BEFORE
All the potted plants on the far left and right of the trees are gone. All my handmade ceramic vessels in front of the left tree now live with my father. (Those gawdawful trees are still there, unfortunately, and are still in desperate need of grooming.)
All the potted plants you see here were donated. Everything we purged was given to a woman who had requested plants for her new home on Santa Barbara Freecycle, a fantastic Yahoo group dedicated solely to recycling things by donation. It's one of the coolest and greenest ways to get rid of unwanted stuff. There are Freecycle groups all over the nation. Check them out in your area.
Giving away the majority of my precious succulents was the only struggle for me. But clearing out the ones I didn't love as much allows me to appreciate the ones we kept even more. Another benefit of ridding oneself of clutter.
AFTER
Only two clusters of plants remain in the front yard: one grouping of succulents near the front steps, and another next to the carport. (see photos below) Actually, we do have a small group of 4 potted blue spruce trees, which we received as gifts at Max & Simone's wedding, and which are probably the only plants that will move with us to Colorado as they'll be planted on our property.
1 comment:
I currently have an overage of plants. When I start to be a bit obsessive I'll let myself take it out by buying a plant. For some of them the move to my house becomes a death sentence, but I do manage to keep most of them alive. Sometimes I get lucky and they thrive, which thrills me. I love to see a plant blossom under my care.
On the other hand, I still have 2 rooms in the house that aren't set up yet, and so one could say it's not that I actually have too many plants, but rather that I haven't quite figured out where to place them all yet. Both are true.
Freecycle is great, as is the "free" board of Craigslist. It doesn't matter how lame the item is, if it's free SOMEONE out there wants it and will come out to one's house to pick it up. It totally rocks. I always use them for giving away big items that would be a pain to transport to Goodwill, or for dirty things like plants (dug out of the yard). I give leftover cookies/fruit away in 12 Step meetings.
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