One of the many things I fell in love with when we first toured #countryhouse was the landscaping around the home. There’s a lot of space, given the house is one story and has 2,400 square feet. But the (now previous) owners obviously had done a lot of work. Outlining the entire house, patio and some of the nearby garage is a crushed gravel path. Perfect for admiring the many flowers, plants, shrubs and small trees carefully planted and surrounded by mulch/bark.

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I love the holly trees, sage, mountain laurel, Pride of Barbados, crape myrtle trees (I think), daisies, santolina (again, a guess) and numerous other plants and bushes I’ve yet to identify. There’s plenty of nandina, too, and although I loved the festive look its berries and leaves gave the house during the holidays, I have decided most of it won’t be around this coming Christmas. The shoots that keep popping up out of the ground are endless. Not to mention extremely time-consuming to remove. It’s easy to understand why it’s considered an invasive. Did I mention how impossible it is to get rid of?

The other thing I have to get a handle on is how to control the weeds that have sprung up in the gravel path and the mulch/bark. Admittedly, I’ve never felt the need to keep my previous gardens weed-free, often letting them go wild until I couldn’t see my veggies anymore. But I want to find a solution for the landscaping that keeps weeding to a minimum, but also doesn’t require adding mulch or bark around the entire house every year. Because that’s a lot of landscaping and I don’t want to spend a small fortune on mulch. Not to mention the time it would take.

Right now, I’m leaning toward using some type of shorter ground cover that’s drought tolerant. I’m not opposed to using some mulch, but not all the way around the house. Exactly what that ground cover is, I don’t know. Guess I have to spend some time at a few local nurseries researching my options. (I’m also open to suggestions!)

As for the gravel path, I’m hoping that once I remove the weeds invading it now, adding some new gravel will help curtail new weed growth. So, I guess that means I better start doing my homework, a.k.a. reading my Texas gardening books and visiting nurseries.

Until next time, good night from #countryhouse.