landscape

Landscaping

This property was very overgrown when I acquired it. Ivy was growing through the siding, along with a beautiful oak tree that was growing out of the foundation. Basically, for years all that had been done was to just cut and edge the grass. In the after picture, the wild growth is cleared away from the house foundations. Remains of a stone border are discovered under the mountain of ivy. A river-rock border is added to the shrub side, and holly plantings are added to the front. A birdbath "island" provides welcome relief to the many mockingbirds who call my yard home.

Walkways and Gate in the Back Yard

Springtime is "green" season in Tuscaloosa. Ancient Oak-leaf hydrangeas, Sasanqua Trees, and Camellieas highlight the back. There is some type of tree or bush in bloom all year long. Walkways of poured cement edged with antique paving brick provide safe, sure footing. The gates and fences are an original design, built and installed me.

There is a long growing season here in the deep South. Check out these temperatures! The following table gives the monthly mean maximum, mean minimum, and mean temperatures for the years 1971-2000. All temperatures are in degrees F. The 1971-2000 averages were obtained from The Southeast Regional Climate Center.

Normal Mean Temperatures
Month	Low Temp(F)	High Temp(F)	Avg Temp(F)
Jan	34.3	55.0	44.7
Feb	37	60	48.5
Mar	43.3	67.7	55.5
Apr	51.0	76.3	63.7
May	59.9	83.5	71.7
Jun	67.3	89.6	78.5
Jul	71.1	92.1	81.6
Aug	70.1	91.7	80.9
Sep	64.1	86.7	75.4
Oct	51.2	77.3	64.3
Nov	41.2	65.8	53.5
Dec	36.0	57.4	46.7
Ann	52.2	75.3	63.8

Time to Relax

Sit back and RELAX!

Brick patio addition made from salvaged bricks. Many are "slave brick" showing the fingerprints where they were taken out of the molds.

Brick borders are constructed from street paver bricks salvaged from an old street reconstruction. These bricks graced Clinton Street Hill, in Lockport, New York. These bricks are unusual in that they have a bevel on one side. This would cause an edge to give the horses traction going up this steep hill.

The Limestone birdbath is my "Flintstone" addition. This was made by a retired stone cutter in Wierton, Ontario. Wierton is the home of the Official Canadian Groundhog!

The border bricks around the patio all came from different locations. There are some that came out of a dumpster on Washington Square, in New York City!