Before you can have that one garden. You have to get the ground to build it on! I longed for home ownership ever since I left my Wisconsin childhood home for college in 2011. Apartments never interested me in fact I dreaded the thought. I just wanted a house and a home I could garden at, this was very important to me. Well when I finally found a job I enjoy and the money came along It took me a LONG time to find the right place..... No Seriously, when I finally found a house suitable I felt bad for what my realtor went through!
Searching for that perfect house was a long.... grueling process that took over a year and I was one tough customer! The house was important to me an all, but in the end it was about that perfect yard! Large enough for plenty of gardens, not too shady, south facing house. Yes you read that correctly. One of the requirements for my realtor was that I wanted a house which front faced southward. MUST FACE SOUTH I would tell her, who seriously asks for that!? Well, me and I will tell you I kept that requirement true to word. The list didn't end there however I preferred there also to be no tree out front for plenty of sunshine. Why so picky? Because I like native plants and they require a lot of sunshine and southward facing houses gets lots of spring sun which is perfect for spring flowering bulbs. Also high up on the important list was that I lived in a nice area around Des Moines preferably a suburb. In fact early on in the house buying process I would not even consider a house if it had a Des Moines address.
Well many who have been through the house buying process which I can tell you is nothing like the fun easy process you see on TV ( much more stress in the real life) there are always compromises that have to be made and this certainly was no exceptions for me. I settled on a small 2 bedroom 1 bath ranch built in the 1950s. Nothing outstanding or unique about the house what so ever just your typical ranch. While looking at many houses ranch styles were always most attractive for me for some reason. While I DID get that south facing house I desired I ended up with a huge tree out front which equals more shade then I wanted. I also didn't get that house in the suburbs. Burbs are apparently way more pricey so my price range took me to a quiet neighborhood on the south side of Des Moines.
So what was the first thing I did after signing those papers at the bank and getting my keys? Well planting of course! I was out planting stuff in the garden before the car was unloaded. I was eager to plant...plan and make my garden dreams happen! With in two weeks after move in I had gardens all the way around the house, shutters on, pots planted and my front door painted so my new house could have some curb appeal it so desperately needed. Ranch style homes can be pretty boring on their own but as you can see my house was especially so before I added some color. So fast foreword a year and a half.... 5 additional gardens plus thousands of plants and bulbs later I can tell you although it was a stressful process I can tell anyone who hasn't done it before it all works out in the end and it WILL be okay. I am very happy with the house I ended up with especially since it has an amazing new 2 car garage which I've never had before. How awesome is it for a dry parking space! So all in all I got the house I wanted ( left my realtor a really nice review online) and most importantly my gardens and now I am starting a blog about it. I actually am not new to the blog realm, I maintained a blog for 8 years for serve another passion of mine, weather forecasting so I really am looking foreword to writing again with a more relaxed style about my gardening adventures!
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