Landscaping Remodel

When we moved into our new house at the end of last summer, we were not very happy with the existing landscaping.  The house had been empty for nearly a year and a half and the landscaping had gotten pretty out of control.  The plants that were planted were not good choices for the spaces they were in because many of them were going to be VERY large at full maturity. Many of the plants were very overgrown and taking over the front of the house!

BEFORE:

Note, in particular, the horribly out of control willow bush front and center. It was engulfing a few other bushes and killing them off.  I hated that thing!

I started planning our landscaping remodel and getting quotes in May...and FINALLY, we got everything figured out and done this past week. 

DURING:

Some of the work in progress...redoing the boulder wall in back so it will support putting in rock instead of mulch. 

One of the days I was home from work, it was REALLY windy, so the landscapers couldn't get started on putting down the liner under the rock because it would have blown away.  While the kids were napping, I went outside to place the plants we'd bought into the spots we wanted them planted. I was trying to finalize plans when Tammy popped over to help.  Tammy and I got going and got lots of the old plants dug out and new ones arranged and planted.  When the kids woke up, we brought them outside with us and kept working.  The kids had fun "helping" - shoveling dirt, excitedly pointing out the bobcat, and following the guys around.  Sarah actually climbed in her stroller, hoping to go for a walk, but ended up sitting in her stroller watching us work for a while.  She also had fun following around one of the guys and calling out his name (she has a little crush on Nick).  Here is a short video of Sarah shoveling for a bit with her little shovel.

AFTER:

We are thrilled with the results...though it will look much better in the spring once the plants have recovered from being moved and the perennials come up again.

Here is the view from the front.

We moved the crab apple trees from the side of the garage to the front.  Two of them are along the side of the driveway and will provide some nice shade for the driveway, while the other is at the other front corner of the house, replacing the river birch that was too close to the house before (and is now in the back).

The trees along the driveway.  We left an existing tree and put the 2 crab apple trees behind it.

View of the main landscaping in the front.  

We removed a lot of plants, moved some to new locations, and got some new ones to fill in.  I can't wait until the plants come to maturity and we see what it will really look like. 

 The back wooded area got the benefit of a cleanup and many of the large plants from the front got transplanted to the back.  It almost looks like the back yard was designed on purpose!

The beautiful burning bushes that were in front (but were destined to be HUGE and block our front windows) were moved to the back and we really enjoy looking out at them from our family room and dining room as they turn bright red in the fall.  The hydrangea tree from right in front of the sidewalk also moved to the back, but the flowers already blooming on there didn't like the move.  The little evergreen trees from the front yard (which are supposed to get 20 feet wide and 40 feet high - way too big for where they were!) also moved to the back wooded area.

We also added an additional 2 evergreen trees along the lilac "hedge" and moved the river birch back to that area.  We're hoping for eventually some coverage/privacy from the neighboring houses. 

I mentioned maybe planting some raspberry bushes along the front of the tree line in a nice sunny spot...and our landscaper put in a garden for me!

I got 3 raspberry plants in so far, but there is room for plenty more.  I still need to stake them up a bit, but they're in and we're looking forward to yummy fruit in the years to come.

Here is the back boulder wall.  We were able to replace all the yucky red faded weedy mulch with rock and put in nice brick edging all the way around the house.  Yay!

That's it for this project!  Now on to finishing the basement!