I will be the first to admit that my husband and I are absolutely clueless when it comes to landscaping of any kind. Our home came with well-established flower beds that we we had no idea (and still don't!) how to care for. Up until this year, I really didn't care that much, but this year, enough was enough. We plan on making small (as in, very small) updates to our yard and outside of our home this summer and of course, I'll share them with you! The first job we tackled was rather big and ugly:
Isn't that awful? We've been living with it like that for almost five years. Blech. Our poor neighbors. That out-of-control tree/bush/thingy is hiding a corner of our house, a small stone-filled flower bed, some decorative grasses and who knows what else.
The worst part is that our deck directly overlooks this area, so whenever we eat outside this crazinesss stares back at us. And I'm not joking when I say that that tree/bush/thingy actually blocked sunlight from coming in the dining room window. Can you see my hubs hiding in the jungle below? He got to work cutting it down, which was no easy feat.
Once the tree was down, I had the pleasure of clearing out the remaining weeds, which, unfortunately for me, included both poison ivy and poison sumac. As a result, I ended up with a mean case of both and had to go on steroids. It was fun, let me tell you.
But it was worth it! There are lots of things that still need to be addressed in this area, but the difference already is unbelievable!
I literally couldn't believe it when, early the next morning, I went into my dining room (which is the window overlooking this area) and the sun shining through was almost blinding. Ha!
Next on my agenda is adding some decorative grasses, repainting the bench a fun color, edging the whole area, and deciding whether or not to fill the area with more stone, or wait and go for a paver patio later. Ideally, I'd like to remove our deck and put in a paver patio, which would encompass this area, but that's just a dream, at this point. And oh yeah, we definitely need to powerwash the side of our house. But for now, I'm just enjoying the open space and extra sunlight. Let's take a look at the before and after side by side, shall we?
Ahhh…so much better.
So, are you a landscaping idiot, like me? Throw your ideas at me for finishing this area off- I need all the help I can get!