For the past sixteen years, we've lived in a colonial on a suburban cul-de-sac in a neighborhood within walking distance of great schools, sports fields and a community pool. The kids are grown now and my knees resent climbing stairs and a quarter acre lot feels confining so... we purchased a rambler on an acre and a half as our retirement house. The previous owner of the rambler is a ninety year old lady who had lived in that house for forty years. Obviously it was a good retirement house for her so I trust it will serve us as well.
The house and landscaping haven't received much care in the past few years so we've spent a couple of months and a lot of cash repairing/replacing the well, water treatment system, septic tank, moldy crawlspace, HVAC, etc. We will finally move in over Thanksgiving weekend.
My plan to transplant cherished perennials from my "old" garden has been foiled by drought so for now my gardening activities have consisted of removal of burning bush and autumn olive along the tree lines and removal of mint, garlic chives and mugwort from the garden beds.
Most of the lot is wooded: the only lawn is over the septic field. There are several raised garden beds surrounding the screened room. The back side of the house has two sets of French doors. One leads to the screen room and one to a brick patio with a nice view of the woods. So I'm daydreaming combinations of low maintenance plantings to entice hummingbirds, provide color over a long season and enhance the view.
Q