Landscaping

Back in early spring, my husband and I headed to a local nursery to chose plants for our latest project around our house - re-landscaping the front beds. The previous home owners didn't appear to have planned very well. Things were a hodge podge with no shape or symmetry. Although I will give them a little credit - there was always something blooming in the yard; it was just really random what was blooming. Sometimes there'd be little pink roses, sometimes day lilies, sometimes irises, sometimes chrysanthemums. 

I tend to like a little more order to things than that. ;) 

We agreed on a rough space plan that I drew for the large beds, and decided on a color scheme of shades of green. My fave.

Off we went.

Here's a peek of our haul. It was probably the coldest, windiest day of the month too. I was very pregnant at  the time, and freezing cold too!

When we got home, we began to sit out everything for the yard guys to plant. You can tell how bleak everything is - not a single leaf on our trees yet! And see how ill-placed the existing plants are too.

Sandy, our feline, was very curious as to what mom and dad were up to. :)

Here's an in-progress shot:

And an after, before things began to bloom.

I chose a mix of half black and half natural mulch for the beds to coordinate with the natural look of our house and other areas of the yard.

Now, here's our pretty, green beds.

It's amazing what a little mulch, sod, and few loads of plants will do! 

We've kinda got a three layer plan going on....crepe myrtles are in the back - they'll bloom white next year and get to be about 6-8' tall; boxwood, hollys, and hydrangea are mixed in between; artemesia, loripedlum, and dusty miller are in front. And the small potted mosses in the first picture are planted along the front left corner and along side the house in a damp, shady spot leading to the lake. 

We lined the walkway with small gardenias - which I love! The planters have small boxwood and ivy while my other pots have white geraniums. 

While I do like order and symmetry, I believe the plants we chose will provide a natural, un-manicured look when they fill in. There's nothing prettier than the shades of green we've got too! I can hardly wait for my white hydrangea to bloom next year either.

We were able to place some of the plants from the front beds in the larger one above our erosion controlling juniper. Now, the day lilies, chrysanthemums, hollys, roses, and a few hydrangea have a new home. 

Here's our sweet watch dog, Baxter, exploring his new territory.

David and I are both thrilled that we took the plunge to plant some new things. We look forward to what they'll look like next year, after a year of establishment too! 

With the spring plants and blooms we had around here came another spring regular - the chipmunks. Sandy loves to "play" with them and really loves to make sure mom and dad know she's a good hunter. ;) 

I snapped these few pics of her keeping a close eye on one - he's about 18" away from her, and believe me, she never let him get much farther. 

Have you guys made any improvements to your yard lately?