Today I am going to show you what a difference a little new landscaping can make to complete the exterior of your home. This is the post I lost when my computer crashed last week. I was finally able to get it back together. Yay!
I have mentioned to you before that we purchased a foreclosure less than a year ago. The yard was atrocious! Weeds instead of grass, weeds instead of bushes and more weeds up to my knees. There was no grass left, at all, in the front yard. This house had been abandoned for over 3 years and had been given no love whatsoever. Our only option was to start over.
The first thing we had to do to get rid of the weeds was spray the entire yard with industrial strength Round-Up. I left this dirty job to the Hubs. He put on a cute mask and took a big sprayer and went to town. It took about 2 weeks for all the weeds to die and shrivel up.
After all the weeds were dead, we had a bobcat come in and scrape the entire yard down to the dirt. Here is a little hint on how to prep your dirt for sod: Take a soil sample from about 20 different locations around the yard. The best way to improve your soil is to have your soil tested for pH and nutrient levels. We went to the University of Georgia Agricultural Office and asked them to provide us with soil test forms and instructions. We then sent in the 20 dirt samples. Less than 2 weeks later (while waiting for the weed killer to take effect) we had our soil report.
The soil test report will tell you whether your soil needs lime or nutrients or both. If the soil test recommends lime, apply it! Work the lime into the soil with a spade or a tiller to a depth of about 6 inches. Lime changes the pH balance of the soil, which is critical to absorption of nutrients by plants.
We were now ready for sod. Sod = instant yard = happy day!
The sod is finally installed. It is not a pretty green … yet. It is now time to work on the planting beds. This is a picture of the largest bed on the right side of the yard. I know the tree looks dead, but it comes back with gusto!
Added some plants, but within days the bed is completely taken over by weeds. Want another little hint? Cover your beds in wet newspaper before you mulch. It is a better weed deterrent than those plastic weed barriers and better for the environment. Do what I say … not as I do. We got tired and skipped this step. BIG MISTAKE!
Wow … I had forgotten how bad the weeds were in this bed. Yikes!
One more view. Those branchy plants in front are hydrangeas. Aren’t they looking a little pitiful? They survive and will be stunning one day.
Here is the same bed – weeded and mulched. Can you believe the difference? The tree bloomed so beautifully – this was one of the 5 trees we kept in the front yard from the original landscape. I am so glad we did.
Ugly front bed but we were able to save this huge Crepe Myrtle. It is a gorgeous tree and we were thrilled to have it already there.
From the other side. The pile of dirt on the left/top side is going to be a flower bed – need to use your imagination.
Plants and mulch – such an amazing difference already!
Hi Pico! I can’t go anywhere without her following me. I am surprised she is not in every picture I take. I don’t even go to the bathroom alone. I complain, but I adore this dog!
Here is the Crepe Myrtle bed completely done. The mulch is in, flower bed is planted and a decorative rock (not really decorative – put there to prevent our teens from running over the flowers when they are backing out of the driveway). Shhhh … don’t tell them. The red thing you see hanging in the tree is a hummingbird feeder. I love those little birds.
You can see all the bulbs that I planted are starting to come up in the front of the bed. You all know that I have a major black thumb – any bulb that pops through is a big accomplishment for me. I admit not all my bulbs came up – such a bummer.
Another ugly bed up by the house. Again, the pile of dirt will be a flower bed. Plants are in, but mulch is desperately needed. The Japanese Maple was another saved tree. This was quite a treat for us – we love Japanese Maples and they are so expensive. Lucky us!
Doesn’t the Maple look so sad and naked? She comes alive … just wait.
Some mulch + a Maple with leaves = Happy Mama!
The flag was out for Memorial Day and I just can’t bear to take it down. It makes the house look so complete and makes me feel good to see it waving in the wind.
The Maple looks so proud to finally be the center of attention and not over-run by weeds and overgrown shrubs. She is thriving!
Front bed is complete. I can’t wait to see it all grow and fill in – I will be sure to update you as the months go by.
This is the side hill next to our neighbors. These Leyland Cypress trees were here when we moved in and provide a nice, natural privacy barrier. I planted about 75 Coneflowers bulbs on this hill and so far not even ONE has come up! What in the world did I do wrong??
I must have been mad about the Coneflower debacle the day I took these pictures since I didn’t really show the hill again. Trust me … no flowers. Crap!
This is the bed at the end of the driveway before we put in another Crepe Myrtle or mulch.
Another teen-driving- deterring rock, Crepe Myrtle and mulch!
