Well folks, there have been some VERY exciting things happening around my house this past weekend. I can’t even begin to share my feelings on how all of this even came about or happened to me, but to wake up one day and have your entire front yard landscaped by professionals. Dream come true, people, dream come true! I’ve never had the privilege of getting anything like this done before and it truly is amazing to watch it happen right in front of me.
Today, I’m going to share the in progress part of the front yard landscape and then tomorrow I’ll do a whole before and after post. But, keep in mind that it’s NOT completely finished yet for another couple of weeks, so the REAL before and after pics will come then. That will be the real finale to this amazing front yard landscape project of mine! I still can’t even believe it when I look out my window and see my front yard now.
I know my neighbors are taking notice of the changes around my house and someone in my neighborhood even left me a comment a couple of weeks ago about how she has lived in my neighborhood for 30 years and that watching my house change has inspired her, along with other neighbors to do some improving to their own homes. Now, THAT makes me happy to hear! I don’t know how she found my blog, but she did and I love that she left a comment.
To say I’m humbled by all of this is an understatement. The Lord has opened so many doors for me in the last 3 years and this is just one more that has swung wide open for me to walk through. Meeting Carmen who is a Southern Living garden expert, as well as having her own business, Nectar and Company in Columbus, GA was one of the most serendipitous moments ever for me. When she and I connected in the gardens of the Southern Living Idea house last summer, the path was set for Carmen to help me with my own yard. She used her amazing connections and Southern Living gifted me with the plants for my front yard and Carmen’s other crew did the rest. A hard working crew of 3 came in last Saturday and got all the plants installed in my front yard and we got the irrigation system in previously, so that takes a lot of pressure off of me. It’s not a completely free project for me and I did come up with money for this, but certainly it was deeply discounted and something that I would otherwise never be able to afford to do. I also was able to use some of my Lowes giftcards to buy many things for the project too, which helped tremendously.
So, let’s get started on the in progress part of the landscaping and how it all fell into place. I shared all about how the irrigation system went in a couple of weeks ago and this is the foundation to creating and keeping my front yard plants alive and thriving, so I’m so happy to have this part done.
Three days before the big weekend of landscaping, this big semi-truck pulled up in front of my house to deliver all these gorgeous Southern Living plants to me. Now THAT was a fun sight to see!
Six racks of beautiful, healthy, lush plants all coming to my house.
I watered them all well in preparation for planting and it was amazing to see all the beautiful varieties that Carmen had picked out for my front yard.
On Friday, a French drain was added above the wall on my driveway to keep water from holding in my backyard and pushing out that cinderblock wall anymore. That was the plan to keep this wall from moving anymore, to get the water out of the backyard and not standing in this spot as it tended to do. A trench was dug to add the French drain. These pics were all taken from the screened porch, so that’s why they are fuzzy.
The white thing is the French drain and water collects in it and will be rerouted around the wall and down my driveway. This should make for a less soggy backyard for me.
Drain going into place.
Positioning it around the wall to push water out of here.
Drain being covered up with dirt.
And all finished.
Three Delta Jazz Crepe myrtles were then added to the top of the wall and they will grow nice and tall here and look great. I’ll also repair this block wall soon and then plant some spilling plants on top of the wall that will cascade over. That’s on my list of things to do next. Make that block wall look better.
Now back to the front yard! The first thing they did when coming in to start was marking off this bed out front. Carmen had told me that she was going to underplant both of these trees in my front yard with blooming shrubs, so creating the bed came first. It’s shaped like a figure 8, encompassing both trees. The grass inside this bed was sprayed with Roundup to kill the grass and a weed deterrent was added too, to help keep weeds from coming up. We didn’t put down weed barrier, so I am sure I’ll have some weeds coming up through the pine straw, but it should be something I can handle.
Right side of the curved bed under the pink dogwood tree. Wheeee, this is fun to watch! That big ole pine tree I had cut down last summer was just to the right of the dogwood tree where that pile of mulch is. I’m so glad I got that thing out of there and had the stump ground down.
All those big beautiful plants waiting to go in the ground.
First things first, Carmen placed all the plants where she wanted them. She has great vision and had this whole plan in her head, ordering just the right amount of plants and knowing what was going where in my yard. She’s amazing!
Baby Gem boxwoods are going up the left side of my sidewalk as well as wrapping some on the right side. I’ll share all the plant names below. Those vines are called Angyostar and are a beautiful variegated leaf which will climb on a trellis.
Dear Delores hydrangeas and azaleas going in under the cherry tree.
She ordered big plants which make a huge statement.
I absolutely LOVE hydrangeas and am so glad to have lots of those in my front yard.
Here you can see the basic sort of figure 8 curved beds around both trees in the front yard, with lots more plants to go in.
