Front Landscape Part One

Updating the front yard landscape was not on the weekend's to-do list. We were supposed to be cleaning up the garage and moving the final boxes to the basement. Morning frost had arrived and we're not keen on parking overnight in the driveway as the weather gets cooler. I think it's all those years in apartments and having to scrape off the car windshield every morning. Not a fan.

But the weather was beautiful and Lowe's had some plants on clearance. And frankly, the yard was bugging me. I hated the first impression it gave and the sloppy unkempt appearance. The former owners had planted a ton (and I mean a ton) of sun loving day lilies. I like day lilies but the sheer quantity was too much. Plus the front yard has 3 huge trees and hasn't been a sunny yard in at least 20 years. It was time to upgrade this home's curb appeal.

The front walkway. Lots of lilies, hostas and one coneflower.
Looking at the photo here, it doesn't look too bad...and that's
really starting to bug me about this house. It's hard to convey
why we are changing so many things when it doesn't appear
to be too bad in the photos. *sigh* 

Front door with bay window on the side. More day lilies. 

I had researched local landscape nurseries and there are not a ton in the area. The few I visited had $40 price tags on single shrubs. Yes they were large plants, but that kind of price to re-do the entire front yard would quickly be out of our budget. So to keep on budget I selected smaller plant from Lowe's. I'm hoping with the pep talk the boys and I gave them, along with some spring Miracle Grow, they will fill in the space nicely.

I tore out the old plants and reused what I could. B and T loved loved loved digging out the old plants. Fill dirt and mulch were added to the new bushes. The bricks were moved from another area and re-purposed here. They were lovingly sorted and placed along the walkway by the boys but will need to be leveled eventually.
The two areas nearest the house are complete. I have bids out to remove the birch tree near the front porch.The large area near the front trees is still under construction and probably won't be completed until spring

New walkway area. I added a row of shrubs with a row of hostas.
Note to the photographer: next time take photos before the storm
comes and blows leaves and dirt everywhere. Note the birch tree in the
right side of the photo which is getting cut down in the next week or two. 

Front walkway: After. I'll have to make a mental note to post
again when the shrubs grow a bit next year. I am happy to
have some place to put Christmas lights! 

Front porch area. I would call this area "semi complete."
We will need to add pavers or some sort of retaining wall,
move the garden hose, and add an underground
gutter drainage pipe (instead of the green thing).

There is still a lot to do in the front yard before I will call this area complete but the progress really makes me feel better about the curb appeal. We have 3 large maple trees in the front which need to be trimmed up. There is also a large semi-landscaped area underneath 2 of the trees. Planted there are....you guessed it...more day lilies. I did tear out some of the leafy perennial flowers but I think I can live with the rest until spring. 

Check back in the spring for Front Landscape Part Two. :)