Landscaping

Our yard has been barren for the past year and a half. And it bothered the bajeezus out of me.

It was always our plan to get landscaping done this spring/summer but man, that year long wait was long. I'm so thankful that the wait is now over!

(You may notice we cut down one of the smaller trees - it looks way better this way!) 

We had a landscaper plan and plant everything because Andy and I have an uncanny ability to screw things up. Since landscaping was so important to me I preferred to do it right the first time. My only stipulations were that we plant as many budding plants/flowers as possible, and that we have mulch. Rock may be less maintenance, but it just doesn't do it for me. I like the lush-ness of mulch much better. Andy of course wanted rock and stone edging, so we met in the middle. I couldn't be happier with the finished product.

Those babies are actually cemented into the ground! Thank God we won't have to deal with edging for many, many years.

Viburnum, Hydrangeas, Lilac, and Peach Coral Bells

Hydrangea

A few of the plants looked a little sad when they arrived from the nursery, but that was to be expected since we were planting so late in the season. These babies had only been in the ground for 4 days (at the time I photographed) and have already perked up quite a bit. I think in a week or two we will have very happy plants.

Russian Sage, Patriot Hastas, Sedums, and a Crab Apple Tree

Love me some Russian Sage! And the edging looks pretty sweet in the photo below.

I can't wait for everything to grow and fill out.

Knockout Roses

English Lavender

At first we weren't planning to do all of the perimeter in the back, but we finished the deck so it just made more sense to do it all at once. 

It's mostly bushes - burning bush, boxwoods, spireas, and some more hydrangeas.

It was definitely worth the wait for this.

All Decked Out

I'm back with an outdoor update. We now have a back deck!

A deck was always something Andy really wanted. I was kind of 'meh' about it because there were things that were higher on my priority list. But it got to be a big hassle not having an outdoor space. We had always planned to pave a patio in summer 2015, but decided we didn't want to go without an outdoor space for that long. So, a deck it was..

It's a bit of a tough space to photograph since it isn't very big - 10' x 12' I believe. It's pretty much the perfect size for the two of us, though - enough to comfortably fit the grill and a little sitting area. We did host my sister's baby shower a few weekends ago and it seemed like more people were able to congregate out there than I thought would be able to. 

Can I get an Amen for not having to grill in the garage anymore? It's so nice to only have to walk 5 steps from the kitchen.

 It took a while for me to find a bistro-type set that I liked as many of them were really small. I also wanted to avoid a glass table because winds get pretty crazy out here. This is a BHG set that I ended up ordering from Walmart (*gasp*). I like that it's fairly large, the chairs rock, and the cushions came with it.

Overall, we are reeeal happy with the way this turned out. We will stain it in the fall to finish it off, but are just happy that this project is complete!

I Love Plants.

The title of this post may be weird, but it's so true. I love plants and landscaping. I never really paid much attention to it until I worked one summer for my city planting and watering flowers. They are seriously real pretty, guys! And my mom is definitely a green thumb so I'm used to having boatloads of flowers around.

This summer we were determined to dedicate all our efforts to making our yard more pretty. Since we had to wait a bit for landscapers, I started by assembling a few pots/planters. These things have been my babies for the past few months and I check on them every day (it's not hard when you don't have many to look after!). I thought I'd share a few of our smaller outdoor "projects"..

This little sitting area is brought to you by Ace Hardware. The chairs were on sale and only like $15 a piece, and actually quite comfy. The petunias had already been planted in this cute little pot, so I couldn't pass it up. These sit on our front porch and get quite a bit of use. I don't think there was a single day I didn't sit in them for a solid 6 weeks straight.

This big square planter had been in the old shed, and I was pretty determined to put it to use (I like free). It requires machinery to lift/move, but for now it sits on the back "patio." The blooms pretty much all died after we got 7 inches of rain a few weeks ago (the planter had very poor drainage), but thankfully they are working their way back.

And onto more petunias. Andy and I found this cute little bicycle stand at the 3rd Sunday market and I about died when I saw the little umbrella. (There are similar items at Big R if you're in the market). Again, I just bought a basic pot with pre-planted flowers at Ace and it fit perfectly. These blooms are also flourishing quite nicely. This sits between the "patio" and deck (more on that in another post).

 There was another large round pot that had been sitting empty at one of the farms, so I had been planning to snag that one too. Late in the season, I went to Home Depot to look for something good to plant. I love dahlias, but they only had one plant left and it looked really sad. I bought it anyway. I got home and realized the plant was about half the size it needed to be, as I way under-estimated the size of the pot. Oh well. I planted it anyway.

