Adventures in DIY Landscaping Part One: The Plan and What We’ve Done So Far

Now that the temperatures are cooler and we don’t break into a sweat as soon as we walk out the front door, we decided to turn our attention to the front yard. We don’t have a huge lot, but at almost half an acre it’s still a big job so we’re just focusing on the front yard this year.

It’s not so bad in that picture but in real life it’s kind of rough. The azaleas were out of control. Plus, they look pretty gross once the blooms die (which was about 2 weeks after they bloomed). This is kind of what we’re planning:

What you don’t see here is the mailbox area which we’ve already taken care of. We even updated it last weekend since the mums we originally put down were looking a little rough:

Our biggest goal for this project is to try and get some grass to grow which according to the previous owners is an impossible task. I don’t like to be told I can’t make something happen so we’re going to throw down some grass seed anyway. Plus, I really, really, really hate pine straw. It’s everywhere and I hate it and I want it gone!

When we started, we were working with patches of grass, weeds, moss, dirt, a crap to of pine straw, and dead leaves; not to mention at least 15 overgrown, scraggly azalea bushes. Pretty. Last weekend, we managed to rake most of the pine straw and leaves out (which, by the way, was a huge pain and I let more than a few colorful words slip…loudly. Sorry neighbors, you may want to throw some earmuffs on your little ones when you see me don my floral gloves and grab the rake). It took hours of work both Saturday and Sunday and over this past weekend, we had even more leaves to rake up.

We also spent hours digging holes for our new foundation plants. I told Kyle I refuse to plant anything new when we rip up the backyard because spending hours digging six holes is just not cool, man. We put in some Indian Hawthorns and a Knock Out Rose tree to help break up the big blank space to the right of the window (thanks to my awesome in-laws for that idea!). They all look a little weak right now but eventually, they’ll be big and beautiful and they won’t make Miss Barley sick like the azaleas did.

This past weekend, we were able to get the grass seed on the ground, do a bit of grading, and mulch around the new plants. We still have to buy and lay down the pavers before we can finish mulching but I’m just thrilled to have the grass seed done. Now we just have to sit back and see if it takes!

I’ll be back to show our progress early in the week and then later in the week I’ll give you a few hints about some upcoming projects we’re gearing up for