So, today I’m back with the before and after shots of the house. This time I’m going way back to when I first bought this house 2 years ago. Those are the true Before shots and will give a totally accurate view of what I was dealing with in the front yard. A house that had never been landscaped or given any love at all in the front yard. The only thing I had going for me were 2 cherry trees and a beautiful pink dogwood. The middle cherry tree was half dead and growing into the dogwood, so I opted to just have it cut down so that I’d have a clear view in the middle of the yard and that was the best decision I made. This created a nice under planting opportunity for all of these blooming shrubs that went into my yard, giving it a cottage feel that I just love.
If you missed yesterday’s post with the in progress shots of the landscaping going in, you will want to catch up on all of that.
Southern plants are wonderful and I have long loved hydrangeas (truly my very favorite flowering shrub) and azaleas are a staple in Southern yards too. I grew up with them and have had them in all my yards since my first house. My parents have azaleas in their yard too. Gardening and planting flowers has long been a love of mine too and I’m finally getting back to those roots that I love so much. I’ll be piddling around in this garden for a long time to come, I’m sure. Watching it grow and change will be so much fun in the next year or so!
So, let’s go back to the beginning. Remember this look? Ahhhh yes, I sure do! Here’s a shot from 2 years ago with the middle tree still there.
And this one was after the tree was cut down in the middle, before the front porch was built. Oh, you poor little plain house. You need some help!
And here’s the AFTER!  Wow, isn’t that pretty incredible from 2 years ago til now?
I can hardly believe it either. Doesn’t look like the same house.
I took lots of pics in different light to give you all a good idea of how it looks. This was during cloud cover.
This was sunny Sunday morning.
Front yard bed with camelias in the corners and those are gardenias in middle. When the sod goes in, no more dirt will show and that will be nice too.
These are the Angyostar vines on the trellis, which will eventually cover those trellis forms. I think this solution is a good one for a floating fireplace like I have. It might take awhile for the vines to cover, but that’s fine, I can wait. I left the left side open to be able to get to the hose back there.
Sunny morning shot of the pink dogwood bed. You can see how great it looks since they removed lots of low growing limbs.
Good shot of the front of the house in the sunshine.
Front porch with a beautiful view now.
Right bed under the pink cherry tree.
Another view of that bed with pinestraw in place. It will look so great once the sod gets in over here too.
Mailbox with 3 Loropetalum Emerald Snow and a clematis.
I just love clematis on the mailbox, so I picked this one up at Lowes.
Baby Gem boxwoods lining the walkway.
Front bed by the house.
Low growing shrubs by the house and these will only get 2 to 3’ high or so. One camelia anchors the corner and will get taller.
These beds have lots of azaleas and hydrangeas.
And here’s the problem area that is left. This is where a small retaining wall will go with pea gravel below where our tires will roll by the driveway, coming out of the garage.
One more shot of the beds and you can see the curves it has. Love those curves! Beds should always have curves for interest.
Fatshedera Angyo Star on the trellis. This is a beautiful variegated evergreen vine and looks similar to ivy. Carmen said this should take over these trellis forms in a few years. It’s not a fast growing plant though.
Gardenia Jubiliation
Baby Gem Boxwood
Encore Azaleas
Dear Delores Hydrangeas
Agapanthus Queen Mum
Pittosporum Mojo
Encore Azalea white
Pieris Mountain Snow
Loropetalum Emerald Snow
Delta Jazz Crepe Myrtle
Spirea Little Bonnie
Early Bird Crepe Myrtle
So, that is most of the plants that went in my yard, I think I covered them all. I’m sure all of these are tried and true for the South, so you can’t go wrong. You can find Southern Living plants at Lowes and Home Depot both, so check them out when you get a chance.
And don’t miss my beautiful friend, Carmen over at the Southern Living plant site too. She has lots of fun videos showing her favorite container gardening tips and she is so creative.
You can bet I’ll be sharing updates of my beautiful front yard all along the way. I can’t wait to watch my garden grow!
It looks great, Rhoda! I can’t even believe it’s already been two years … time flies! Keep up the great work.
What beautiful plants! I too can not believe it has been two years already. Time flies when you are blessed with such an adventure in life! God has a plan and it is amazing to see his blessings bestowed upon you after all you went thru.
Love your new landscaping. We bought a newish house almost two years ago that had no landscaping and no front steps. While I did not get SL to help me, we are looking much better….and I will be doing a post about my new landscaping too.
Sheila
It will be a picture when they are established, I must admit, boxwood is my favourite and I have it at the front of my house.
I have just finished my home office and if all goes well will post the reveal tomorrow or the day after, I am trying to get good shots today, I over did the ISO on my previous photos so re-shooting. Hope you get a chance to come across to my blog and give me your opinion as you put together rooms so wonderfully.
Lee 🙂
What an amazing “before and after” transformation. I love hydrangeas, and I can only imagine how even more beautiful your landscape will look when they are full grown..
Looks great. I am looking forward to seeing how the plants hid that open chimney area.
So beautiful! What a great job. I happen to enjoy the sound of a car on pea gravel. Sounds like home. Thanks for sharing your lovely garden, Rhoda.
What a spectacular job you, Carmen, Southern Living Plants and of course the plants themselves have done to make your front yard a showcase for the neighborhood!
The property value of your home (and maybe the other homes on your street) surely has gone up with the improvements you’ve made. The lanscaping is lovely and will become even more so with time.
You have been blessed with a gift for design Rhoda and it’s obvious Carmen has as well, the layout compliments the property beautifully and y’all have made great plant choices. You’ll have something blooming almost continuously spring, summer and fall with beautiful foliage in the winter months. I’m so happy for you!!!
I’m familiar with Southern Living plants except for the Fatshedera Angyo Star vines on your trellis, what an inspiration putting those at the base of your fireplace, it already looks spectacular and I love your choice of trellis. If my husband hadn’t outlawed vines in our yards I’d be looking at those, they’re beautiful.
I used quite a few Southern Living plants when re-landscaping the beach cottage yard late last summer, they’re looking great this year, very healthy and have bloomed beautifully.
Like several of your readers, I’m also a shopper of Lowe’s ‘cast off rack’ at times, I bought six of some of the saddest specimens of Texas Sage from our local Lowe’s
@ $2.00 each in late season last year, they were leggy, one sided and just generally sad looking. With a good bit of selective pruning they’re almost completely renovated now and have been blooming since early spring.
Thanks so much for sharing yet another transformation of your lovely home Rhoda, the photographs are great and I loved seeing the ‘before and afters’. I’m sure your new landscape will give you much pleasure in the years to come.
What a thrill, driving up your street, turning into the driveway, knowing that’s YOUR beautifully landscaped home must be now! Bet you walk around admiring all that loveliness and do the ‘dance of joy’ occasionally…… ok, maybe not. Congratulations Rhoda on a job well done!