Well, hubby and I are almost done with the new garden beds :). Hopefully tomorrow we will finish and I can get them planted.
I also trimmed up the bottom 5' or so of a HUGE evergreen we have near our patio. I would estimate this tree to be about 40 years old, and it took up about half of the space going to the back of our yard. The bottom 5' or so of the branches were just about all dead, so yesterday I cut them off. The tree just *looks* healthier now. The ground underneath is all pine needles and mulch. I hope to fill it with hostas and other shade lovers. Really hoping to get some trillium to add. Also, my mom bought me a beautiful bird bath that I want to put next to the area. Just make it a nice, peaceful, serene area, you know? That tree is full of birds who nest there every year: we have a resident cardinal couple, chickadees, sparrows, even a pair of doves. And this year, for the first time, we have yellow finches! So it is really nice to sit out on the patio, and I am looking forward to having more garden space nearby.
I'll take pictures of everything when we're done. We are also hoping to redo our patio and put a pergola over it within the next few weeks, so I will be spending much more time out there this summer! :)