Wow! To each their own I guess! I'm not good on advice on what to do, but I'm a great one for knowing what I don't like! lol. Can't say I've ever seen trees painted white....and kinda wonder what their thinking was on that... I agree with you on the chainlink. It makes me think of an apartment building...it just doesn't go with the house, which is beautiful, by the way! It would be interesting to see what you've done...it's gotta look a lot different now, and I sure agree with you on the "tin can borders"! I love trees, but they do block the view of that beautiful house...

I agree, the chain link fence should go!

If those trees were mine, I'd be tempted to paint over the white with an almost black color, then dry brush with a dark gray/brown in an attempt to make them look more natural. But that might hurt the trees.

I'd also lose the tree circles completely by allowing the grass to grow back to the trunks.

Narrow flower beds along the sidewalk might add to the chopped-up look. Just one larger bed back under the windows on the right might look better.

Have fun with your new home! It is cute. I'll bet your neighbors love the improvements you're making.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardenweb discussion of white painted tree trunks

Yay! I've been looking at how to remove the chainlink. To a certain extent we have to keep part of it because it fences off the backyard and I have two crazy dogs. It should be easy though... if I can get my husband to dig up the posts.

I did get rid of the tree circles! I just removed the cement cylinders from the last one today. I do have to say that there is a lot of nice shade in the place where the sidewalks meet. I've also pulled up a lot more wondering jew. There is one ginger-like plant and one agave that I haven't pulled up because I think I want to pot them up for a plant swap. I'm thinking more Texas cottage, really welcoming and xeric and less tropical. I mean it *IS* a 1930s brick bungalow, right?

Did I mention the sidewalks are painted white, too? :-)

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Ahhhh, that already looks tons better!

I'm also tempted to say paint over the white on the trees for something more natural looking, but I'm not sure if that's good for the trees.

Given you're in Texas, I'd be very hesitant to take out a shade tree unless it's too close to the house or causing problems. You generally don't need *more* sun in Texas.

We have a god-awful chain link as well but decided to hide it rather than remove it because it was too expensive to replace (and too many other projects have priority). However, if it's not a problem to replace, definitely move it out - at least the part that's directly in front of the house. It doesn't look like it serves any purpose there really. Do know it's not so easy to remove. If it was put in properly, the posts are likely buried in 3ft or more of concrete which is a PITA to dig out (well, we have clay so it's really awful, maybe your soil won't be as bad). You could probably put in a wood fence that comes to the edge of the house - wouldn't even have to do the sides yet, just the front if you're not ready to replace everything.

I would skip the beds lining the sidewalk - it's already a small yard and I think it would make it look too busy and fussy. Focus on the foundation plantings, esp. under the windows where the chain-link currently is.

(btw - we also had a frightful yard and old house. It was loved once but turned to a field of weeds and overgrown jungle)

Alright sounds good :-)

Thanks! I think it looks better. I have to admit that I don't even really see the white paint anymore. Plus it makes it really easy to give people directions. I think they were painted relatively recently and hope the paint will slough off with time.

We also have clay, but it's not terribly hard to dig into when it's wet. I'm from central Texas where there is about 1" of top soil and then limestone bedrock so I may be biased. The thing is there is a little segment of chainlink that just needs to be moved from one side of the front to the edge of the house and then the rest can be just removed.

I think you're both right that putting flower beds along the sidewalk would look too busy. I want to get rid of the grass, though! I'll start with a bed under the windows and maybe a nice container arrangement in front of the porch to the left of the steps.

What do you think of a ground cover or just mulch for the sections under the cypruses by the street? It's very shady and the grass doesn't do well, plus it's a huge pain to mow.

Just mulch can get kind of messy and you have to add more periodically. I'd pick a good shade-loving ground cover for that space. I'll let the experts suggest an appropriate cover for your location. I know a lot of people here (San ANtonio) use Asiatic Jasmine.

