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I have a yard but I have xeriscaped much of it. I still have much work to do, as I have been neglecting the yard for years because of my health--but I will not plant any grass but more ornamental low moisture tolerant flowers, plants and shrubs. I refuse to waste water on blue grass. Livecontent
At an abandoned schoolyard near here, the entire field behind it is pale purple lavender, one whole beautiful sea of it. It looks and smells divine. It's about 3 feet high. How about planting that?
The only reason I'm still here is because of this housing market - houses are just sitting now. My patience for all of it is long gone.
I see a number of people saying this right now and not making a move because of this belief. It is true of course that houses aren't moving, and if you put your house on the market in this climate it may sit for a very long time resulting in less than you want to get for it, if you sell at all. I struggled with this for a very long time. I should have sold my recent home several years ago but was "waiting for the market to come back." Well it didn't, and things got a lot worse. Three years ago I could;ve gotten 259 for that house. Two years later I would have been thrilled to get 249. As it was I took even less, considerably, but at least I didn't have to pay a realtor commission to add to my woes. However, am I ever glad I sold when I did, this past spring. There is no price tag to be put on a huge burden being taken away.
Plus, I don't mean to sound pessimistic.....but I am.... that the housing market is not going to get any better in the next ___ years. Why? The younger folks who would be buying can't get the mortgages so easily, many don't want the kinds of houses we have to offer, and the foreclosures coupled with the enormous wave of Boomers unloading houses spells a crappy market. I decided that no matter what price I could fetch, I was going to sell this year and just move on.
I think anyone wanting to move on should bite the bullet and stick the sign out front. It may be "now or never" or a very long time, and we're not getting any younger.
That was my thinking, NEGirl. I priced my house more aggressively than my agent recommended because a similar place down the block had been on the market for nine months and I simply could not bear to spend another winter there. I made sure it was sparkling clean and clutter-free and it sold quickly. (I owned it free and clear, so did not have to negotiate with a lender in order to sell it at such a low price.) I have no regrets about selling it. I would have taken an even lower price just to get rid of it.
At an abandoned schoolyard near here, the entire field behind it is pale purple lavender, one whole beautiful sea of it. It looks and smells divine. It's about 3 feet high. How about planting that?
I think I have some plants in that family--the bees love those purple flowers. Now I got to find where they stash their honey
I see a number of people saying this right now and not making a move because of this belief. It is true of course that houses aren't moving, and if you put your house on the market in this climate it may sit for a very long time resulting in less than you want to get for it, if you sell at all. I struggled with this for a very long time. I should have sold my recent home several years ago but was "waiting for the market to come back." Well it didn't, and things got a lot worse. Three years ago I could;ve gotten 259 for that house. Two years later I would have been thrilled to get 249. As it was I took even less, considerably, but at least I didn't have to pay a realtor commission to add to my woes. However, am I ever glad I sold when I did, this past spring. There is no price tag to be put on a huge burden being taken away.
Plus, I don't mean to sound pessimistic.....but I am.... that the housing market is not going to get any better in the next ___ years. Why? The younger folks who would be buying can't get the mortgages so easily, many don't want the kinds of houses we have to offer, and the foreclosures coupled with the enormous wave of Boomers unloading houses spells a crappy market. I decided that no matter what price I could fetch, I was going to sell this year and just move on.
I think anyone wanting to move on should bite the bullet and stick the sign out front. It may be "now or never" or a very long time, and we're not getting any younger.
It's too late in the season now to put that dang sign up. I signed up with Trulia.com and they send homes for sale or sold in my area. I recently got a page full of homes for sale - all foreclosures!! Who knew?????????? Best kept secret - you can drive by some of these homes and there's no sign that it's a foreclosure or even for sale. This is supposedly a "good" area. I'm probably spoiled - my house in Denver sold in 2 days - and 2 days was long enough to deal with living under a microscope. OK - I need to just vacate this place for a bit so I can get a refreshed attitude - which is why I'm planning a trip to CO to visit Ft Collins & Co Springs.
I really need an "attitude adjustment".
I wonder if those lavendar flowers you spoke of are the same weeds I've been fighting for years here. They are pretty when they flower, but they are weeds and spread and are impossible to get rid of. There's an area in front that I have totally ripped out everything and dug out every root (or so I thought) and they still pop up.
It's too late in the season now to put that dang sign up. I signed up with Trulia.com and they send homes for sale or sold in my area. I recently got a page full of homes for sale - all foreclosures!! Who knew?????????? Best kept secret - you can drive by some of these homes and there's no sign that it's a foreclosure or even for sale. This is supposedly a "good" area. I'm probably spoiled - my house in Denver sold in 2 days - and 2 days was long enough to deal with living under a microscope. OK - I need to just vacate this place for a bit so I can get a refreshed attitude - which is why I'm planning a trip to CO to visit Ft Collins & Co Springs.
