A crick runs through it

It's starting to portray the feel of what we're trying to do with our entry. These are the stone steps shot from the side in yesterday's post. There will be another step laid and then a stone slab will span the dry creek to meet the flagstone walk to the porch. The dark areas are a couple of inches of mulch. Everywhere you see mulch, we'll plant Vinca ground cover. It won't be much to look at the first year, but by the third year we're told it will cover the ground in short leafy stems and small blue flowers. Yes, we will have grass, but very little in the front. There'll be significantly more of a lawn in the back of the house. Personally, I was totally in favor ground cover only, but Ellen wanted some grassy spots. We settled on two small seedings, one down the side of the house and the other to the left of this photo, ending around the edge of the parking deck. It's not that I have a grudge against grass, although I am challenged to produce a nice lawn year after year. It's more to fit in with the grove of trees that front our property. I wanted a natural look. I felt it would be jarring and misplaced to see that park like setting and then have a formal yard spring out of nowhere. All of the plants are native to Missouri, except for the Japanese Maple tree, so we're hoping that this landscape will look like it blends into the rest of the frontage.

The dry creek will also display a few boulders before it's finished. One of the things we liked about this idea is that over time, Ellen and I can pick up stones here and there and place them in the creek bed as a remembrance of where we've been, or occasions of note. Feel free to haul a stone and place it too. It will remind us of you, and carries the idea I had for the first home I bought in Peoria. There, I asked close friends what their favorite tree was, and planted one. That's kind of limiting, since there's only so much ground to hold a tree and I had a wee lot. Now, everyone who so desires can deposit a rock wherever they want to put it. I'd only ask for no trick placements, meaning don't try to ricochet it off the house into the creek. Save your bank shots for the decrepit pool table in our basement, that Ellen has had me haul from place to place. The indignity of it all. My cousin, Brad, (yes, I'm calling you out), was kind enough to replace the felt, but he did it with bright red material and THEN put a St. Louis Cardinals logo smack in the center. This was originally my Dad's pool table, a die hard Cub fan, so not only have I had to pay to move it four times, I have to look at that desecration too. My only satisfaction is that it is falling apart, much like the Cardinals' playoff prospects for the next decade.