After a few minor glitches with the landscaping and a weather delay, we've been enjoying the finished results. We're glad the process is over, we've learned a lot, and are SO GLAD we hired professionals!
Groundbreaking began on time... I was impressed with how quickly the Ground Pros crew ripped out the shrubs and was once again thankful that Steve and I weren't doing it ourselves.
Here's a picture of the truck with most of our shrubs and rocks.... Unfortunately, when Steve came home for lunch and the crew was supposedly finished... we found this:
We wanted MOST of the rock removed, and there was quite a bit of rock that wasn't taken care of - especially around and underneath our deck. So... the next day they came back and spent another few hours removing rock and it looked AWESOME - even without any mulch or plants!The concrete curbing was supposed to be installed the next day, but because of a chance of scattered showers, the date was pushed back to the following Monday.
Creative Curb Appeal installed the concrete curbing and the process of installation was much more complex and detailed than I originally thought. Interestingly enough, we found out the owner goes to our church! I was in a Bible Study with his wife several years ago and had been praying for their family with the birth of their second son and also the prospect of her husband starting a second business - Creative Curb Appeal! Little did I know then that he'd be working on our landscaping a few years later.
And so begins the tour... I apologize in advance for the amount of pictures... but we LOVE it!
Here's the front of the house: there is a Sedum with purple flowers starting to bloom, three Hostas, an Endless Summer Hydrangea in the middle, and a Skyrocket Juniper on the end. We really wanted to show more of the brick on our house and also allow more sunshine into the two lower bedrooms.
Remember that scary corner with the dead rose bush and the everlasting bushes and weeds? Weeds be gone! What a transformation!
A close up of our Endless Summer Hydrangea and the curbing. We've already started to notice new blooms growing.
A side shot of our Skyrocket Juniper which will grow to be about 15-20 feet tall and about 2-3 feet wide.
And the side of our house. Ground Pros provided the trellis and picked out a better one than I would have - it's beautiful. There is a purple Clematis vine on the trellis, a yellow Asiatic Double Lily, a Purity Coneflower, and another Double Lily on the other side of the fence.
This picture is taken from the back of our house. We used to have that huge shrub that Steve struggled to get by with the mover. We put in another Skyrocket Juniper and then left the back window free of shrubs.
Another picture of the back of the house near the deck. This plant is called a Nora Leigh Garden Phlox. I liked it because it looked like a hosta, and had pretty flowers, but does great in full sun. We had a couple of Fieldstone Boulders placed around the border to add interest.
This is the back of our deck. We have two boxwoods - one on both sides, and in the middle is a SilverMound Artemsia plant. I think this may be one of my favorites because it feels really soft and has a silvery sheen to it.
Another view of our deck. There is a Jack Frost Brunnera plant on the side of the deck that has heart shaped leaves. This plant is also very similar to hostas in that it likes a lot of shade.
Here is a picture of my garden box. Initially, we weren't going to do the curbing around the box, but Creative Curb Appeal suggested that we extend it around just in case I didn't want to keep the box there forever. I'm glad we went with CCA's advice, because it looks great. They replaced the dirt with new dirt from an alfalfa farm. (I guess it's supposed to be really good dirt!) Later that evening, we went to Sargent's where their annuals were marked 50% off and loaded up with various flowers. I'll probably plant bulbs this fall, but I'm still a little undecided what else I'd like to do.
The "after" pictures of my garden box. There are various violets, snapdragons, basil, impatiens, and some other flowers that I still haven't learned the names of. (As I mentioned earlier - this has been quite a learning curve!)
Amaya enjoyed playing around in the dirt and "helping" me plant, water, and of course, smell the flowers.
This was a tricky area for both the landscapers and the curbing crew. Because of the step off the deck, we weren't sure where we wanted the curbing to go and how many stepping stones we wanted. Fortunately, the Creative Curb Appeal had some great suggestions, and I think it turned out great. Amaya enjoys stepping on the stones over and over and over....
This is the other side of our house. There is another Purity Coneflower by the garden box, a Peppermint Spice Coral Bell, a Mugo Mops Pine Bush, and another Coral Bell.
The last view of our house - the side near the garage. We have a variegated Dogwood bush. It'll grow to be much bigger, so it will cover up the utility boxes nicely.
There you have it! We hope you've enjoyed the tour of the outside of our house. Stop by and visit anytime and enjoy the last few weeks of summer with us!