Finally, my landscaping post!

I'm finally, finally getting around to posting pics of our landscaping work from this summer! These projects really kept us busy for the few weeks that my love was actually home which is partly to blame for my lack of blogging. I wish I had taken more pictures of the actual process to include the many trips to Lowes, my love driving a big ol' dump truck (he did let me push the button though to help dump), and the big mountain of mulch we had in our driveway. It was a lot of work, a lot of sweat, and a lot of good times that my love and I got to share together. So, please enjoy (I hope), our landscaping progress.

December 2007: House hunting trip and this was the house we chose...in the middle of construction. (I'll have to do a post on what we've done inside sometime.)

May 2009

August 2010: we took A LOT of stuff out. I am trying to find a picture that shows just how quickly things can grow in and crowd everything out in this garden space. Huge lesson learned, DO NOT plant Russian Sage into a space unless you want it to stay and fill in...because it will.

edited to add: this is the best I can find so far to give you some idea of what Russian Sage (the purple flower behind the chair) can do. Here it was okay, a month later...in early July...not so much--especially considering summer was just getting under way.

Another shot of the front yard to date. I didn't set out for this color scheme, but I really love it as it really sets off the Barberry bushes now.

**As a side note, we had a leak in the house that coincided beautifully (totally not kidding) with the undertaking of this project. Just before we started working on this front garden we had a leak coming into the house during rain...ended up being where the water pipe penetrated into the foundation of the house. My love had to dig a 5 1/2 foot hole in order for me to squirm down there to fix the issue. My love held my feet and I'm sure we looked quite the sight...especially the next day when its was 95+ degrees out and I had a winter knit cap on my head to keep from getting dirt in my hair.

May 2009: boring side of the house that was a pain to mow. The satellite dish has since been moved as well.

August 2010: Various types of Hydrangeas and one of our few remaining original azalea bushes. The three originally planted in the front were getting too much sun and were "burning"--basically getting crispy leaves. This one has finally found its perfect home and is recovering quite nicely.

August 2010: I absolutely LOVE this view upon walking to the gate to the back yard. Exactly the feel we were hoping for. On the side of the deck we have some fall blooming clematis. I'm super psyched about this thing because it has been growing like crazy all summer long and now there are thousands of buds popping up all over the place on it. Its gonna be gorgeous.

September 2008: This is our lovely backyard...more like weed patch. My love would mow and be totally socked in a cloud of dust. Yuck. Thankfully I was pregnant at the time and couldn't mow it. ;o)

July 2009: We have a deck!!! Oh, and no more weeds...but beautiful lush green grass. Thank you TruGreen, you are worth every penny!

August 2009: Mom and Dad came out and really helped get the landscaping going. Actually, I think my dad really did most of the work here.

August 2010: Things have grown in and I extended the bed on the right to cover the tree and make it look less lop-sided.

May 2009: We extended the fence to our property line and TruGreen was really taking effect.

August 2009: Again, my parents helped me strategically place some shrubs and bushes in the back section of the yard to one day provide a little bit more privacy from the neighbors but also keeping the view of the marsh in tact.

August 2010: We continued the stone border that we used for the flower beds around the deck and created a defined space for the bushes and shrubs. We also added some Korean Boxwoods and Knockout Roses (sorry dad, I fell in love with them and they're perfect for the area). Oh, and the kiddo got a sandbox too that just so happened to work perfectly.

A bit closer of a shot of the Roses and Boxwoods. By the way, we got these super cheap. Those Boxwoods, I kid you not, were only $12. They're huge and places like Lowes would easily charge $30 for something like this.

Dynamite Crepe Mertles. These things are gorgeous and interesting to watch bloom. A lot of the blooms pop out white and then turn into a blazing red shortly after.

One last view of our backyard...with Eli just sitting there enjoying it. Oh, just in case you're wondering. The white flowers you see just to the left are Tardiva Hydrangeas and the pink ones in front are from a Navajo Crape Mertle.

close-up of the Tardiva Hydrangea blooms