I guess clay is better than limestone, but it's still a royal pain to dig. I have to use a pickaxe to dig anything beyond 6 in.

cjra I'm from SA! But the rocky part. My parents still live up near medina lake with a bunch of goats and chickens.

I'm thinking sweet potato vine!

I spent the afternoon working on getting that chain link fence down. Husband will work on the posts soon.

My neighbor has landscape timbers and they actually look pretty good (our houses are nearly identical). I know they're not popular but they'd last forever and look nicer to me than fake stone blocks. I'm going to check out what some places have.

Hah, my friends on the northwest side built a wall in their yard and I asked where they got the rocks. Their answer? That's what they found digging.... yikes!

I'm near downtown (just southeast), which is mostly clay soil (and more humid too), but we do have some rock, just not the whole limestone layer.

Good luck!

Ruthie~I really love your house! Just a quick note to tell you that your After photo inspired me to tell you to save the cement juice cans (love that description, very, er, descriptive) for edging your (backyard?) flower beds. They're very cute lined up like that!

I miss the screen on the window by the door, and actually really liked the glider under the windows. To me, it said "Take a load off" and complemented the era/style. :)

I too like your house. You scarcely even notice the white painted trees now that things have been cleared away. If you have limestone there must be pieces of it laying around in your area somewhere. Where my son lives they have limestone too. In fact his house is sitting on one big piece of limestone. They were building a road nearby and he loaded up pieces of it and stacked them around his front flower bed a foot or so tall, and he filled it with good topsoil. Being flat they stack easily. Then he planted it up. He has some small shrubs and perennials in it and they all do well.

I can see a flower bed just waiting to happen from the edge of your porch to the corner of your house. Just don't do a straight line put a curve or 2 in it.

Thanks, all! We got a pretty great deal and love it. It's our first house and I don't see us wanting to move. It does have its quirks, though!!! :-)

I really want a glider. The previous owners took the one that was here. It was in a bizarre place considering it was inside a fence so there would be no room to actually sit on it. I want to put one on the porch.

You like the screens? The wood lattice was weird to me. We moved in pretty soon after hurricane Ike and it looked too much like hurricane tape. I want to put in screens again but without the lattice work.

Unfortunately we don't have limestone here, just clay. My parents do where Im from in San Antonio.

Husband is moving the posts as I type!

Sometimes people paint the trunks of fruit trees to prevent sunscald and/or keep the bark from splitting if the temperatures go too high in winter when the leaves are down - I remember our neighbors doing this in their small small home orchard when I was a kid.

Actually, the technique is still recommended by county agents in some states. Were the original owners not from Houston?

That's really pretty brick on your house, veganruthie and the porch is cool. It does look like a variegated ginger at the base of the front tree. But I have to disagree with cjra on the Asiatic jasmine. Even when totally enclosed by hardscape like sidewalks and concrete walls it can escape and become a terror in the garden. Sure wish I had a time machine so I could go back and stop whoever let it loose at the house we now own!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose blog

That's good to know about the asiatic jasmine. It seems to be recommended a lot around here as ground cover. I haven't actually tried it. I know not to now.

but then, I've heard the same about trumpet vines and mine seem to move at a snail's pace....

Actually I don't know the original owners from 1930. I know an Italian couple name Joseph and Josephine lived in it for at least 15 years before selling it in 1994 to an elderly couple from Mexico. Their adult children painted the trees. My neighbor, whose lived here 30 years, told me she was shocked, and doubly shocked when they came over and asked her if she wanted her trees painted!

It's not uncommon in this and other mostly Hispanic areas of town to see white painted trees, so I'm guessing it's a common practice in Mexico.

I just want to say, your house is BEAUTIFUL, and the work you have done so far has really been a big improvement! I'll bet your neighbors are happy too, like someone else said! It's really looking GREAT!

Funny about the screens. I'm in an historic district and lattice work on the screens is a big deal and costs a lot. That said, I agree with your perception - it does look like Hurricane tape ;) and it just doesn't seem right on that house. In the pictures without the screens, it looks "cleaner" (less fussy).

