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13 years ago the front of our house looked like this.
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Today?
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The rhododendron have taken over.
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The blooms are so vibrant and beautiful I’m always loathe to trim. But you can’t even see the new porch, so perhaps it’s time.
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Though the bumblebees might disagree.
They adore the flowers.
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10 years ago.
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Now.
😊
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River's world..... 
They do tend to take over. I pass a house on my walks where they are blocking the windows. The bees do love them, and they are beautiful.
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It’s hard to cut them, but I need to be ruthless.
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I once saw on This Old House a suggestion of cutting back 1/3 each year for three years. It allows light to enter so the lower areas fill in, and the parts you don’t cut still bloom. It just look weird for a while.
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Really – aren’t rhododendrons prettier than a porch railing? Maybe, if you’re sitting on the porch and can’t see over them (but I see no evidence of chairs on the porch – and isn’t that because it’s too narrow for chairs?) trimming them is called for. Maybe if they grow past the windows.
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The porch is ridiculously small and just decorative so no chairs, but the rhodies are still getting a haircut soon.
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They are considered invasive here and are hugely successful, swamping all manner of other habitats, so they are being uprooted on an industrial scale. So pretty though.
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Really? We plant them on purpose here…
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Yes, we did here, but they’ve self set and spread all over. The ground cover stops new trees growing in the forests and they’ve killed all the Heather and gorse in the countryside. They are beautiful but quite damaging to the natural flora.
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That’s a shame. Non native purple loosestrife takes over everything here.
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I guess we ought to learn to not put things where they don’t belong. It seldom bodes well…
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I have that same problem with evergreens. I hate to cut them down but they are way too large for their space now. Half the walk is covered.
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PS – You have special bunny pictures at my place. I was told to post them.
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Off to check… with thanks to your good wife.
👍
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I was ready to schedule my post when she came in and said, “I have pictures for River!”
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That’s a good woman right there!
👍
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Gorgeous! I’m a little surprised the deer haven’t eaten them, though.
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They never do. For which I’m thankful.
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Oh, lovely! I, too, would be reluctant to trim such beauty. Actually, I’m reluctant to trim most anything. Trimming isn’t my thing.
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I’m always loathe to do it ….but happy once I do.
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Beautiful. I have one and half of it died. Still hanging on, but I think it’s not getting enough sunlight.
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Ours get afternoon sun starting about 1:30, so not full.
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Mine’s north facing. Starts getting a some at 3 or 4 o’clock. I’m probably lucky I get any blooms at all.
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No doubt – they’ve taken over!
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Wow, it looks like you bricked over the home. Interesting. I love brick.
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It’s stone actually. And we just did the area behind the porch and around the door when we remodeled. That was a nightmare project!
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We have a brick home. That was one of the attractions. One of the few authentic brick in the area.
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Fantastic!!!!
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Looks like brick have taken over, too!
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The stone siding. THAT was a nightmare project…
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That seems to be a recurring theme…
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Around here, yes. It’s the norm.
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