I hope you had a wonderful long weekend and Memorial Day! I had such a fantastically productive weekend that I needed an extra day to recover before sharing with you.
We planted flowers, dug out and trashed 2 bushes, relocated another bush, trimmed even more bushes, weeded a forest of weeds, dug up some MONSTER rocks, installed a new porch light, planted some arborvitae, added another veggie garden planter, and started planting in this year's edible garden. Phew!! It's tiring just listing it all! Luckily my super duperly helpful parents were willing to lend a hand. It was their idea, I swear!! When they offer to come visit to help dig out a bush (or three), I would be a complete fool to say no!
This is what the front yard looked like just a week and a half ago:
Last weekend, the beautification began with planting flowers in the front of the house. Planting a few (or in our case, more than a few) flowers is a quick way to make a big impact. It instantly brightens up the yard and makes it feel more landscaped.
That brings us to the holiday weekend. Remember my plans for the front yard that I detailed here? Well, I am please to report that major progress has been made on that front.
Bush: gone. Arborvitae: planted. Rock wall: created from the gazillion rocks I dug up in my few days of landscaping.
As a reminder, this was the offending bush:
And now:
I planted the arborvitae a little further from the house than I initially had wanted, since we have meters on the house in that spot. I'm hoping that they fill in and fill out as they're supposed to, then they'll bridge the gap a bit more.
Since removing the large bush was shockingly easier than any of us expected, we decided to move our focus to the next targets: the side yard's bushes. They were in the way of us adding another raised planter, more tomatoes, and a rain barrel.
The azalea was kinda cute and, aside from its location, quite unoffensive, so it got relocated to a formerly empty corner of the yard. The holly bush, however was not as lucky.
With those bushes out of the way, we added 1 more raised planting bed in our veggie garden and got started on planting.
This was all done, of course, with the proper supervision.
The cherry on top (curb-appeal-wise) was installing the new porch light that we've had hanging out in the closet for almost a year. It has such a fresher look than the rusted, dated fixture of yesteryear.
Now that I've teased you with all the pieces, this is what the entire front yard looks like right now:
After spending the majority of my weekend covered in dirt, I wish I had finished products to show for it. I do find it reassuring, though, that with all we did last year in the yard, and all we're doing this year, we'll be pretty well set up for next year and will just have regular maintenance- or at least that's the plan.
Remaining 2012 Yard To Do List:
- Potentially regrade the front yard a bit
- Plant grass in front
- Put down landscape fabric, stepping stones, and mulch around veggie planters
- Fill all 3 veggie planters with edible goodness
- Mulch. A lot.
- Plant ground-cover on the driveway side of the house
- Get a rain barrel