I really need an "attitude adjustment".
I wonder if those lavendar flowers you spoke of are the same weeds I've been fighting for years here. They are pretty when they flower, but they are weeds and spread and are impossible to get rid of. There's an area in front that I have totally ripped out everything and dug out every root (or so I thought) and they still pop up.
Let me tell you something, which I learned. Weeds are plants that are hardy plants that spread easily in one area and are very common; they are then considered an annoying plant, a weed. These plants may have flowers and are colorful but too common to be considered an ornamental plant.
However, enterprising businesses transplant these plants in pots, label them with their fancy scientific name; and ship them to another location, where they do not normally grow. They are now a rare curiosity which is not normally seen in the new area. So, they can now be sold at a substantial price as a flowering plant or ground cover in the new location. Pretty tricky, do you not think.
Let me tell you something, which I learned. Weeds are plants that are hardy plants that spread easily in one area and are very common; they are then considered an annoying plant, a weed. These plants may have flowers and are colorful but too common to be considered an ornamental plant.
However, enterprising businesses transplant these plants in pots, label them with their fancy scientific name; and ship them to another location, where they do not normally grow. They are now a rare curiosity which is not normally seen in the new area. So, they can now be sold at a substantial price as a flowering plant or ground cover in the new location. Pretty tricky, do you not think.
Livecontent
I am a horticulturist, so I got a chuckle out of your comment. A weed is a plant out of place. A rose plant in a cornfield would be a weed. Could it be lavender growing near you, Livecontent?
I am a horticulturist, so I got a chuckle out of your comment. A weed is a plant out of place. A rose plant in a cornfield would be a weed. Could it be lavender growing near you, Livecontent?
I'm glad to have read both your comments as I've often wondered why what I've come across and thought were lovely flowers were considered weeds. Think I'm gonna ask some neighbors if they would like to let me have some of their weed.
I am a horticulturist, so I got a chuckle out of your comment. A weed is a plant out of place. A rose plant in a cornfield would be a weed. Could it be lavender growing near you, Livecontent?
I like to get people to chuckle--it makes them think. Come on, you know what I said is true. I know nothing about plants or gardening. I am just an ex New Yorker who knows that there are "entrepreneurs" who will look at every angle to make money.
It makes no difference what the correct definition for a "weed". If someone can sell it and call it a ornamental plant in another location, then it is not a weed, to the buyer.
Here is Colorado we have what is commonly called the Colorado Bind Weed. It grows voraciously, spreads rapidly and has a nice little white flower that has a delicate flower scent. It is extremely hardy. It makes a good ground cover. I argue with my neighbors and say: it works; it stays green and needs no water; it has nice white flower. So what do we do, we try to kill it because we call it a weed then we go to a nursery and buy another ground cover, that is not as adaptable to this area.
According to your definition, the Colorado Bind Weed is not a weed because it is not "out of place". It belongs where it belongs. There are many plants, flowering and all different leave colored plants that will grow here, quickly, on any open ground, without any water or care and they stay green. We do not know their names; we only know that they are pervasive and therefore "weeds".
Why can I not let my property grow whatever nature provides. If it survives good, if not, that is the way. Dandelions grow real good--then why are they "weeds". I have not used pesticide or herbicide or fungicide for years. I eat the fresh dandelion leaves in the spring, before the plant flowers. Then it stays green, needs no water and has beautiful yellow flowers with a good scent. But, It is not acceptable because it is a weed.
I let some of my property grow whatever it wants to grow but some neighbors have objected because I am growing "weeds". I mow these weeds and let the clippings work back into the earth. Ah, that is not accepted. I should plant water sucking blue grass in an area where water is precious; water every night the property and the sidewalk, like some of these morons in this neighborhood; add poisons to make it artificially green and put the clippings in the trash. But these people are conscious of their health and the environment; buy organic groceries but bring them back to their home surrounded by a poisoned land so they can have artificially green grass.
Now, I plant a fancy xeriscape. I buy all these different drought tolerant plants, put expensive weed prevention paper; decorate with mulch and rock; I spend hundreds of dollars---and then what do I do--I walk around with Roundup and spray to kill the natural "weed" plants, which are in their proper place and are hardily fighting to survive. It is stupid and idiotic.
Now the neighbors come by and give me all these complements about my xeriscape, of what a good job I did--"it looks so natural"
So, tell me your opinion.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 07-24-2011 at 12:38 PM..
Excellent post. It's my regret that CD told me I must spread reps around before sending more your way.
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