Adding Curb Appeal

I have been doing this curb side appeal since May. The homeowner is a great person who has limited funds and needs to get the home ready for sale. She has been semi- retired for years and wants to travel and write before she gets too old. She even told me that she will not go to an 'old people place' and wants to live at the beach. Her sons want her to move and enjoy life so they are thrilled with what has been happening.
There is still work to do but for now I wanted to share with anyone out there overwhelmed by their yards to take it one step at a time. Patience. Have a budget and start small. Taking a section of the yard at a time and work it. Do not attempt to do the whole yard at the same time because life happens and you get tired.
I will share more as the curb appeal happens. The back yard is 1/2 filled with ivy and poison ivy which I am tackling soon with one of her sons help. At my age, pulling ivy is no easy feat but I have had so much experience I can pull it efficiently with less wear and tear on the body.
I love a challenge and so far this yard has been a big one. I have to finish the yard and hope her budget allows me to do so before October so I can start on the $1000 bathroom and kitchen renovation.
Creating. Inspiring. Gardening without the rules!
You walk up and no rhyme or reason for the plants. I worked with what she had and tried to give her a low maintenance look on a $700 budget.
Pull up and this is what you saw. the flower bed had her favorite Iris and was loaded down with weeds
I did not disturb the hillside. I just dug the holes and scraped the weeds away before laying plastic
this was partway through planting perennials
I normally do not use fabric but this hill was covered in clover and wire grass. so I laid the fabric and let it sit for a couple weeks (plus she had to stop for budget sake) I added boxwood and variegated euonymous which were on sale at the time and she liked them.
These are the Encore on the left side. They did not like where they were
Moved the Encore. she had someone put these laurels there random so i had to work with what she had. this is what i do-work with what is there
I dug up this bed and had to sift through wire grass and night shade (ouch) and her beautiful Iris' were 1/2 eaten by Iris borers. But i saved them and they bloomed which made her very happy.
this is the back of the bed. it is important to look at a bed from all angles. this forsythia is out of control but she kept telling me her son was going to prune it.
I moved the Encore Azaleas from the more shady left side of the house to the sunnier side and now they are doing better. Added variegated eunonymous which was a less than $4 a pot and she picked black mulch
this is what it looked like in July 2014.
The Garden Frog with C Renee
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Linda Linda on May 14, 2019

    I have bushes which produce the little red berries in front of my house. My garden goes from the front porch around the whole length and front of my house. It is a little shaded but last year I planted “ monkey grass “ close to the border around the garden there is also a Rose bush. I wanted to plant some flowers in the very front but I don’t remember how big the monkey grass is. How could I plant some flowers in front of the monkey grass but not to be overgrown by monkey grass flowers or should I get rid of the monkey grass?

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  • Marie King Clower Marie King Clower on Jul 01, 2017

    A good use of space allowed..Nice & neat


  • Kathy Geneser Kathy Geneser on Feb 26, 2020

    I have sooo much creeping Charlie it’s taking over my backyard and getting into flower bed. Neighbors do NOTHING which is where it’s coming from.....HELP‼️‼️‼️‼️

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