Saturday, May 12, 2018

Before/ After : New Curb Appeal Garden


Hello everyone, and greetings spring!


It's finally here and I am so super excited!
Everything is finally in bloom and is so beautiful!

It was such a long, long loooong winter.

But now that it has warmed up
we were FINALLY able to finish our garden out front.
It was a long process, but we are so happy with it now!






LET ME START WITH A BEFORE PIC..... 
showing our overgrown smoke bushes -
 which (truth be told) we rather liked...
but they very quickly got out of control!

And when we had to heavily prune them
it left the huge cut branches really ugly...
especially from behind them next to the foundation.







I saw them every day when in my home office,
-where one may usually find me-
or at the window in front of my piano... 

I'd sit there and just cringe and wish and hope and wait
 for the day those old and very sad bushes
were no longer part of our garden design!






You can see what we had was just dated, overgrown,
nondescript  foundation garden plots
which were covering up the windows!

Just noticed this really is a "before" because it also shows
our old door and side window panels!


~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~

And now the reveal: TA-DA!!!!! 

Here is our AFTER!
 Every thing all nice and pretty!

It will take a while for things to settle down
and a few things will bloom - hopefully-
which will make it all much prettier eventually.

Since this pic was taken 2 days ago we moved
a few things around to balance better.








We planted 3 big limelight hydrangea (left),
one gorgeous Weeping Lace Leaf Japanese Maple (right)
3 boxwoods (left)- forget real name but kind that get tall
2 Holly Sky Pencils (both sides)
10 Heuchera Purples (both sides)
14 Big Blue Liriope (both sides)
and one Red Twig Dogwood (right)







Our home finally has a bit more curb appeal.


























A couple years ago we planted this mailbox garden.








That's our wee red Mini Cooper in the background.
It's been leaking oil lately - 
so it's banished from the driveway or garage for now.










This is what Lime Light Hydrangea looks like when mature:

'Limelight' - Panicle Hydrangea - Hydrangea paniculata



It's fun to compare before/after pics.


Those orange things are where I wanted the stones to go.

We shortened both gardens quite a bit
 to make them less weedy and needy.







On the right there's now a nice patch of sod grass
 between walkway and garden.

On left we designed an angle for the natural stone wall.








We are always limited to what we can plant due to all the deer.

The bunnies love the liriope though, so keeping fingers crossed.
I sprinkled red pepper flakes around to keep them at bay.


On the side of the house our Bleeding Heart is still thriving.











A HUGE THANKS TO:



*Sharyn for her awesome landscape designs.

*Andrew for all the intense laborous work,
especially for the fabulous stone walls!

And a HUGE thanks to my wonderful
 hardworking, handsome, awesome husband
 who worked long exhausting hours prepping everything,
 and working right beside Andrew
 lifting and planting and mulching and perspiring
on planting day and earlier 
to help make this dream come true.








Also - a big thanks to YOU for your visit!



If you're ever in the Columbus, Ohio area
I would be delighted to welcome you in for tea.









~Michele


Linking:

26 comments:

  1. WOW. I have never seen the front of the house. What you have done looks beautiful.

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  2. Looking good Michele. Love all your plants.
    Happy Mother's Day!

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  3. Michele, that looks so pretty! Taking out overgrown bushes always makes a huge difference. The new plants are perfect. I love heucheras and have planted many of them too. Liriope is always a great filler and it's nice that it can be split and spread around as time goes by. :)

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  4. Looks just beautiful and so much more open. Great curb appeal for sure. Have a great Mom's Day.
    xoxo
    Kris

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  5. It looks amazing, what a great difference curb appeal indeed. You are blessed with a beautiful home.

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  6. Oh my, what a difference. It looks beautiful. I am not one that likes big stuff. I like it to stay little. HA! That doesn't usually happen. Your house and yard is so pretty.

    Charlotte moore

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  7. Your home is just beautiful and the landscape makeover is amazing!

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  8. It looks marvelous and so much lighter and brighter not to mention eaiser to maintain. Well done, everybody! And an open invitation to tea? Can’t beat that!

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  9. Oh that looks amazing! I know what kind of work is involved taking on a project like this. I had a smoke plant but didn’t like the disorganized way it grew so I dug it out. I like your garden mailbox setup too! Beautiful home- blessings to you on this Mother’s Day!

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  10. Wow! The new front gardens look fantastic. I also love the cute little tea flag by your mailbox. I wished that I lived closer so that I can join you for a cup of tea.

    Happy Mother's Day, Michele!

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  11. What a lot of work that must have been but definitely a total transformation!!

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  12. Michele, it is all gorgeous! I have a limelight and Redbud. You will love them both! It is a job pulling out old bushes. Some of that needs to be done at our previous home that our son bought. I have a smoke bush out back behind our fire pit. It's not real big yet. We'll see how it goes. :) We have relatives in Columbus. If me and my sisters get there again I will make a point to hook up with you somewhere. Would love to give you a big hug!! Happy Mothers Day!
    hugs,
    Jann

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  13. Everything looks beautiful, Michele. I know you are loving this fabulous refresh.☻

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  14. Everything looks so very nice and oh so fresh. I love what you have accomplished. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  15. Michele,
    I love stone walls and your new ones are beautiful. Everything looks wonderful. You must love looking out of your office windows now.

    Judith

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    Replies
    1. Every time I do I love my husband just a little bit more, if even possible.

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  16. This is an amazing transformation. Updating your landscaping made a huge difference and your mailbox area looks good too. Job well done.

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  17. Oh Michele, your yard is beautiful. Even before changes, I was in love! You must be so happy with the new look. I love your mailbox garden too. Pulling into your driveway must put a huge smile on your face!!

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  18. That will be such a lovely presentation for all the years to come as as it grows. They did a great job! Your home is lovely Michele!

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  19. I loved seeing the before and after pics, Michele! Oh my, does it ever look lovely, and you can see your windows now. I'll bet you're loving the view from inside your music room, and office now, too. The mailbox garden is so pretty, too, and I love your teapot welcome flag. Great job!!

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  20. How lovely - really it looks great and I love the small banner by your mailbox ♥

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  21. Michelle what an amazing transformation! I want to show my husband. Your beds under the front windows are lovely and especially surrounded by the stone work. Yes super curb appeal!

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Thank you, friend, for taking the time to comment! I read each and every one of them. Your thoughts are appreciated!