Blooms

I left off early this week having showed you how we decided to divvy up the landscaping work between do-it-ourselves and hiring out. Now, let's get to the good stuff!

There were a few plants that we knew we wanted: hydrangeas, boxwoods, and a redbud or dogwood.
I have an obsession with hydrangeas, boxwoods are hardy and easy to care for (and we love the look of them), and we wanted a pretty blooming tree - all pretty straight forward reasons. We didn't want a lot of high-maintenance plants, simply because we knew we didn't/don't have the time to take care of an entire yard full of plants that need daily love and care.

The main plants we ended up going with were two types of hydrangeas (annabelles and limelights), boxwoods and two types of roses (knockouts and and pink drift). For the larger trees, we used a Coral Bark Maple, one Redbud and globe spruce.



The biggest question was what to do with the front, focal point of the house. There are two random sewer hubs in the front yard that give me hives each time I mow. I'm positive that I'll run over them, ruin our mower and somehow be part of an episode where sewage explodes everywhere. Something that would only happen in a National Lampoons movie. Needless to say, not only were they a disaster waiting to happen (in my head, at least), they are an eye sore.

The solution proved to be the biggest project of the front of the house and dramatically changed the way it looks:
(see the large green caps on the lower right side of this picture?)


We made a large half circle that would cover them up. From the drawing, this spaced looked way too large for our liking. But, we learned that the rule of thumb is that it should only go out as far as the house is tall. Thankfully, we have a tall roof line due to vaulted ceilings, so it gave us some space to cover up the caps. It's so much easier to mow this area of the house now!
This bed inlcudes a huge row of Annabelle hydrangeas along the back (at the house), the large Red Bud in the front (centered by the four windows), 5 drift roses that become more like a ground cover, and six knock-our rose bushes.
One of my favorite things is walking down our hallway and seeing this Red Bud and all the flowers outside.

(It was a small coincidence that big kev matches half the plants!)





Connected to that, we put in a new plant bed to fill the empty wall that you would see walking up the sidewalk along the garage:




The little tree straight ahead is a Coral Bark Maple that turns a gorgeous red/orange color throughout the winter months, giving us a difference in color while most trees look drab. It's accompanied by some boxwoods, bluebells and astilbes (all of which do great in shaded areas.)
Along the garage, we did 12 boxwoods and under the windows, 4 limelight hydrangeas. I can't wait for those babies to bloom! They'll be a perfect compliment to the window design and bring more of a variety of color and height.





The last new area we had made was a little section at the beginning our sidewalk, where it connects to the driveway. I love this little globe spruce, and it seems so much more welcoming. Before, this space seemed like people wouldn't naturally use that sidewalk because it was narrow and unwelcoming. Now it feels so friendly and inviting!




Because of the crazy amounts of rain we've had, a lot of the plants have been sprouting like crazy! Everyone says that the first year of landscaping is rough, as it doesn't look finished. Then, it gets better over the years as the plants fill out. I'll admit that the the big section in front doesn't look quite complete yet, but as the roses spread and the ground covers grow, it'll be beautiful!
In the mean time, our hydrangeas are loving their new home!




As for the roses, they aren't loving us at the moment. We've pruned them a few times and have been spoiling them with special rose fertilizer. Maybe we need to start chatting with them daily.




There you have it, another HUGE project almost completed! (I never say "fully completed" these days, there always seems to be other things to do...including a large pile of mulch that is still in our driveway ;)




Can you believe that our little home used to look like this?




Amazing what some paint and plants will do!)
(and gracious family members :)