Latest Projects

With all the projects keeping us occupied inside our house, we’ve kind of neglected the long list of landscaping we’ve been needing to do.  Finally, a few weeks ago, I told JD it was time for us to get started on some of our projects.  Fall is actually the best time to plant in NC, because it’s easier for the plants to establish themselves over the winter than during the hot, dry summer.

My top priority was the area right in front of our porch.  Here are the before pics:

One of the things that drew me to our house was the very southern front porch (complete with rocking chairs!) but I thought that the old bushes hid the porch a little bit.  Plus, half of them were dying.  The nursery recommended these bushes, which I fell in love with because of the multi-colored leaves.  They will also get white flowers in the spring.  They are a low maintenance plant and will only grow to 2 feet.  Perfection :)

 Next up was an area of the back yard where support lines for the telephone pole behind our house are anchored.  I honestly think this is part of the reason our house sat on the market so long before we bought it, but JD and I decided it was one of those compromises that was worth it because of all the other features of the house we liked.  Besides, the yard is mostly for the dogs anyway, and they don’t seem to mind the wires :)

The previous owners tried to make this area look nice, but it definitely needed some sprucing up.  Unfortunately, we lost the before pic.  This was probably the most dramatic transformation of the 3 projects, but you'll just have to picture it.  There were dying plants and a scattered, cheap-looking border.  After a new border (thanks JD!), some pretty grasses, and a little mulch, the area looks much nicer.  We also started a floral vine up the support wire (which you can't see yet).  Hopefully in a few years, those wires won’t be as much of an eyesore.

Finally, JD was determined to clean up the area along the fence.  Our yard seems to drain here, so we couldn’t get grass to grown along this edge of the yard because water always pooled there.  These bushes will grow up to 10 feet and will eventually cover up the fence completely.  We’re considering edging off the area and putting down mulch, but we decided to see how large the bushes get first.

We don't have a before pic for this one either, but there was nothing there, so you're not missing much :)

These projects were small in comparison to the long list of things we’d like to get done outside, but it’s nice to see we’re headed in the right direction :)