Checking in on "Shrub"

Since I moved here in August, most of my time in the yard has been spent taking things out and cleaning it up.  I give the grass a shave with the mower, remove the overgrown vegetation from the garden and some of the naturally vegetated parts of the yard, clear branches after the wind knocks them down, and, most recently, clear the fallen leaves from the lawn.  It's been several months of trimming things down and taking things out, and there's not much creativity in that. 

I've added only one plant to the yard - a shrub native to Japan known as spirea "snowmound".  After initially planting it off-center with the intent of adding another shrub, I realized that the "snowmound" tends to grow rather voraciously, and it would eventually blossom take up most of the space in the fringe of the garden.  I moved it a couple of feet to the right, into the center of the fringe.  In the photo above, you can see the old hole on the left hand side of the photo.  I've been making sure that the ground is moist, which hasn't taken much effort on my part because we've had plenty of rain lately.  With a dry week ahead, though, I'll likely have to water my spirea to keep it happy.  It has finally lost its leaves for the winter, and it will hopefully withstand any attempts by the deer to graze on it over the winter.  So far, my first planting attempt appears to be a success.  I can't wait until spring, when it will resume growing and display its brilliant white flowers in my yard for the first time.