Hey there dear friends! Would you believe we have already started on our next project? We are finally tackling our front landscaping!! Can I get an Amen?? That’s what my neighbors are saying I’m sure!
This house had been a rental for several years before we bought it last August, and the landscaping had become quite overgrown:
The grass was a weedy mess as well.
Those photos were taken just after we closed on it.
This project was actually at the top of our list for the Spring, but my Hubby has been working on his own project that took quite a bit longer than he planned. I really needed his help to clear the existing landscape, so that’s when I decided I would get started on the kitchen instead.
Then while I was finishing up the kitchen, he was able to start removing some of the existing shrubs.
We had actually started with those two knockout rose bushes on either side of the steps last Fall:
It didn’t look much better, but I knew I had my fill of being stabbed by those thorns at our last house, so as pretty as they can be, those were going for sure.
My husband did remove all of the weedy grass and reseed as you can see the baby grass starting to sprout in that photo. It did look like this when he was getting rid of the old:
And by Halloween, it looked pretty darn good:
And that is how our yard has sat for almost a whole year since.
Better late than never, right?
So while my Hubby was taking care of shrub removal, I started drawing up a plan on graph paper. I measured the house and all the existing beds since we planned to keep the layout, and drew a to-scale sketch of what we had to work with:
Each square on the graph paper equals one square foot. This is an excellent way to get an idea of what will fit in your landscape.
Then I made a visit to our local nursery to see what was available and took tons of photos…
I was sure to take photos of close-ups of the tags too. That way when I got home I could look up all the info on each to see if they would be a good fit for our new landscape.
I want less maintentance this time.
At our last home, I wanted more of a garden that I could tend to and enjoy, but that did require quite a bit of upkeep. I want to keep things simpler and more manageable.
You can visit our last front garden tour that I did the Spring before we moved HERE.
When creating that landscape, I also wrote the post: How to Create a Landscape from Scratch that you might like HERE.
I’ll be back on Thursday sharing some of our progress. Next Tuesday I’ll have a brand new Trash-to-Treasure for y’all, and then I’ll be ready to share the final reveal of our new and improved landscape after that! This project is moving way faster than our kitchen, thank goodness!
My babies started school today, so hoping for a super productive day! 🙂
UPDATE: Want to check out our landscaping progress? You can see it HERE now!
UPDATE #2: Skip to the final reveal HERE!!
See y’all Thursday!
XOXO,
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Christina in SW FL says
Christy you do like a project! 🙂 I love roses as well but thorns, not so much. Bougainvillea is very popular in Florida and it has huge thorns. No thanks! If I had more sun, I’d get some gardenias. The shrubs in the photos remind me of boxwood.
Congrats on your babies going back to school. 🙂
Tropical storm Gordon passed here yesterday without incident. Just some breezes and gentle rain. 🙂
Have a great week and watch those thorns! 🙂
Christy says
Ha ha yes I do! That’s where Serial DIYer came from. 🙂 I did plant a gardenia on the other side of our garage because I love them too! Glad you weathered the storm well…not looking forward to hurricane season! Have a great day! XOXO
Mary Kaiser says
Wow, you never stop do you!! Looking forward to seeing your new landscaping!
Christy says
I do like to float from project to project until they are all done! That is actually where my blog name came from. 🙂 See ya tomorrow! XOXO
Marcie Lovett says
Did you pick the hottest days on record to work outside, Christy? ???? I’m sure it will be splendid when it’s finished.
Christy says
Oh my gosh YES!!! Girl, all the sweat ha ha. It is almost done though woo hoo! XOXO
Becky says
I love what you did with the landscaping at your last house, and can’t wait to see what you do here! Man, I wish you were my neighbor and I could beg advice from you, haha! Your work is beautiful! I’m wishing you success in your efforts to plan a less-work landscape! Less upkeep is a beautiful thing.
Christy says
Thank you, Becky! I am keeping it much more simple and less colorful, but I think that will work better for this house, and definitely looking forward to less upkeep. I bet you and I would be great friends if you were my neighbor! XOXO
teresa bragg says
I am married to a once professional landscaper who landscaped Parade of Homes houses. Do you think I have a beautiful yard? Nope! All that has been done has been done by me, well, he did plant some azalea bushes I brought home. But, I just love your landscapes. I would love to have a yard like yours! Great job!
Christy says
Oh ha ha isn’t that always the way? Thank you, friend! XOXO
Ruth Anne says
Looking forward to your landscape reveal! Our front gardens have taken a turn for the worse when the big rhododendron died–now the whole area is in dire need of inspiration and reworking. I’m sure your new landscaping is just as gorgeous as the inside of your lovely home.
Christy says
Aww thank you Ruth Anne! We are keeping it pretty simple this time, but it looks so much better than before so far. We pretty much started with a clean slate so I think that helped. XOXO
Karen Moore says
I know it will be gorgeous. I’m in awe at the garden at your other house.
Christy says
Aww thank you, Karen! We are keeping things much more simple this time around, but so far it is looking so much better! XOXO
Lisa M McCoy says
Can’t wait to see the finished yard!!
Christy says
Me too…almost there! 🙂 XO
Linda Petersen says
What a great idea taking pics of the plants & the tags!!! I never would have thought of that on my own. Can’t wait to see how the finished landscape looks & how you decorate for Halloween next month! Have fun???? XO
Christy says
Oh yes it helps so much! Then I can go back to the nursery with a list of what I need. Our yard looks so much better already…excited to share it! And you know I am excited for Halloween!! XOXO
MaryJean says
Now I don’t feel so bad about my backyard! I really neglected it this summer because of all the projects I had in the house. Beds were overgrown and no time to plant a vegetable garden. Next year I will concentrate on the outside. That’s a good idea about taking photos of the tags of the plants to make sure it’s the right fit. I’ll have to remember that one.
Christy says
Yes taking photos of the tags it is a great way to decide what will work where! You need to enlist the help of those boys to help you! XOXO
Ivory says
Beautiful selections, seeking to find tge final results. Can’t wait to see it.
Christy says
Thank you, Ivory! I shared the final reveal here if you missed it: https://www.confessionsofaserialdiyer.com/front-landscaping-reveal/ XOXO
Sharon Austin says
It’s going to be lovely. We are redoing our landscaping too. I am so clueless.of what.to.do. May I ask, which direction does your front yard face? Mine faces North, which can be a bit of a problem. Thank you
Christy says
Thank you, Sharon! You can see how it turned out here if you haven’t seen it yet: https://www.confessionsofaserialdiyer.com/front-landscaping-reveal/ Our front yard faces Southeast I believe. XO