Outdoor Revolution

It's hard to wrap my head around the idea that anything in this house might actually be well and truly finished but we're getting very close to that point with the yard now.  Now that the sod is getting well-established, we spent the weekend cutting out planter beds, installing a stone walking path, planting annuals and perennials, planting a herb garden, putting down landscape fabric, and generally getting the yard tidied up.  We still have some work to do - we'll be getting a big delivery of mulch, courtesy of the town's mulch service, in two weeks and so until then, the beds won't be fully finished, and the front of the house still needs some touch-up paint and a new front door, but it's starting to look like a thought out yard - a far cry from the neglected and construction-debris filled eyesore that it was just a month ago!  See for yourself....

Let's start with a little trip down memory lane...not too long ago, the front yard looked like this...

And the backyard looked like this...

Also, like this..yes, it was bad...

And now, here is the back garden, on Saturday morning - better than the picture above
but still looking a little unkempt

Back garden in progress

New back garden, with herbs on the left and flowers between the trees

Side garden in progress with rose bush waiting to be planted (apparently we forgot to take an "after" shot so this will have to do!)

Side patio garden with two more knockout rose bushes added - and bamboo screen filling in nicely in front of the fence

New stone walkway to the garage!

New window boxes on the side of house

New flowers to go with the old (and getting big!) grasses

Adding flowers to the front flower beds 

Front porch, complete with new adirondack chairs and hanging flower baskets

It's been quite a change around here!  Since I use this blog as much to record-keep as anything else, here's the rundown on what we planted this weekend - back garden has the two willow trees that we planted about two years ago.  They were one of the first things we ever added to the yard and they've really developed well.  To the left side is a Southern wax myrtle bush that we bought last fall and relocated today, and in front of the myrtle is the herb garden - sweet basil, spicy island rosemary, mint, oregano, and English thyme.  Between the willows are four coneflowers (also planted last year and relocated), with three black-eyed susans in front.  The window boxes and hanging baskets have wave petunias, and the front flower beds have Everlast Orchids (the pink flowers) and Derbys (the yellow ones) in front of maiden and porcupine grasses.  We also added zinnias to the side patio garden and planted some more knockout roses in the side beds...but I think I've hit my picture limit so we'll have to wait for another day to upload those!  All in all, a very satisfying weekend and an amazing change to the outside of the house.  We may not be calling this project finished just yet, but we're definitely happy with the progess!