Friday, August 23, 2013

To Spray or Not to Spray, etc.

My husband and I are having another disagreement about the exterior of our house.  First, he wanted to hire someone to prune a tree in a front yard.  I wanted to leave it the way it is because it has a pretty natural shape.  He wants to impose "order" on everything.  He's a "topiary" person and I'm a "natural" person.  He gave in to me about that one.


Then he wanted to paint our front door because it's been white since we moved in and he thought it looked too plain.  I liked the look, the contrast with the darker brick.  I gave in to him about that one.  So now we have a dark red front door.  It doesn't look too bad, but I still liked the white better.  In this photo it was still white (obviously).  I will take a photo of it it its present state when it stops raining.


Now he has hired one of those companies that come and spray stuff on all the trees and shrubbery.  I hate the thought of chemicals being sprayed around.  He, however wants to "control" things, and thinks there are all kinds of bad things out there that will kill our trees and shrubs.  I am concerned for the feral kitties that we care for; we have "adopted" them and they consider our yard their home.  I don't want to poison them, not to mention the air and the water supply.


EEEEK!  


My argument this morning:  "Why should we be paying this guy $55 a shot when we are both retired and trying to watch our spending?"

His argument:  "I am just trying to save the trees you love so much."

And so it goes... 

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4 comments:

  1. littlemancatAugust 23, 2013 at 12:36 PM

    If the trees and shrubs show no evidence of disease, why bother? I agree with you - the effect on the cats, birds, butterflies, bees, and other helpful insects just seems too risky for me. Maybe he could paint some more doors ---:)!
    Mary

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  2. judy in kyAugust 23, 2013 at 1:13 PM

    I like the way you think, Mary.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 25, 2013 at 5:39 AM

    I can relate!..except its conifers here - they were established when we bought the house. Husband wants them removed. I don't. It's presently a stalemate. I think they give privacy and height - he thinks they're ugly.
    I admired a cottage garden the other day, flowers all tumbling over each other-a profusion of colour.
    "You think that's a great garden?" - "you must be mad".
    Good luck Judy. My parents had the same problem, always disagreeing about paint colours and gardening.

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  4. judy in kyAugust 25, 2013 at 6:28 AM

    Pam, the cottage garden you describe sounds wonderful to me! I love seeing an abundance of color, all tumbling over each other, too. My husband, like yours, would probably think it was chaotic.

    I love trees, too, for privacy and for shade. What would your husband put in their place? It takes years to get that kind of height.

    Good luck to you too!

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