Day 639: front yard progress

The weatherman was calling for torrential downpours and and dangerous thunderstorms on Saturday, and it's a good thing he was wrong, because this is what the back of our car looked like after an hour in Lowe's.

Spring 2009

And after several hours of fun with a shovel, this (above) is what the front of the house looks like. Let's review at bit, shall we?

Spring 2008

This is what the front of the house looked like about this time last year. Since then we:

pulled up the overgrown boxwoods

spent hours picking 1970s-style "landscape rocks" out of the beds (though we still found a bucket-full this weekend!)

removed the gas lantern (it didn't work) and an old tree stump underneath it (read about it here)

removed the iron storm door

painted the front door

reconfigured the porch lighting (read about it here)

In front of the porch, we planted 9 small pyramid holly bushes and 3 small white azaleas. We wanted this round of plantings to be neat, small and easily maintained, and to form an evergreen backdrop for annuals and perennials to be added with time. We planted in groups of three to lend a little order to the facade. Maybe now I won't notice that the "columns" aren't spaced evenly.

I originally wanted boxwoods, but quickly realized that would either cost a small fortune, or leave us with plants so immature that we'd likely be looking at twigs for the rest of our time in the house. These holly cost about a third of what the boxwoods of the same size cost, so we got essentially the same look for a fraction of the price. We also saved about $45 by skipping the "name brand" 3-gallon azaleas and buying the off-brand versions that also happened to be on sale. Since Lowe's offers a 1-year warranty on all its plants, we didn't mind scrimping a little.

We also planted two crepe myrtles between the porch and the office window, but that side still needs a little work before its Internet debut.

We still need to get some pine straw to finish the beds, and as summer gets closer I'm hoping to put some annuals on either side of steps. We'll have a front porch fit for sittin' in no time!