It actually looks hideous in this picture. The plant has improved since I planted it, but it is definitely still sparse. The blooms it does have are beautiful! More dahlias, please.

 Flowers are such a cheap way to put a smile on my face.

Brains Behind the Build: Outdoor Edition

I fell in love with our lot when the old house was still here.  The house sat probably a few hundred feet from the country road and I loved all the open space. The exterior and landscaping was very much a priority when planning the new house. And once the new house came along we could still see more potential, but there was still work to be done.

Issue number one was deciding which direction the house should face. The old house didn't actually face the road, but rather the lane. It's really hard to explain, so hopefully pictures clear it up. It seemed to bother other people that the house didn't face the road, but it never was a big deal to me. It is perhaps my number one pet peeve when people don't use their front door. I wanted it to face the lane because then it gave no excuses for not using the front door. I didn't want any other doors exposed either. Plus, now the house faces a major road across the field so it's actually seen by more people. It was settled that the new house would face the same direction as the old one had.

View from the mailbox

So many mismatched trees...

View from the field. Also a closer view of what you see from the major road across the field.

As far as the look of the house, we went with a neutral gray siding. Perhaps some day we will upgrade with some stone or brick accents, but I am perfectly content with the current look. I also fought hard for my front porch. I wanted the porch to stretch the length of the house and to be as deep as possible - deep enough to sit or rock comfortably in a chair without hitting the house or a railing. And I didn't want puny columns, I wanted significant ones. Now that I have it, it's perfect. Eventually we will add a railing, flower boxes, and other furniture to dress it up, but again, priorities. Hurray for having front steps! It only took 14 months after moving in to get them.. (notice the bottom piece of siding is still unfinished).

Obviously, the house needs landscaping around the perimeter (hopefully next month!). It will bring a lot of color to the house. The circle drive landscaping needs some work too - Andy already tore out the old overgrown bushes and replanted some of the random hastes that used to be in the back. There are also random bushes here and there on the property that will go, as well. Basically, we have a lot of work to do on the flower front.

The lot had several old trees around the property, protecting it from wind. However, the best trees had to be cut down to make room for the new house, and all the ones left are old and dying (seriously!). I honestly don't think there is a single tree that we won't eventually tear down. I don't love the evergreens in the front and the current trees/bushes are oddly spaced to me. Over the years we will have to replace them all one by one, but we do want to have trees surrounding the house again. My OCD self just needs coordinating tree placement and type.

Not sure why the right half of this tree doesn't grow..

More proof of the tree-dying phenomenon. Such a sad evergreen..

Originally the lot only had one shed, the smaller one in the far back corner. However, the bigger shed was put up due to necessity for more equipment storage. Now half of the lot is graveled and I'm not really a fan. Paving the lane and drive-up would make me feel a little better about losing so much green space but that's A LOT of area to pave, so I won't hold my breath waiting on that. I guess it's a necessary trade off..

As far as the backyard and an outdoor living space, we have two sliding glass doors installed- one off the dining room/kitchen area, and one off the mudroom. We are hoping to build a small deck sometime this summer off the dining room space. We've been grilling in the garage and it's such a hassle (not to mention a bit of a fire hazard). Last summer was such a bummer to not have anywhere to entertain, and I hated having to lug out a folding chair just to sit outside, so it will be nice to get some patio furniture. In the future, we plan to pave a patio off the mudroom door, as well.

Space for future deck

Space for future patio

Obviously there is so much yard space that we can pretty much do whatever we want with it! There is even a lot of space beyond the house in the far back of the lot.

The back of the lot - also more proof that this generation of trees has seen better days

Random white fence that sits in the middle of nowhere

The inaugural first tree planting took place last month 

We have big plans for this place! And I'm thankful for Andy who is obsessed with the outdoors. I know things will happen thanks to his motivation. He's been working so hard to get our new grass to grow! We know it will take a LOT of time and effort, but we couldn't be happier with all of the potential.

Porch Inspiration

I have always dreamed of having a big southern porch. I imagine myself sitting on a porch swing or rocking chair drinking sweet tea in the summers and watching the sun set. Idyllic? I'd say so.

On our house, we have a long front porch that runs the length of the house. We've been focusing on selecting columns and railings this week, so I thought I would post about my inspiration and what I'm hoping it will come out as.

Here are some photos I've collected on Pinterest over the last few months..

 PorchView

 Charming Porch

Wrap-Around Porch

Our house actually should look pretty similar to the middle photo - long porch with the front door in the middle. We think we've settled on a style for the columns and railings. Here is the sample photo from the seller:

Turncraft Columns

I promise this weekend I will steal someone's camera and take pictures of all of the rooms. This week I should have oodles of free time so I expect to get a few inspiration posts done!