Up around the house more lower growing shrubs are going in. This is the side of the house that I’m planning to add 2 more windows (in the den downstairs).
The guys limbed up my pink dogwood tree making it look so much better to get those lower branches out of the way.
Looking back towards the pink cherry tree.
Vines which will go on the trellis system.
Low growing shrubs right by the front porch.
Another view of the hydrangea and azalea bed.
There are lots of plants going in here and I’ll share all the names with you.
Each plant had to be dug in by hand so this was an all day process. Those guys were awesome and hung in there all day in the heat.
Ready to go in the ground.
Left bank under the dogwood.
Curved beds filled up with plants.
Carmen placing the last of the plants.
It’s amazing what this many plants will do for a yard.
You can see how full and lush it’s going to be.
Encore Azaleas are such great plants and I’ve planted them in the past.
The Southern Living plant collection is wonderful with so many great varieties of plants that grow well in the South. I hope you’ll definitely check out their website for lots more information. I’m going to be sharing all my plants in the next post and taking pics of each of them in the ground, identifying them all by name, so stay tuned for that.
Here’s the trellis pieces that we found at Lowes, which I think turned out to be a wonderful solution to the floating fireplace. We will cover the end and front with vines and eventually it will cover this whole system. I’ll share more about that later on too.
Plants are dug in one at a time.
They added black compost to each plant so that it will help the root systems get established and grow.
Another thing added is the drip system which will go on each plant too, giving it a slow trickle of water over a time period to really soak in the roots of the plants. This is one of the best things that I’m getting, the irrigation system with sprinkler heads and this drip system. What a life saver that is going to be for me!
Drip lines wrapped around each plant and then pinestraw will go on top to cover it all up. I’ll definitely have to keep up with the pinestraw out here to keep it looking good. That’s what we use here in the South for the most part to cover up ground.
Another look at the drip system.
Using a post hole digger, the Baby Gem boxwoods are going to line my sidewalk. Love this look!
Another look at the bed by the fireplace. This is going to be great when the sod goes in that curved part. I think I’ll put a bench right in front of the fireplace too, for a cottage feel.
Plants going in the ground.
After all the plants went in, then came the pinestraw. I heard they went through 55 bales of pinestraw and then had to go back and get 15 more. It takes a LOT of pinestraw to adequately cover the ground and make it thick enough. This should help keep the weeds down AND keep the plants moist when they are watered, so it serves 2 purposes. Not to mention, it just makes a bed look good to have pinestraw finish it off.
Here’s a list of all the plants that went in my garden, all from Southern Living Plant Collection. I’ll share more about each individual plant too in the next post when I share the true before and afters of my garden. It’s a dream come true, y’all! I still can’t get over how great it all looks! Big huge thanks to Carmen and her team for doing this for me. I could never say THANK YOU enough to all of them and to Southern Living Plant collection for gifting me the plants. Here’s a link directly to the shrubs at Southern Living.
Boxwood Baby Gem
Gardenia Jubilation- 3 gal
Hydrangea Dear Dolores – 2 gal
Fatshedera Angyo Star- 3 gal
Crapemyrtle Delta Jazz- 2 gal
Early Bird Crapemyrtle Purple- 2 gal
Salvia Amistad- 1 gal
Agapanthus Queen Mum – 3 gal
Spiraea Little Bonnie- 3 gal
Pieris Mountain Snow- 2 gal
Camellia Pink Stella- 3 gal
Loropetalum Emerald Snow- 3 gal
Pittosporum Mojo- 2 gal
CONNIE says
Wow Rhoda, I’m so happy for you. Your yard is looking great. I can’t wait for the 2 week update as these plants should have had time to relax. Enjoy the new surroundings.
Connie
Rita C says
Wow, Rhoda, the magnitude of this gift of a project blows my mind. As a landscape gardener, I see thousands of dollars in this truckload of plants, not to mention the labor at least four people. What a gift, and I know you are ecstatic. It looks beautiful, and hopefully it will all settle in to its new environment. I agree, having the more established plants is wonderful, and will make it appear like it’s always been there within a short amount of time. What a view to enjoy each day now! Congratulations, and good luck with the maintenance! It will be time-consuming, but well worth the results.
Lea says
Rhoda, It has been such a joy to follow you along the way. But the past three years I have watched God work in your life, you have been an inspiration for so many myself included. I so look forward to popping in to see what is happening next. I love the yard and can not wait to see the finished product.
God Bless you my friend.
Lea
Jane H. says
That’s gonna be gorgeous!!!!!
