Monday, June 20, 2011

Landscaping.

I realized we've made a few improvements around the house that I haven't shared with you yet! We recently did some landscaping in our front yard, side yard, and back yard. Keep in mind that we live in a townhome, so I use the term "yard" loosely!

After having a couple of great landscapers come over and give us estimates, we ultimately decided we could do the planning ourselves and hire someone to do the labor on the cheap. I am glad we went that route.  One of the quotes was over $10,000 and, while the design would have been amazing, we just didn't feel like it was worth it.  This isn't our forever home, so we didn't want to make a lot of structural changes to the yard (and it's so darn hot here, we don't spend a huge amount of time outside anyway). 

Anywho, we saved a bunch of money going the route we did, but I will say I that planning it out was one of the more stressful projects we've decided to undertake. I don't really know why, other than I guess it could have something to do with neither of us having any experience whatsoever with landscape design or knowing anything at all about plants. Thankfully my mom and Buchanan's were extremely helpful. 

With that intro, here's the backyard now . . .  


My favorite part has got to be the meyer lemon tree!  After a massive hunt around the city, we finally found one!  I can't wait for those babies to ripen!  You may have also spied the pink hydrangeas -- they are looking a little droopy above, but they are looking better now.  One of my least favorite parts of our backyard that you probably noticed is the awful siding on the house behind us.  Hopefully, the lemon tree will grow nice and big and help hide the ugliness.   

After we were well into the project, I realized that I never took proper before pictures. I found this picture below that gives you an idea of the sad state of our backyard before the facelift.  It's embarrassing, but look how cute Zoey is sitting in our chairs enjoying being outside (despite the ugly surroundings)! 


And a close up of the after.  Much better, if I do say so myself! 


While we were sprucing things up back there, I picked up some new cushions from HomeGoods to freshen up some old chairs.  As you could see above, Zoey likes them!  


Now for the side "yard," we have a walkway along the side of our house to get to our front door. It is actually one of my least favorite parts of the house because of the gas meter. Really, could it be any more in the way and obnoxious?


But hopefully now our guests will be distracted by the pretty flowers and not notice the gas meter (ok, wishful thinking, I know!). 


Before the new set up, we had jasmine on trellises that lined the fence.  While it smelled beautiful and looked lush, it was too bulky for the already narrow walkway.  Taking them out really made the space feel a lot bigger.  Now we have pencil plants, pentas, and watermelon coleus (my fave) lining the walkway.


We also added a container up by the front door to add some color.  This particular planter came from Crate and Barrel.   


As I was uploading the pictures, I realized I never took pictures of the front yard!  Fail!  But the good news is, it's the area that looks the least different.  We tore out the sad looking azalea bushes and added in pink salvia and lime coleus. Nothing too crazy, just enough to make it look polished and like people who care about their home and yard live here!

If all goes as planned (which is a big "if" since we are going to trial in 2 weeks out of state in a huge class action lawsuit), I hope to continue the home tour next Tuesday and show you the updates to our entryway!

16 comments:

  1. I am loving all the new plants...so pretty! We need to shape up our front yard STAT!

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  2. It looks great!!! I can't believe it would've cost you $10,000 for a pro to do it! Looks like you didn't need one! :)

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  3. Wow, Emily! Gorgeous. Those plants are so pretty. Amazing what yards can cost, isn't it. We had estimates also for some "grand" plans of mine. Let's just say those estimates are sitting snugly in a file box and will most likely never be pulled out again!

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  4. Great work Emily. I love the landscaping you did in the backyard, what a difference! We need to spruce our back yard up too, we're working on the front now.

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  5. Good job! My favorite is also the meyer lemon tree. We have one that I've yet to get in the ground.

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  6. Put potted flowers and plants along the side of the house and those pipes will blend right into the foliage! Also, consider painting the neighbor's shed - how would they know? :-)

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  7. It looks really nice! I hate yard work, but find it really rewarding since it's so easy to see what I accomplished.

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  8. It looks so gorgeous! Just like your own little oasis in the city (c: I am completely in love with the watermelon coleus...it just gives it such nice color! But all of it is lovely, especially the cute pic of Zoe, love it!

    P.S. My favorite pet growing up was my half austrailian shepard/half golden retriever named Zoe. Cute coincidence (c:

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  9. Very pretty. We are planning a major backyard overhaul next year. I'm dreading the amount-we need new decking, building a structure, the whole shebang. It's going to be baaaad.

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  10. The changes look fab! Isn't it amazing how a little landscaping can totally change the feel of outside? We've been busy revamping our yard a little too and it's SO much work. Swear our next house will have a smaller yard. Love the watermelon coleus!

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  11. Things are looking good out there! And it looks like you have a pretty good sized space for a townhome. Pretty grass and flowers!

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  12. It looks so great! I love how you didnt stick with just one type of plant. Gorgeous!

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  13. It all looks BEAUTIFUL!! And I'm super impressed you did it all on your own! That is awesome. I especially love the watermelon coleus. I have never seen those before but they are great- love the colors- I'm going to have to find a way to use them too!

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  14. Love the mix of plants you've chosen - so pretty! Your C&B planter is gorg!

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  15. This looks great!We reallllly need to get going on some landscaping in the backyard, but it's SO hot that I keep putting it off.

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