It's hard to believe we've been in the house now for four years. I've done a lot of couch sitting during my maternity leave nursing a charming little barnacle, which prompted me to revisit my blog. I'm shocked that it's been nearly three years since I posted to my blog -- okay not terribly shocked, but sad nonetheless that I've failed to document all the great projects around the house in any substantial way. During baby Yoda's nap this afternoon, I was admiring our garden and decided to take a few photos of our progress.
Since 2013, we've added a number of plants, moved a number of plants, a drip system, and added at least 10 cubic yards of compost. As I mentioned three years ago, my goal was to eliminate all grass from the front yard, and we went even further and eliminated all grass from the parking strip. Now that the yard has matured and filled in, I spend most of my time pruning (although I've been neglecting pruning this past year due to a particularly rough pregnancy), weeding, and maintaining. You'll notice the Crocosmia is even taller, but it is no longer able to hide the flaming Dogwood bush that is now taller than J. The yarrow and salvia are still going strong with foxglove in the background. 
The side yard has also really changed since 2013. We've extended the strawberry bed up the driveway, and the irises have exploded even after thinning last fall. We planted two blueberry bushes (small ones up front) at the end of the season last year. They were pretty scruffy looking but have bushed out nicely this year. The biggest change of course is the dogwood tree. It's grown so much since the last post and keeps getting more beautiful. And the manzanita! It's huge now and desperately needs pruning.
The space in front of our gate has also grown up quite a bit. We've added hosta, helebores, and fuscia that all thrive in the shade. Now that the rhododendron is finished blooming, I plan to thin out the branches so we can really see the sculptural shape of the branches again. 
Here's a glimpse at the two parking strips along our sidewalk. We eliminated the patchy crabgrass with lots and lots of digging and augmented the soil with tons of compost. I've had fun experimenting with plants in the strip that are relatively neglect tolerant and range from shade-loving to full sun. We've planted salvia, irises, native grasses, and euphorbia in the sunny spots, and helebores, huckleberries, and hosta in the shady parts in front of the house.
Last year we managed to get a no parking zone along the side of our house to leave a safe space for pedestrians to be seen at the crosswalk. It also meant that we didn't have to worry about making paths for walking to the sidewalk. I hope that the plantings will continue to mature into a nice green parking strip.
This past year we spent a lot of time in the back yard. J figured out a great new way to string the hops, and we built a raised planter bed for edibles. That's material, however, for another post.
