Month: July 2016

So I love green.  If you’ve been following me, you know this by now.  What I’ve come to hate lately is black – more specifically blacktop.  Out here on the east coast, asphalt is everywhere. Not sure why it was never big in AZ.  It was only on the major streets and highways out there.  Here it’s in my yard, well takes up a bit of space in my yard anyway.  I have a huge asphalt driveway and it’s pretty old.  It’s black, uneven, and cracked in many places which then pools up water when it rains and makes bigger cracks.  When it freezes it breaks apart.  It’s been bad lately but seeing as I’ll be selling my current home soon, I felt like I needed to make my beautiful yard the best it could be with a better driveway.  I didn’t actually get a before picture because I wasn’t planning on blogging about my driveway, but it was something like the picture below. Those are what you call spiderweb or alligator cracks.  They were hideous.  This was something beyond my green thumb’s capabilities.  A friend recommended Paving Columbia SC and I trust her completely so I went with them.  This last weekend they came out and can I just say – WOW.  My house looks amazing now.   Continue reading Green + Black

So lately the hot weather has reared it’s ugly head and with that brings the storms, which in turn brings the BUGS.  I hate bugs.  The gnats and mosquitos out here are out of control.  Remember, I’m from out west.  Very few flying-biting insects out in the desert.  Anyway, I recently heard about mosquito repelling plants.  Who knew?!  I’ll try anything at this point and I love gardening so this is right up my alley.

I’m moving into a new home at the end of the year…a home all my own.  This is my plan – hoard mosquito repelling plants and put them everywhere.  I found many articles on these types of plants but lets just reference my favorite selections from this one.

Citronella Grass – Not sure I ever heard of it but apparently it’s scented like lemons. And growing up in AZ with lemon trees all around, this will remind me of home. This scent naturally repels mosquitos or keeps them at bay.  Low maintenance is another one of it’s great qualities! This plant is gorgeous too! I love ornamental grasses. You’ll definitely see these in my yard.  I’ll be putting these them in containers all over my patios most likely.

Continue reading Green Means Bugs