Doesn’t mulch make such a gigantic difference in the look of a yard? It is pretty scary and a bit daunting when it arrives however:
Oh My! It is pretty overwhelming when it is dumped on the driveway. Lucky for us the young gentleman who sold us the mulch said he would throw in installation for the same price. I had to think about that one for about …. ONE SECOND! This “kid” put in his earphones – took a bucket and a wheelbarrow and had that entire pile of mulch installed in one afternoon. Amazing. This would have taken Hubs and I days to complete and most likely many threats of divorce. Just kidding – but I am so grateful that it got done for us. We all know that being sweaty and dirty is not really my thing! * *I know where your heads just went and it’s not funny (well- a little funny)!**
Here is the house with sod, landscape and a decorated front porch. I am so happy with our finished product. It finally looks like home – a home to be proud of!
If you want to know the name of any of the plants we included in our beds, feel free to shoot me off an email and I will get back to you. I tried to save all the tags off the plants so I should be able to get you any information you might need.
Thanks for going on my landscaping transformation today. I hope you enjoyed seeing how much landscape can completely transform the look of a home.
Hope your life is more blooming Coneflower heaven than no flowers havoc!
Missi
Come see me at these blog parties this week:
It’s beautiful. I hate getting sweaty and dirty, too, but the final product is soooo worth it
Your house is gorgeous! Great job landscaping.
Your home is so very pretty. I love the color and how you painted your window sashes (I think that’s what they are called). Beautiful grass it’s a sea of green.
Your house was lovely before but the after is stunning! Seriously awesome curb appeal!
And I laughed at the prevent the teen drivers from running over the flowers rocks! And the kid with his earphones and wheel barrel one day mulch installation … oh to be young with an ipod …
Linda
It looks lovely — all your hard work paid off!
It looks fabulous. We’re still working on a big yard re-do here (second year) and seeing before and afters like yours gives me hope.
I really enjoyed this post. It’s loaded with interesting before and afters, and I can see you made a lot of smart choices.
Lucky you that some major plantings survived. The yard was probably planned by a professional landscape designer, so you had some good bones to start with. It just needed your love, lots of hard work, and some money!
My (almost) favorite thing is getting dirty and sweaty working outside. Tip: coneflowers are difficult to get started. You’d do better to buy established plants. They’ll probably be on sale later this summer, and then, your pants will come back and multiply every year. They like lots of sun and they don’t need much water after established, so they should be happy on your hill.
Thanks for sharing your successes. And your mistakes, as well!
What a lot of work ! Beautiful and well worth the effort!
Gorgeous! Crossing my fingers you’ll share at my party! Saturdays at Seven!
XO, Aimee
I am linked up to your party Aimee! Thanks for the invite and for hosting!
Our deer LOVE coneflowers. I tried some that were grown in pots and they were beautiful. Then, the deer would come through have a party and they were eaten to the grown. Yummy! That was the last of my buying coneflowers.
I guess it is not so bad they didn’t come up then … they would just get eaten. I bought some “deer resistant” perennials today – we’ll see. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Everything came out so fabulous. What an inspirational post! I would love it if you share this awesome post at our What’s It Wednesday linky party. I hope you can join us!
Paula
ivyandelephants.blogspot.com
Sounds wonderful! I will link up tomorrow! Thanks for the nice comment and for visiting my blog!
So pretty! You’re making me want to work out in my yard…maybe. lol. Visiting from BNOTP. Would love it if you would share this at my Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2012/06/dining-room-floor-reveal.html Wishing you a grand evening. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thanks for the nice comment and for stopping by from BNOTP! I look forward to linking up with you next Monday. Thanks for the invite! Happy 4th! Stay safe.
BEAUTIFUL home!!! I am in desperate need of lanscaping…great job on yours!
What a beautiful blog and the landscape re-do is amazing! Blessings. Sarah
I absolutely love your house! And you could host Yard Crashers! It looks great! Reminds me I desperately need to work on our landscaping. Happy SITS Day!
That looks like it was a very big project; I have never attempted any landscaping on that scale before. It looks amazing!
I put down landscaping fabric (and newspaper) on 7,000 square feet of property this summer. It took sex weeks. The next day we had 45 cubic yards of bark dust blown in. It is beautiful. Love your post. Enjoy your SITS day.
It is hard to believe you have a black thumb after looking at all these photos. Beautiful. I am envious. Happy SITS day. Did all those teenagers of yours help?
I absolutely have a black thumb. I have even killed succulents – those are supposed to be kill proof. Hubs takes care of the outside – thank goodness.
It looks beautiful. Good job!
Wow, what a difference all that hard work made! Beautiful, and makes me want to come linger in your yard to appreciate all of it
You can come over any time Kristin. I could use an extra pair of hands to weed this damn yard. So much for lingering huh? Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again!
Stopping by from SITS. Looks great.
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my new landscape. I appreciate you being here!
Looks lovely and makes the home look cozy
Thanks so much Haley! I appreciate you visiting and your nice comment!
How pretty…Happy SITS day
Mulch does make such an amazing difference! But that big truck load is a bit daunting! Over from Sits, btw!