Diggin' in the dirt

I am not known for being a very patient person. When I get an idea in my head, I want to do it right then. My hubby, on the other hand, is a fan of "some day". You know... that will be nice to do "some day". Well, we have been talking about different projects that we want to do outside around the house. Barry suggested that one day we should get a clip board and walk around outside and write down everything we want to do. That way we have a list of weekend projects that we can work from. I thought that was a great idea, so yesterday while the shrimp stock was boiling away, I grabbed him and a clip board and we headed outside.

We have always hated the bushes in the front of the house. There are at least 3 or 4 different varieties out there, and they don't make any rhyme or reason. And on top of that, there was a HUGE butterfly bush that was taking over everything. We wrote down our plans for the front, then started wondering about the cost of some of our ideas. I suggested a quick trip to Lowe's to price some things. He agreed, but stated that we were NOT buying anything today... $40 later we were on our way back home! Barry gave me a bit of a dirty look, and stated that he was sure it was my diabolical plan to make him actually work yesterday!

Well, he did work very hard. He and the boys removed several bushes, transplanted some others, and we planted a couple of new things as well. It looks so much better out front! We are also going to extend a bed around the side of the house and plant some more things there.

I tried to find a good before picture... I forgot to take one before we got started. The only one I could really find was taken during one of the snows we had over the winter... I'll post it just so you can get an idea of what we did. So, before:


And after:


We got rid of all the bushes in the front row, and the overgrown butterfly bush that was taking over everything. We got two new boxwoods to match the three in the back that we liked. We kept/transplanted the gladiolus and the irises, and I put in an azalea.


My plan is to put in two more... one on either end of the bed. In the front of the bed, where we removed the bushes, I'll plant flowers. Then we want to extend the bed down this side of the house... we transplanted a couple of bushes there:


We have a small little area to the right of the entrance. When we moved in, there was one little bush planted there, and then tons of monkey grass that was choking the poor thing to death. We removed the grass, but the bush never really seemed to fill out and look any better. We removed it yesterday, too, and replaced it with a peony. I am really excited about that... I love them!


And it's almost ready to bloom, too!!


We got a little pink (okay, red!) out in the sun yesterday... or maybe that was just me! But it was worth it, and when we get it all looking like we want it to look, I will be so thrilled! I'm thankful that my hubby put up with me yesterday, and my boys helped to provide some of the labor. I knew having teenage boys would pay off one day! ;)