jessica

The home of Jaime and Nina Cotero at 2342 Brookmere is the December yard of the month in Lazybrook.  This yard is next door to last month’s “Yard of the Month” and this month we have another new house which was built and first occupied in 2002.  Jaime and Nina spent several months away from home this year but arrived back in August.

On arrival back in their home, Nina made a “honey do” list for Jaime.   The yard was in bad shape and Nina’s list included a lot of projects in the yard.  Nina wanted the flower beds rejuvenated.    Jaime went out 290 to a stone yard and bought some stones for a border.   The stones are sandstone and as soon as Jaime finished the first bed, Nina said “good job” and asked Jaime to build another stone border.

Across the front of the house Autumn Encore Azaleas are blooming profusely.   The blooms are a coral color.    In front of the azaleas near the sandstone border the Cotero’s have planted some very hearty looking begonias and some white and pink cyclamen.

On the other side of the front door, dwarf Yaupons are planted along the side of the sidewalk nearest the house.   Two new Autumn Encore Azaleas have been recently added behind the Yaupons.  The decorative metal fence behind these plants has been taken down and is being sandblasted and powder coated and should be back in place within a week or two.  Across the sidewalk toward the street, a large bed with the sandstone border is filled with colorful Pansies and Kale as well as a few Snapdragons.   One large Sago palm is the large plant in the bed.

This yard features two of the biggest Pine trees in Lazybrook as well as a Persimmon tree which has no leaves right now but it does have ripe Persimmons, some of which have already fallen to the ground.   Nina was very pleased about being selected “Yard of the Month” and Jaime said she had already put the news  on her Facebook page.

For November, we selected the home of Betty Allen at 2338 Brookmere for “yard of the month.”  Betty has lived at this address since 1990 but because of foundation problems with the original house, she and her former husband decided to tear down the house and divide the property into two lots. The new house was completed in 2002 and Betty moved into it 2003.   This year she added a double garage and above the garage she added a huge quilt room where she will keep all her quilting machines and supplies and where she make quilts. In the photograph, the new addition is everything to the left of the porch.

The old driveway was a single lane and the new driveway is double.  The new driveway required that a large oak tree be taken down.  The tree was already dying in places and when they cut it down they discovered that the tree was hollow so Betty feels lucky they cut it down before it fell down.  Betty had the old tree ground into mulch which she uses on her flower beds.

After the new addition, Betty asked the man who takes care of her irrigation system to supervise the installation of some new landscaping.   She already had salmon/pink Encore Azaleas across the front.   They are blooming now and Betty says she has some azalea blooms almost all year long.   A new sidewalk from the front step to the driveway is very nicely curved and gets wider as it gets near the step.   Betty selected some flagstone for the border around some new beds.    She wanted the edge of the beds to be neat yet she wanted them to have a casual appearance.   In the beds she selected some Crotons for color and she also added purple fountain grass, variegated Lirope and some Foxtail fern. There are pink and red Pentas in the bed in front of the sidewalk.    In the large front bed a very large moss rock about five feet long is placed in front of the Azaleas.   The rock divides the color are.   On one side Betty planted snapdragons and on the other side she planted purple Fountain Grass. She now has three Milkweed plants which the Monarch caterpillars love to eat.

Just last week Betty found a 12 – 15 foot tall Shumard Oak tree on sale at Home Depot.  The Shumard Oak tree is one of the largest southern red oak trees. It grows moderately fast  and is a handsome shade tree and is deciduous.  Shumard Oak trees have shiny, dark green leaves, and the bark is gray and smooth. Shumard Oak trees tolerate poor soil and drought conditions, especially after they are established. The outstanding deep crimson-red fall color produced by the Shumard Oak is an excellent reason to plant this species.   The new Shumard Oak is planted near the center of the front yard.   Off to the right, an older Hickory tree is producing Hickory nuts – more than the squirrels can eat for the first time.