Thursday, June 9, 2011

I love a good clearance sale

My husband I have slowly but surely been working on the front yard to make it look better. We're not going to be winning any landscape awards by any means, but my goal is to have nice curb appeal and show pride in our home.

Here is a picture of what we started with early this spring:

5814613393_d1b5b8a14d_o

It's a bad iPhone picture.. sorry! On the right side of the yard there was never any definition between the planter and the grass. There was also tons of weed-y looking plants that looked messy. Our first plan of action was to define the space and pull all the "messy" plants to make the space look cleaner.

5815180654_53a9d7f2bb_o
Here is the "after" for the right side. Much better! But the front planter has bugged me for a long time. I don't like the christmas-tree looking shrubs (like how I describe the plants? I have no idea what they are called).

This past weekend I went to Lowe's to find some plants to fix up the front planter with. And here is where the title of the post comes into play. Luckily I found TONS of plants on clearance! Sure, most of them were dead.. but I dug around and found the ones still alive. Most of the plants I planted below were either $.50 or $.25! Now I won't feel so guilty if I end up killing them.

IMGP9940
(sorry, I took this picture right after we did the planter so everything is still really messy!)

It's not the best landscaping in the world, but it looks a lot better than before (in my opinion). It was very economical and I can always add more later down the road.

The section in the back left side is just ground cover, but I really like the ground cover plant. I have plans to put some planters there.

I LOVE galvanized bucket planters but I wonder if it may be too casual for my front yard...


[ via ]

But then again, the inside of our home is pretty casual and we are a young couple.. thinking out loud here. What do you guys think?

12 comments:

  1. Ugh! We just moved into our first house after almost 8 years of apartments and marriage. Our curb appeal is a work in progress plus, we've have to put grass in our backyard. It might not look nice until next summer! I like the galvanized buckets myself. I think you should go for it. Plus, you can easily paint them if you want a change down the road.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i bought galvanized buckets for planters for the front of our house at ikea years ago thinking that i would eventually upgrade... but i'm still using the buckets.  i prefer more natural/unstructured landscaping so the buckets still work. 

    plus, planters can be crazy expensive!!

    http://www.five2eight.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think galvanized may be too casual for the exterior of your home?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Did you have to add landscape fabric? And if so, did you just cut holes in the fabric where you already had plants? I am new to the landscape world and just trying to figure it out! Love the "after" pic - very warm and inviting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I say go for it!  Mixing and matching the galvanized with your other planters might look good.   What do you have going on in the back of your house?   You could always move them back there.   I play around a little bit with my planters.   I also sneak a peek as I'm coming and going from the house to see what the planters look like.   We have a brick house, and I added a yellow planter this year and it looks great against the brick.  I moved some other planters out back.    You're doing great - and I love the new grasses that you added to that left plot.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That house is so beautiful and classic. You could probably get away with some nice black urns with topiary on the front porch. Looking good!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love it! I also hate the christmas tree looking things, this looks so fresh and a happier space!

    PS-My sister is a certified master gardener at 26 years old and can name the Latin name of a plant....and at 28, well, I'm still learning what a spider mum is.

    Great job!http://audrasally.blogspot.com

    -Audra

    ReplyDelete
  8. Feel free to let me know if you ever want help-I'm a Landscape Designer!  *Amy

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great job - love it!  Dad and I need to do that so bad!!  We'll check out the Lowe's here.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Vintique ObjectJune 9, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    I think that just like the inside, a mix of styles and periods is beautiful for the outside too!
    Camille

    ReplyDelete
  11. Honestly I think your home style might not be right for the galvanized buckets, but you could always get some and see.  I've always seen them more with back decks/patios where the contrast of wood and the metal looks good together.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Instead of galvanized planters, maybe some terra cotta planters covered in neutral pebble tile would give some interest and texture.

    ReplyDelete

THANK YOU for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate each and every comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...