. Just fabulous when mature.
I would go out on Christmas day and fill a couple of vases with the flowers. They only last a couple of days once picked. -
Very nice!
20 ft. tall? Yikes! The tallest one I’ve ever seen might have been 6’ tall.
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Always remember, you can prune and bonsai anything(says my wife).
Just visited friends who'd removed their front garden hedge. Turns out it consisted mostly of a bay tree that had been espalier'd 5 feet left and right, rather than growing undisturbed 30feet up!
Who knew I'd be leaving with a trunk of wood for carving
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House update.
I’ve replaced all of the receptacles and switches. Happy to find that whoever wired this house did a decent job.
Installed board/batten wainscot in the living/ dining room. It will be painted kind of a dark sage green. Nice to use my tools again!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/031Bzi4lj4-5CODYyM5E1yc9w
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e0hEagxf1AZ90YB-ctEQ4hQw
Board and batten detail in Jack’s room. Not sure what color it’s going to be. It’s a “Minecraft” room - not sure what that means. You can see some samples on n the wall.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a6HC2Cd77AifJlCkIembdIgw
Kim painted her office walls herself. I call it the Pumpkin Room. The rest of the house will be painted by pros in about a week.
Carpet going in!
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@steve-miller wow, you all are making fast work of it! Looks great!
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House update.
I’ve replaced all of the receptacles and switches. Happy to find that whoever wired this house did a decent job.
Installed board/batten wainscot in the living/ dining room. It will be painted kind of a dark sage green. Nice to use my tools again!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/031Bzi4lj4-5CODYyM5E1yc9w
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0e0hEagxf1AZ90YB-ctEQ4hQw
Board and batten detail in Jack’s room. Not sure what color it’s going to be. It’s a “Minecraft” room - not sure what that means. You can see some samples on n the wall.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0a6HC2Cd77AifJlCkIembdIgw
Kim painted her office walls herself. I call it the Pumpkin Room. The rest of the house will be painted by pros in about a week.
Carpet going in!
@Steve-Miller Oooh I love the wainscoting. Very nice! I also love the pumpkin color paint. Looking good!
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Ordered a dark stained butcher block top for the rolling island.
Lighting makes the island look a different color but it’s the same color as the cabinets. New sink is a black composite model
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The previous owner built it from four wall cabinets and did a really nice job.
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Grandson Jack’s room. Minecraft theme. Sharon made the Minecraft drapes.
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Laundry equipment came with the house. Kenmore direct drive units some 30 years old and they still work!
