Before and After in the Garden

I have mentioned before that the previous owners of our house had a "more is more" approach to decorating the outdoors. I offer this collage of selected items found around the pool as a reminder.

Those are, in all honesty, merely a representative sampling of the "treasures" that could be found everywhere. I can't recall why I may have chosen those particular items to show my readers. Perhaps I didn't want to frighten anyone with the larger pieces of art that were scattered about the property. I must warn everyone that I can no longer hide the truth. When Turfman first came to tour the house (I couldn't make the third house-hunting trip), he found this as he and the realtor came up the driveway.

Note: This is not my photo. It is from the Georgia MLS website,
and I cropped it.

When I look at this photo, I wonder what came first--the tractor or the trough? In my mind it doesn't really matter. What would make a person feel like one was insufficient? A myriad other questions continue to plague me about this tractor-as-lawn-ornament.

Happily, the tractor was gone, but the trough remained when I first surveyed the property. The trough was offensive to me. It was clearly a water feature, but something had gone awry with the electrical wiring, so neither it worked nor any of the outdoor outlets anywhere nearby. It immediately went on the demolition list, but it was low priority. The water sat stagnant all last summer, growing all sorts of bizarre things. I dreaded the thought of dismantling it, which would likely require a hazmat suit.

And a close-up of the monstrosity 

Time has a way of softening us, I think. Sometimes it's best to embrace the less desirable aspects of life and just see if they can be made palatable, which is why (well, that and the hazmat suit) I decided to resurrect the water feature. I dropped two enzymatic tablets into the water (which are basically beneficial bacteria that eat all the junk and keep the critters safe) to start the process of de-greening it. To make the pump itself less offensive, I gave it a faux patina. Then came the scrubbing of the mossy wood and applying a coat of tinted water sealer to help it blend into the landscape a bit more. The final touches were the installation of a new, working pump and some planting. It will take some time for the plants to grow in and hide much of it, but I think this thing may grow on me. 

New life for old eyesore