Apparently, they weren't yews after all.

As we were ripping them out yesterday afternoon, Toni found a tag under the last one that identified them as some sort of juniper. Whatever they were, as I was around them being hacked up and dragged about, scratching up my forearms, I learned that I think they're on my allergy list. Good riddance for one more reason then. My forearms are broken out and I was sneezing quite a bit yesterday. Anyway, like a dumb ass I forgot to take before pictures for those of you who haven't seen what the front of the house looked like dominated by six, six-foot tall junipers and two similarly sized privets. There are pictures around here somewhere, and when I find one I'll link to it later. Suffice that the junipers blocked the view of the entire porch railing from in front, and kept the porch in quite a lot of shadow. Between them and the privets, the sidewalk leading to the front door was crowded and I would often find it bridged with spider webs on summer mornings. Well, no more. After yesterday's work, this is what the area looked like:

• The new view from the porch.
  
• From the porch again, where the privets used to be.
  
• From the driveway.
  
• From the front yard / common drive.

Toni's mom and I went to Lowe's and picked up three petunias, four silver mound artemisia, and three hybrid sage this morning. Nothing that will grow quite as large as what we had. And while I can smell the hybrid sage, it's not as bad to my sinuses as what I've run into before. They and fifteen bags of topsoil, after watering and feeding, look like this:

• All the new plants.
  
• Two of the petunias.
  
• The third petunia, sage and artemisia.

I've got no arm strength left for the day, and it's only just after noon. But the front bed is done. I may still mulch around the lamp post and neighboring rock, just because I hate using the string trimmer, but that can wait.

"Before" Pics

Toni found some shots of the front of the house from before removal of the junipers and privets. Well before. These shots are at least two years old, and they're winter shots, after a heavy snowfall. But you'll get the idea. :-)

• From the common drive.
  
• From partway down the driveway.
  
• Closer to the house.
  
• The privets from the porch. They were quite a bit larger than this, actually.
  
• The entry walk from the porch. The junipers are weighed down by the snow in these shots.
  
• Looking over the porch railing.

_Anansi Boys_ Tour

Looks like the closest Neil Gaiman is going to be (at least to where we are now) is Naperville, IL, on September 22. A Thursday. :-P