The shrubs which were here were very
overgrown and the maples on the street which frame the steps (if you can call them that) from street to house level had been badly pruned. The maples were overgrown as well and had lots of dead wood. The Yakushimanum Rhododendrons had all grown out of scale to the terraces and were hanging over the rock wall. The two Dappled Willow, on either side of the gravel walkway, were too damaged to be saved, although I tried my hardest to do that for a year. The roof was covered with moss and the gutters were filled to capacity with fir needles and leaves.
The back yard was so bad that I usually kept the drapes closed, so that I didn’t have to look at it. There are two copse of Douglas Firs and Western Cedar trees and everything behind them was overgrown with English Ivy and weeds. On the side of the house away from the driveway, there were two fences with 4′-8′ separating them (don’t ask me why).