When I grow up I want to be good at gardening. I'll have lush, verdant flower beds with immaculate rows of coordinated flowers and giant pots of exotic, flowing plants as well as a massive vegetable garden. For now, I have a flat of marigolds.
Scott and I have our differences over the yard. Like every bone of contention, this one stems from the fact that neither of us is an expert at gardening. My expertise is based solely on the fact that I have a friend whose family owns a greenhouse. (Hi Nate!) Scott's authority comes from the fact that he used to mow his grandma's lawn. Our combined lack of knowledge results in both of us trumping up our meager tidbits of information and trying to convince each other that we know what we're talking about. Our confidence on any given subject is directly inverse to our knowledge of it.
Example: I bought a dwarf flowering almond tree that I think would look perfect in our front yard. Scott says no way, and it's not a tree because it only grows to four feet and anything that comes up to his waist is not a tree. I say everyone has a tree in their front yard. He says it will look like it doesn't belong. I say our yard looks boring and we're not doing our part to save the planet if we can't even plant a dwarf tree. He says nobody in the history of the world thinks it's a good idea to plant a tree in the middle of the lawn. I say I've been doing extensive research and nine out of ten lawns have trees planted right in the middle.
This is where every argument we have always ends. Somebody starts making up statistics. Then the other person does a dramatic mime of pulling a number out of a hat, saying, "Oh, look! It's a nine." It's a nice way of saying, "You have no idea what you're talking about." Which is usually true. But someday I'll be a gardening expert, and then I'll plant dwarf trees all over our yard. Or maybe I won't because I'll decide Scott was right. When it comes to aesthetics, Scott is usually right, but don't tell him I said that. I don't have any statistics to back it up.
13 comments:
Is it warped that I think you and Scott have the most hysterical manner of disagreeing? Or is it just other people's arguements are so much more entertaining than my own?! Oh, and we had a tree in the middle of the yard in Syracuse but it kept blowing over. Not sure which side that supports.
Trees are the best and one is better than none. Why don't you plant more than one in the front, so it won't look so lonely-like 5 different kinds of trees?
I think you should plant it in the center of your lawn then tie babooshkas around each branch then paint half of it lime green then buy a Border Collie to keep the tree company.
I never ask permission- Gordon will come home and I will have planted something somewhere. Scott does have great taste though. You should buy the plants you like and have Scott place and plant them- that's the hardest part anyway. Or don't listen to me- we have 6 trees in our front yard.
Why paint is lime green? I can understand babooshkas and the border collie, but why paint it lime green? I think pink would be much better.
why paint IT I meant
Who is in charge at your house anyway?
You set the tree where you want it and you ask your husband to dig the hole for it. Simple! Ha! Ha!
You guys could both be members of my family.. not C's.. his family looks stuff up... oh and then they remember it forever like elephants.
If you're going to post anonymously, sign your name. I only have the anonymous option for non-tech-savvy family members. The border collie comment was Scott. Very funny!
I knew the babooshkas had to be from Scott!
Good luck with the tree in the lawn decision! We are having another ongoing "who is right" discussion at our house over which tree to plant in place of the one that died. P.S. The Flowering Almond Tree is beautiful!
I have trees in the middle of my lawn too... its softens the yard (at least that's what I used to win... )
Our yearly argument is how thick to put the mulch down. Every dang year. The same dang argument.
So far I'm loosing.
Humph.
Duane and I are already having these discussions also. I want trees and he wants none. Maybe I can use Scott's theory about it not being a tree if it's under 4 feet tall, and he'll agree to let me have one.
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