Update on Landscaping

You never really know what you are getting yourself into until you actually get "into" it.  You know?  Chattanooga State has started back and I'm teaching 2 classes this semester.  While that's relatively easy, we have also started homeschooling at least 4 days each week and I am a part time student again :)  SO, the inside of the house has come to a screeching halt...

While the weather is cooling off and it's beautiful outside, we've taken the weekends to spruce up the outside a little more.  Here are some before and after pics...

In my honest opinion, the ground cover looks like bread mold.  I hate it.  BUT Greg insists we have to keep some of it for now to prevent erosion when it rains.  Ugh (I know he's right).  OK for now, but I'm going to sabotage it to the point where we can only keep a very, very small portion of it.  Anyway, he gutted the landscaping.  Many burning bushes were removed.  I think this might be a repeat picture of the last landscaping post, but the point is that it was horrendous before he started.  

 

 

See that evergreen on the corner right there below?  That's the last time you'll see it.

(I don't like these random green/blue things either, but they have to stay for now...apparently.)  All in time right?  I keep reminding myself and Greg that there is NO WAY we will have this house the way we want it in a year.  Progress....not perfection...

 

Here is the back yard.  We planted this garden very soon after we moved in.  I wanted at least a small homegrown crop.  The trees shaded it way too much and it also prevents the grass from growing. 

View out the front door....above and toward the front door below.

 

 Below:  Note the trees on the left side of the picture...the ones at the corner of the house.  WAY too tall and stuff falling in the HVAC unit and gutters.  They were cut WAY back...

 

AND SOME AFTER PICTURES!!!

I came home from a weekend visit with my mom in VA and Greg had put pine straw all over the place. (Thanks to Tim who helped get it here b/c I had the Pathfinder which he usually uses with the trailer.) The above is beside the upper garage...(front of the house)

Below is to the right side of the garage.  I don't think I have a before of it....just trust me, this is much better.

 

 

Below: on the other side of the fence, Greg built a compost bin.  This is something I've been wanting for years.  The girls saw an episode of Wild Kratts that also talked about building a compost bin and so the Wild Kratts sold him....go figure.  Anything for the kids, right!? :-)  Anyway, it's right off of the kitchen and easy access.  Plus it gives the girls a place to put worms.  They like to dig up worms...in their dresses and princess crowns. 

The next major project for him is to bury the drain pipe...it floods terribly in the back yard without it...

 

 

Check it out!!!  This is the backyard without the trees and my new winter garden is already planted.  Brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower. (yes, my kids eat all of them....and the secret ingredient to the brussel sprouts is....bacon.) Oh and don't forget asparagus.  But, from what I understand this may take a few years??

 

 

Below: I couldn't see the street b/c of the evergreen Christmas tree at the corner of the house...We have planted several small mums, lantana, aster, and a few other things I can't remember the names of.  I can't even begin to tell you how much better it looks now that it's thinned out and small colorful things now take the place of box woods and ligustrum bushes.  We added 2 crepe myrtle trees by the garage and and plan to add another where the giant tree on the corner was.  At least we can cut those back every year and control how big they get. 



 

Below:  We didn't kill the trees!!!  They look amazing now.  So much better...

 

Still working on some decorations for fall, and we've planted about 50 bulbs all over for spring :)

 

So here's the deal.  Landscaping can be expensive!!!  Greg found a killer deal on mums and lantana.  He bought each mum for $2 and each lantana for 99cents.  We found several other deals on the clearance section at Lowe's.  We have had good results in the past by nurturing the end of season plants through the winter.  Hopefully, these will grow great here too! 

 

Oh and....the day before I drove back from my mom's in VA, I did about $1100.00 worth of damage to my car when I ripped the driver's door almost completely off.  Hint: don't back up the car with the door open at your mom's house.  (Another reason why updates slacked off this month...LOL.)

 

Have a blessed day and please give me any landscaping ideas...plant names etc that you think would look good here.  We still have a lot to do in the backyard as we will be ripping out the railroad ties this fall/winter to reshape the garden area and prepare for a patio and firepit!!

 

Jana

 

 

 

 

Landscaping Weekend Project

This past weekend, we postponed a trip to see my family in Virginia because both girls started showing signs of a cold.  I wasn't feeling the best on Friday either.  We are all well, but the weather was perfect for some outside work.  I didn't feel like doing much inside...
Greg and I had talked about what we would do with the landscaping and the bottom line is that a large portion just needs to be removed.  It's overgrown and has been unkept for at least a year. 
HINT: to built up your man, buy him a chainsaw.

This is just the beginning and it's just one side, but it's a start...
Before:

This is the view from the front door.

View from the lower driveway toward front door
21 "burning bushes here....21!
AND
10 boxwoods flanking the Japanese maple.

view from lower driveway toward the back garage

view of one REALLY tired guy after cutting down lots of bushes and shrubs...

AFTER: view from lower drive toward front door
That is a non-flowering ligustrum to the bottom right of the window. 
There were 3 and we decided to keep 1.
The row at the right is a project for a different day. 
NO, I don't like all the ground cover....I'm not 100% sure what to do with it b/c it will need some due to the slope.



AFTER: lower driveway toward back garage

Don't judge the job too harshly...we have a semi-clean mess that took 2 days!  I was seriously thinking we'd find a snake den in all those bushes.  It was crazy!  AND there is still so much more to take out.  We do plan to add some color and crossing our fingers the trees will come back healthy.  They were WAY too tall for their variety and caused some clogging in the gutters and were dropping leaves in the AC unit.  Any ideas on flowers/flowering shrubs?  (please don't say knock out roses...we have a ton of those already....future post.) 

 

Dining room update.  The painting is finished, but I'm still unsure about decorating it...so I'm hesitant to add any pics just yet.  AND it needs curtains. 

 
Have a blessed week!
jmh