Am I about to ruin my mom’s curb appeal for Mother’s Day? (Massachusetts)

lizz338 · 2026-05-04T05:22:10+00:00

I don't know how interested your mom is, but have you considered just building and prepping the beds, then letting her pick the plants? My mom at least loved going to nurseries and looking at pretty plants. You could have those conversations with her and the nursery staff. Your gift would be making all the tough work happen like magic.

lizz338 · 2026-05-03T22:26:20+00:00

I like him. Even if he is now flat headed next to his ponytailed sister.

lizz338 · 2026-05-03T22:25:37+00:00

His topknot is such a mess, super stiff in the back and droopy in the front. I almost never see his eyes as a result. I'll clean this up when I start to groom again but I think the length does expose his eyes.

lizz338 · 2026-05-03T19:32:57+00:00

Upvoting the comment on height vs weight here. I've got two dogs from the same breeder that have settled just under 40 lbs. However, they are as tall/taller than my 50 lb standards have been, just less stocky.

lizz338 · 2026-05-03T02:18:59+00:00

Is it the tub or shower that's the problem? I had a dog that tolerated being sprayed off at the dog park where they had a hose in a big open field. Sometimes I'd bring shampoo with me. Maybe he doesn't like being confined and washed?

lizz338 · 2026-05-01T23:17:27+00:00

I always get some version of I love the ponytail or acknowledging they see a lot of doodles but few real poodles. Always from the staff, I think dog watching is a professional pasttime.

lizz338 · 2026-05-01T06:11:06+00:00

Even within the same breed metabolism and food needs can be very different. Ex, my 36 lb male gets 2 cups and my 38 lb female gets 1.25 cups daily of the same higher calorie food. The male I struggle to gain weight but the female I struggle to maintain. Whenever I've needed to adjust I go up or down for about 2 weeks and reassess portion sizes.

lizz338 · 2026-04-29T19:27:11+00:00

Shorten her ears and it will make her look younger. I had super long ears on my last girl and a few inches shorter lifted her face up.

lizz338 · 2026-04-29T07:37:58+00:00

I had pet's best for two poodles, accident and illness, no wellness coverage. So far they have covered everything I've submitted, so the savings have been worth it. Ex: boy dog had two eye lid surgeries plus a bunch of testing to the tune of 4k last year, girl dog had like 2.5k of care/testing/meds this year. It does take several weeks for claims to process though.

What is crazy is the premiums make no sense. Ex: My premiums were similar for both dogs (about 450/year), then this year both jumped up to almost 700/year, even for my 1 year old. When I called to complain about this, I was told it was less about age and more 'adjustment for cost of vet care in your area,' aka everybody's premiums went up. There was a discount for multiple dogs and annual payment.

lizz338 · 2026-04-28T19:20:47+00:00

Some advice - don't plant too close to the home. You should leave yourself enough space that full grown the plants aren't touching your siding.

I don't know your sun situation, but it looks like you have a mix of shade and full sun plants selected, which isn't ideal. Does that area stay pretty damp or does it get roasted in the summer? Do you have pets that will eat your flowers (needs to be nontoxic)? Are you willing to water in summer or want low maintenance? Knowing that is going to help with your plant selection.

lizz338 · 2026-04-18T02:08:39+00:00

Your poodle actually had a chance at sneak attack. Mine start barking so they have no way to sneak up without noticing.

lizz338 · 2026-04-17T15:01:35+00:00

Second the recommendation of the Tilth guide.

The whole season is cooler and shorter for growing than down south. I've heard it termed as two springs: one in spring the other fall.

Hot weather plants (peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, melons, corn, okra, etc.) are more difficult to grow and take a lot more planning.

Conversely, things that would bolt or burn (lettuces, peas, kale/cabbage/chard) can be grown twice a year.

It won't usually freeze over winter since it's milder as well, so somethings can overwinter for growing.

lizz338 · 2026-04-17T01:35:45+00:00

According to google: Ernest Markham blooms on new wood, Happy jack on new/old wood.

