I just acquired the landscape from hell

[spinbaby]

We bought a new house--downsizing from a large house with lots of stairs to a ranch house. The lady who lived there before fancied herself a landscape designer and had spent a huge amount of money buying expensive plants and arranging them in ways she thought were attractive. The thing is, she planted them with no regard for how big they were going to get or whether they liked sun or shade. We have hostas frying in the sun, peonies struggling in the shade, a clematis and a rose fighting it out for the same flimsy support, a blue spruce clipped into a fancy shape planted six inches from the foundation, dead bushes all over the place because the lady just plunked them into the clay with out any prep. Also yard ornaments--I've tossed more decorative doodads than I can count.

Lesson of the day is that spending lots of money doesn't get you a good garden.