Kelly - Talk of the House says
Wow!!! What an amazing gift…the plants AND the labor. Your yard is looking fabulous! The drip system will certainly be a life saver with all your gorgeous hydrangeas. And the piece below your chimney is THE perfect solution for that spot. Congratulations on the wonderful landscaping. (Now if I can just get our tiny bed out at the road done, I will be doing good. 🙂 )
Rosie S says
Wow!! It already looks fabulous….cannot wait to see a few months down the road….gorgeous! I love agapanthus, but cannot have it here in MN…..I overwintered it once in the garage, but that was that…once. Now I have it as annual, but SO worth it, just a wonderful plant. You will love it all!
darla says
I’ve been looking forward to seeing what you would do in regards to landscaping. Wow! Great choice of plants. I can’t wait to see the end results. I enjoy visiting your blog.
Pam C says
What a wonderful gift!
I keep hoping someone will offer generic landscaping plans at a reasonable cost so more of us can have a beautiful landscape (maybe it exists and I just can’t find it). I’d happily do the digging and planting! We could all use more plants and less grass in our yards.
Nicole says
Hi Pam – try checking out Better Home and Garden’s website (bhg.com). I’ve gotten some free landscaping plans from there. They have elaborate, whole yard plans as well as plans for different problems or parts of a yard. Nicole
Carmen Johnston says
Pam C… Be sure to check out southerlivingplants.com! We have some fun weekend project gardens that includes everything you need to get your yard garden in shape. Lots of fun tips. Also please feel free to email me at [email protected] and send me pics of your garden. I will gladly send a few plants your way!
Many thanks
Carmen
maureen says
A whole lotta plants you have in your yard. Your house will be the envy of the neighborhood! Enjoy the colors of the season. Best as always!
Barbara Hunnicutt Moore says
So, so happy for you. And Carmen is one talented landscaper! The shape of your yard would have been such a challenge, but she came up with a beautiful plan. Can’t wait to see the rest of your beautiful new yard.
Tammy says
The garden is awesome – obviously! But I am more inclined to write today to acknowledge your continued sense of gratefulness in your life. I always try to be a positiv eperson because I do believe in karma – you get back what you send out to the universe. I suggest that is what is happening to you!
Christine says
Wow, it’s already looking amazing….you are going to love having so many fresh flowers for indifr your home to clip!
Terri says
I am beyond “WOW” ….. what a blessing!!!! Amazing and beautiful!!! Can’t wait to see the finished product!!! I too, love Encore Azaleas… and Hydrangeas ….. Sooooo “Southern”.. lolol… Watching for the end result!!!!
Judy Westegaard-Jenkins says
Marvelous! It is so inspiring to see how far you have come since the old days at the original Great Inspiration group. You have followed your bliss and along with your faith, your life has been showered with goodness. Enjoy all of it, my friend, you deserve this. Can’t wait to see the finished landscaping.
Mary | Lemon Grove Blog says
We just moved to the south (NC) so I’m really looking forward to checking out this collection! 🙂 Love your home – the outside is looking amazing!
Anne Boykin says
Hi Rhoda, I’m so happy for you! What a beautiful yard you will have. I know you’re pinching yourself it’s so fabulous! I’m looking forward to more pictures and the before and after shots.
Bridget Harthcock says
Your yard is going to look amazing when all those beautiful plants grow! I can’t wait for the updates!
LW says
Looks great Rhoda. How very exciting. It should be easy for you to maintain—those little boxwoods will be neat and tidy for many many years. I have them lining my walkup/entry. They have been in the ground 5 years and just needed a haircut this year. Do yourself a big favor and set aside 70 bales of pinestraw money and Preen money for every spring. Add more to that if you have it delivered. It’s an easy job for us 50 plus year old females to do ourselves and will make your beds thrive and be weed free. There is nothing like a fresh dressing of pinestraw late in the spring. Now if you are allergic to poison ivy then make sure you have Technu-wash on hand to use AFTER you spread that straw. The ivy oils come right off. Just read the directions on the Technu found at Walgreens etc… Hooray on your beautiful neighbor envy yard. Let the yard wars begin
Joan says
How beautiful everything is. Those Hydrangeas are so beautiful. You deserve every single plant. So happy for you. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
Patti G says
Oh happy day ( echo. . .oh happy dayyyyy) ;;;; ohhhh happy day (echo. . . oh happy day)….
when that Southn Livin truck – pulled up; and out came your plants ( oh happy dayy)….hmmmm.
Then – there she come —that Carmen girl – and all her team. To make dreams come true.
Yes to make dreams come true.
Raising my hand to God for answered prayer for you.
Rhoda says
Patti, you have been one of my biggest cheerleaders & prayer warriors and I thank you SO much!
Patti G says
Friend, I know there are bigger issues in this world
aside from needing a yard redone.
But in your case, I so totally saw it as needing your
heart restored more than landscaping put in.
Our Abba so gets what we need , because we are His
children – and His timing is never off.
Tears of joy for you. Love always.