I would also suggest limbing up the trees a bit, so the architecture of the house can be more fully seen.

The removal of the tree-circle stones has helped to integrate the trees into the yard more. Before they were looking like the legs on the lunar lander.

YES! Limbing up is exactly what I'm looking for. We're having some horribly expensive brickwork done next summer and the house will be looking even spiffier (blew our minimal budget on leveling the foundation this summer), but even with the somewhat wonky brickwork it's still a pretty house and deserves to be seen from the road.

After taking down the chainlink I was so happy when we pulled into the driveway and saw the front of the house. I didn't realize how much that fence was detracting from the curb appeal.

I also remembered the little brick ledges on the house under the windows. I think they're intended for flower pots, at least that's what my neighbor uses hers for. I will definitely be doing that.

Question: almost all houses in my neighborhood only have rectangular flower beds in front. I figured it was an era thing. Should I still go for a lima bean shape? I'm going to drive with my friend through similar-era neighborhoods in Houston and take pictures of front gardens for inspiration. (I live on the east side near U of H, but the Heights, River Oaks, Eastwood, West University and other (much more upscale) neighborhoods were all built with brick bungalows in the 1930s.)

Thanks to all of you all for your advice! You've def got the ball rolling in my head.

Losing some of the trees may help too. I count 4 trees, which seems to be a bit overpowering for such a small lot. It appears the trees are almost to the scale of the house, but I can't tell.

Why was the chain link fence, across the front of the house?

It's a very charming house - love that arch! - and what you've done so far has made a huge improvement. The thing that distracts me now in the 'after' picture is the curve in the walkway. I think the walk would look best going straight to the door from the street. The curve looks a bit wonky. If the walkway ever needs replacing, I think you should strongly consider a direct/straight line to the porch. That would, I think, be added focus on the porch and arch. The curve makes you look away, searching for a reason why the walk curves and there doesn't seem to be one.

I think it's a lot of trees too, but its a big decision to cut down trees in this climate.

I think the chain link was intended to dissuade burglers by allowing the guard dogs to protect the windows. Maybe?! Who knows. :-)

Most people go for straight beds because they are easier and they have no imagination or the will to learn. Straight beds are not to go with any archetectual era. Look at photos of houses in the 18 and 19th century that were designed by gardeners and they have lovely curved beds.

I rather like the curve of the walkway, but that's just my opinion. I would not do away with any trees you are going to need the shade they provide.

Maybe the reason for the curve in the walkway to the house is that the cement across the parking strip was there first, and the walkway was put in to line up with the path across the parking strip.

And the cement across the parking strip is where it is because of the placement of the trees in the parking strip.

Or perhaps all the cement was poured at the same time, but the layout curves because of the location of the trees in the parking strip.

And the trees in the parking strip were put in by the city, and were laid out in some sort of pattern (either one tree every x number of feet, or two trees per lot). The location of the driveways figures into this as well, because there can't be a tree in front of the driveway or too close to it.

The city didn't put in the trees in the parking strip, except for down a few of the major streets in this neighborhood. Those are all cedar elms. These are bald cyprus and probably less than 15 years old. The neighbors across the street have 70 year old oaks in their parking strip, and many houses have none at all.

I like all your inferences. It reminds me of when we first moved in and my mom-in-law tried to figure out the original floor plan. It's all a mystery. :-)

That's the joy of old houses, always a mystery :)

We keep waiting for our ghost to show, but our neighbors say I'm just possessed by the spirit of the old owner (father of the seller) who spent every waking moment caring for his yard. It was a mess when we got it, but you can tell it was loved once.

Ha ha, hurricane tape, I've never seen that firsthand, but I see what you mean. I was thinking it was an historical, authentic detail. Whatever you do, don't pitch that screen.
You need a glider most definitely! And I love all the trees, esp. envious of your pecan. :)