Hold on one sec…driving by our house again.
I can’t tell you how good it feels to have plants in the ground, fresh mulch, and landscape edging!! This landscape project has been tucked in our back pocket for 2 years! We kept saying, “if we have the time, we should do landscaping this fall.” And then fall came and went several times before we got the chance…until this year!
For a quick recap, the previous landscaping was just old rock that was burrowing itself into the dirt. No edging, no plants…just rock that kept creeping into our grass. Mowing by the rock was a real gamble.
About a month ago, we decided to pause our other projects and focus on getting the landscaping cleaned up. Chris dug up the rock, laid edging, staked down landscape fabric, and unloaded 46 bags of brown mulch on top. That alone cleaned up the house SO much!
Before
Mulch & landscape edging laid
But of course, we wanted to get plants in the ground before winter! The aesthetic I wanted for plants was “whimsical simple garden”…similar to our back yard. I’ve learned in my brief landscape design research to focus on 3 different height variations with varying leaf shapes and textures.
We chose the following –
We wrapped the mulch around the side of the house as well. It felt natural to continue the landscaping to the back corner for a little extra curb appeal on what is otherwise a very tall blank wall. The skinny windows are also off centered from the exterior elevation, something we knew and planned for, and we were excited to add a tall hedge to balance out the empty wall space to the right.
The passthrough took some brain power to find the right plants for this space. This area doesn’t get a ton of sunlight and water drains quickly, but I found a pair of boxwoods that are supposed to do well in shade. And if we maintain a regular watering schedule we shouldn’t have a problem with them! I just love the symmetry of the two boxwoods flanking the window!
We tucked in a few flagstone stepping stones that lead to our hose faucet which made that little corner so charming! I don’t know why stepping stones in mulch make my heart pitter patter so much…but they do!
If we love it this much already, I can’t wait to see the plants fill out and bloom next year! Until then, you can assume I’m watering the plants every day till my arms fall off! 🙂
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I love your house! So beautiful. What color is your exterior?
Thank you so much! The color is Muddled Basil from HGTV Home by Sherwin Williams!
Did you know, Sherwin-Williams has "VINYL PAINT" for your windows! You could tone down the white vinyl windows! Other than that your place looks beautiful. Love the paint color you settled on! Nicely know I’m not the only who understands when paint color isn’t working.
I would love to know your exterior house colour!
Hi Kendall, it’s Muddled Basil by Sherwin Williams!
We have a bed of plants that our sprinklers do not reach. we snaked a soaker hose around the plants under the mulch and turn it on as needed from the hose spigot. It could also be set on a timer. we used to have lavender — I don’t know about your species, but it grew very tall = 3+ feet and was extremely invasive. it smells really good but we pulled it all. just an fyi