Green Thumb?

I'm trying to discover if I have a green thumb or not. I've decided that our yard is about the perfect yard to start in. We have no shortage of plants -- shrubs, vines, bulbs, ground covers, trees, ferns, probably some other category that I don't even know about -- so there's plenty of variety to learn about. On top of that, just about everything is borderline overgrown. The result of all this, is that I can experiment with what we've got and I don't have to spend money on buying a whole bunch of new plants like I might if we had a blank slate. A little while ago, we had a day in the valley and a Barnes & Noble gift certificate that needed spending, so we bought ourselves a How-to-Garden book. So over the last few weeks, as the weather has started to clear up a bit, I've been spending a good amount of time in the yard playing around.

The largest part of our job, it seems, is pruning. I'm a little scared to tell you the truth, because I'm worried that I will end up killing something, or make it look worse than it started out, but as I spend more time with the pruners I'm gaining a little confidence.

I've decided that priority numbers 1 and 2 are to (1) try to keep the plants off the house, and (2) get the weeds and moss out of the yard and have some nice grassy lawn, limited in size though it may be. To begin with #1, just about all of the plants planted in the bed on the front side of the house have been growing against the siding, most of all the ivy under the front porch. I'll admit that I kind of like the look of ivy growing on the side of a building, but I also know how bad it is for the house as it gets in under the siding and in around the doors and everything. So it had to go.

I'm pretty proud of what I've accomplished so far. Now I just need to find something to replace it. Maybe a less intrusive vine or something. The big hole that's been left under that stairs is better than the ivy in my mind, but a little less inviting.


There's not a whole lot to say about the lawn I guess. I'm just waiting for the Weed&Feed to do its thing. It's been pretty fun watching everything change through the seasons. We've been thinking about what to do with different plants in the yard all winter, but have had no idea what things are since everything has been dormant. Now that spring is here we are learning more every day it seems.

As a side note, this shrub is really neat looking. The trouble is its been pushed out into the yard pretty far and I'd like to get it back into the bed a little more. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anyone yet that can tell me what it is, so I don't know how to deal with it.

50 bonus points to anyone who can tell me what it is! 100 if you can tell me if it can be pruned back to the ground without dying. ;)