Front Yard Makeover

Not too long ago I fell on a plan to redo our front landscaping.  I had no clue what I wanted and no clue how to do it.  Not a good start to a project!  So, my Mom agreed to come down and help me buy plants, put them in the ground, and mulch!

Before even thinking about plants, I decided to ditch the cookie cutter builder bed (a ~3 ft. wide rectangle along the front and halfway down the side) and redo the actual design of the bed.  I wanted it curvy so Jacob and I spray painted the layout and he got to work cutting out the sod.  I helped by rolling it up into little logs :-)  Jacob did such a good job of cutting out the sod that he was getting the original sod netting up.

Since the bed was right in front of the house, I wanted it to look presentable year-round and be relatively low maintenance.  Having that said, we looked for plants that are evergreen and perennials.  Don't get confused-- perennial means the plants come back year after year.  Annual means the plant needs to replanted every year.

We did a tiered layout so that when the plants are fully developed, the larger plants will be in the back and the low growers in the front.  Here are some of the plants that we used:

Kaleidoscope Abelia

Fire Power Nandina (red in the fall/winter, green in the spring/summer)

Pink and Coral Drift Rose

Low growing sunrise Lantana

Frosted Violet Heuchera

Christa Heuchera

Zinnias (one of the only annuals)

Hydrangeas (we're thinking our blooms will remain blue-- it depends on the pH of the soil)

Acoma Crape Myrtle (dwarf and has white blooms)

Low growing Gardenias (the BEST smell in the world)

Queen Mum Agapanthus

Since the plants are not full-grown the bed doesn't look as full as it eventually will.  But, I must say.....it looks pretty amazing!  I love driving up to the house now to see our beautiful flowers and shrubs!  Here is a before and after:

And here are some close ups of the plants:





We bought all of our plants from Pinecone Perennials in New Bern and I LOVE THAT PLACE!!!!  They have gorgeous plants and very reasonable prices.  I also love the fact that when I went back (and back, and back--- haha) the owner knew my name, greeted me, and was "at my service".  I love a supporting small, local businesses........ especially when they have amazing service.  You can't put a price on that.

And after discovering my new favorite nursery, I also discovered another favorite.....HANGING BASKETS!!!!  I am officially obsessed with hanging baskets.  PP had amazing prices on their hanging baskets and were they ever gorgeous.  So, here is an upclose of my "baby".

This is a portulaca and the blooms are variegated.  Another cool tip- at night the blooms close up. Then when the sun comes up they bloom all over again.  Now how cool is that?!

My next project is to work on our back bed next to our screened in porch.  So, I will update you as that project comes along :-)

Until then......
Be productive!