Last September I wrote a blog about curb appeal. In that writing, I mentioned that overgrown azalea bushes HAD TO GO. In October, we found that my mother needed to go to an Assisted Living Facility and therefore leave her beloved home of the last 40 years. After getting her settled in her new place, we began the daunting task of getting her house ready to go on the market.
The first thing we tackled was the "curb appeal" and guess what? Four huge - 40 year old - azalea bushes in the front yard. I kept thinking - why did I have to pick on azalea bushes in that blog! She loved those bushes. They had been there since I could remember. I found several newspaper clippings about how to care for azalea bushes in the bookshelf and azalea furtilizer in the utility room. Problem was - you couldn't see the front door because of the bushes. What did I do?? Got someone else to cut them down while I stayed in the house working on other things.
With the bushes gone, the house looked so much bigger and welcoming. But I still grieved the loss of one of her favorite plants.
Good news though, at closing the buyer talked about how she was looking forward to working in the yard and adding new plants to enhance the ones that were left. I'm sure the spirit of those well loved azaleas will live on in the new plants that follow.