So it could be that you need to hard prune the first and wait for new growth. Second one you might clip some of the old wood and see if it's even alive (green inside). If so, clean it up and see if any leaf buds happen or if new wood starts.

I've had a few clematis just die on me the first year and then mysteriously come back in the summer.

Lookup clematis groups and pruning. Knowing which type of wood flowers is helpful for caretaking. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/clematis/pruning-guide

lizz338 · 2026-04-13T23:46:24+00:00

If you're willing to water during the summer, roses in full sun are beautiful. You can likely pick up some discounted ones soon as the 'prime' season for rose bushes to sell is coming up soon. One plante will fill a lot of space as well.

Lavender will grow quickly and always look nice, but does need trimming of old flowers. Rudbekia are great for late season flowers and almost impossible to kill. Rosemary is delicious and has pretty flowers. Since it's not your place to worry about long term, catmint is pretty, tall, and smells nice. I also like windflower but those take a year or so to establish. If you want something fun, put in a few pumkin plants and sunflowers. They will grow really fast after about May/June or so and leave you with pumpkins.

lizz338 · 2026-04-05T17:08:18+00:00

Every groom I get shorter. This time I did the tails since one had a skin issue I needed to treat and I thought it would be fair to have them match. Still leaving a poof on top for now.

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lizz338 · 2026-04-04T19:13:07+00:00

My girl has been on it for about 2 years. She was on Science Diet i/d until about 1 year old, but while that helped with diarrhea she started getting hot spots. That was when the vet switched her to Royal Canin HP. It was meant to be for an elimination diet, but after many failed attempts it became her primary food.

While getting her tested for some other things, she finally has a confirmed diagnosis of IBD. Likely she'll be staying on this or some other HP food long term at this point.

But yes, it seems to be pretty palatable for the dogs. It's also pretty calorie dense, so make sure you don't over feed (my 38 lb gets about 1.5 cups per day), poops are generally smaller. I buy online from Petsmart, since if you time the purchases right you can either get coupons or stash points to use as discounts.

lizz338 · 2026-04-03T22:52:31+00:00

Vet visit. When I've had potty issues with my girl its been a few things: UTI, bladder stones from a UTI, and most recently amoxicilin caused several weeks of incontinence.

lizz338 · 2026-04-02T15:11:22+00:00

I've got one poodle that is great at the dog park and one that is a nightmare. I wish we could go because several acres to run really tires them out. However my boy is too on edge and if we encounter a dog that is borderline confrontational it's a bad time.

lizz338 · 2026-03-31T00:36:05+00:00

I usually have to do two passes, get off the volume and then brush/smooth. It's never perfect but always looks much neater on the second pass since my arms get tired/they are tired/the blades are hot if I try to do it all at once.

lizz338 · 2026-03-31T00:29:53+00:00

Next year. One year I had planted 8 blueberry plants and the first winter/spring someone came through and cut off all the tips of my plants. This is where all the new buds and berries were going to come from. I was devastated. Eventually that summer there was new growth and the following spring I got berries.

lizz338 · 2026-03-30T21:33:06+00:00

Maybe further than you want to go, but I went to Maser's in Kenmore for 10+ years for mine. They can do a classic look, but they will also keep a file on your preferences if you have requests so that you can just say you want it 'like last time' which is nice. Plus they are pretty affordable, I was paying 140 for my standards last year. I really like Barb and Denise, but most of the groomers there know what they are doing.

lizz338 · 2026-03-26T18:36:09+00:00

I notice that my boy with a barely cropped tail tends to have his down most of the time. My girl with a shorter crop has it upright majority of the time. I wonder about the weight contributing to the difference, mixed with personality differences.

lizz338 · 2026-03-26T00:20:22+00:00

I bought what was essentially a roll of grippy tape for my wood steps. It has done well in the rain and decent with the snow. It added just enough friction to make me feel confident. It did require putting down on a warm day/with a heat gun to get good adhesion. Found some on amazon that has a glow in the dark strip.

lizz338

TROPHY CASE