A New Landscape

Since we purchased our home we have been trying to slowly but surely make some home improvements.  One thing we knew needed attention and fairly quickly was the front yard.  

While we wanted to redo the landscape for curb appeal it was also a need because of a major drainage issue.  Our house sits below road level and being on the lake we have a very high water table, especially in the Spring.  Needless to say, our front room has taken the brunt of most of those issues.  So the plan was to rip everything out, install drainage around the house and replant a landscape which would allow for more water absorption instead of simply running water:)!  So for the past month or so this little project has been all consuming of any free time we have.

Like all projects it has been much more than we originally planned with a few more things still to be added .  But for now we are pretty settled on taking a break and enjoying the lake for the next several weeks and will finish things up later in the summer.  

The before...

 The process of beginning to cut out some of the sod.

The view from the road

Everything is pulled, we have a clean slate and ekkkk... 

One of the perks being married to a turf guy:)!!

The finished product...

Our plan is still to take up the sidewalk and replace with slate stepping stones.  We also hope to find outdoor lights we can both agree on at some point but for now we are loving the improvement !

Along the front of the house we planted limelight hydrangeas.  I cannot wait to see them with a bloom hopefully soon.

This area below has  purple rhododendrons in the back with white azaleas in front of them.   We also added shutters to the left window.  We are hoping to eventually add a white trim to the middle window but as Gregg told me "that was not in the landscaping plan", so it will have to wait for now!

Along the road side we planted various hosta, and a climbing clematis near the mailbox.  We removed one of the large trees along the street and replaced it with another purple rhododendron accented by more white azaleas.  All our neighbors think we should remove the lilac tree as well, but I am not convinced yet.  

After removing a large bush near the mailbox we realized that we needed more texture so built a small rock display with various sedum.  There is also an ornamental grass the the center focal point behind the mailbox.

We  transplanted several ferns to a small shaded section on the far side of the street.  Our hope is that they will bounce back but are not all that happy with their new home right now, so this section may have to change.  

Everything was finished with a top coat of black mulch.  It certainly added the finishing touch we were looking for.