Why ever would I want a front lawn?

So ... the neighbour gestured across the street in the direction of my front yard gardens and said ''I don't mind if you grow that ... I'm not about to call the city*".

I'm not bothering to put in the context of this sentence, but the gesture was an astounding insult to my gardens and, by extrapolation, to me.

I came in the house and thought, and thought ... and tried to go to sleep last night and thought until about 2:00 a.m. ... and got up this morning and decided to develop an entirely new garden out front so marched out at 7:00 a.m. and started removing multiples and burying green and brown decomposables in trenches between plants so that they (a) develop soil and (b) hold moisture in the soil for the plants and (c) become sponges for rainwater. Meanwhile, husband had gotten up and cut grass on the nearby hill, so I had beautiful clippings to put on top of newly cleared areas.

I have yet to decide what to put in the new zones, which need to survive under a tree (ie be in shade), must have shallow roots, must be able to grow in the poor soil that was exchanged for ours by the City several years ago when the road was rebuilt. The obedient plant is coming on and one purple flowering unknown, which stretches and lays down in the shade zone is sending out side shoots so we'll have purple all through.

Slightly east of the shade area, I also deadheaded coreopsis and golden marguerites, preparing for second growth. Trimmed back some bergamot for the same reason. Deadheaded lavenders also; they were gorgeous. There've been waves of colour out front. Sprint phlox and dianthus, tulips, daffs, sun rose, gaillardia. Rue and ladies mantle flourished. The Russian sage is huge this year. Campanula carpatica is flowering its soft blue/purple bells. We will have September ruby michaelmal daisy, purple coneflowers will be out, rudbeckia and sneezeweed (brown eyed susan) are coming soon.

Sustainable, organic, evolving, soil creating, moisture retaining, continual bloom cycle, colourful, scented, enjoyed by hundreds of people who go to and from the medical building at the end of the street, loved by me and mine. Not tidy according to one neighbour.

Anger as always been my biggest motivator.

It's gotten me seated on my husband's incredibly uncomfortable chair, writing this on his computer, because my own has been dead for two weeks.

Best regards to all,

Why's Woman