Before & After:: Front Yard

I have said more than once that a home to me is like a giant canvas, on the inside and the out. It's like a piece of art to personalize and continually improve upon. When we moved into this 20 year old gem, we knew a major landscaping over hall would be due soon. I put some serious thought into doing it myself but after spending several Saturdays pulling weeds, and getting rid of poison ivy, I quickly learned the value of a great landscaping company. 

Our friends Josh and Jeremy started their own landscaping business a little over a year ago and they have done some amazing work for my dad's business and at my parent's home. Take a look at how they transformed our front yard. 

BEFORE:: All the hedges are overgrown and are randomly placed.

AFTER:: So much better, right?

BEFORE:: My least favorite thing about the whole front yard was this huge ugly overgrown shrub. I believe it was a Hawthorn? It was a home for about a million spiders as well as a huge possum who liked to harass Lannie Cat. 

AFTER:: A million times better!! No more huge shrub or big ugly tree trunk. We hung a front porch swing and now it is one of my favorite spots to sit and watch the sunset.

BEFORE:: See how ugly that shrub and tree trunk are? And the weird thing is about this tree trunk is that it's NOT a real tree trunk. It's pieces of wood formed in the shape of a cylinder and filled with potting soil. Weird, right? When Josh & Jeremy removed it, they said it was housing the largest ant bed they had ever seen. Bye Bye, Ants!!

AFTER:: Now the focus is the front porch instead of that eye sore. Before when we would sit on our front porch, we couldn't see over the top of that huge spider infested bush. But now everything is so clean and the conversation azaleas won't grow very tall so we will always have a great view. They left me a few spots like this one in front to add in some seasonal color. I have big plans to plant some pansies and maybe even try out some tulip bulbs for the upcoming Spring.

BEFORE:: This area right outside the kitchen door was just a mess.

AFTER:: Now all of those overgrown hedges are gone and gardenias took their place. Josh & Jeremy even got the little fountain working for the time being. We are planning on putting a little more moolah into the fountain and sprucing it up a little bit more in the near future. But for now, this area is SO much better than it was!

This area where the grass barely grows and people always walk through, we decided to throw down some flagstone. I love the look of flagstone and I love how the little pebble river turned out. When it rains, the water naturally flows right into the big part of the fountain and then drains away from the house down through the pebble path.

BEFORE:: This front bed was filled with a variety of things and none of which was very pleasing the the eye, including the big dogwood tree that was dying. :( Sadly it had to go bye bye.

AFTER:: But we replaced it with a brand new dogwood tree and a spiffy new lamp post to help improve visibility. Since our home is settled off the road deep in the woods, it gets pretty dark at night. Josh & Jeremy hooked up our new lighting system and set us up on a timer so it comes on and goes off everyday automatically. Modern technology is simply amazing. And speaking of timers, all of our new flower beds have a soaker system that are completely on a timer. I highly recommend doing this if you are like me and forget to water until things start turning brown. ;)

BEFORE:: The other side of the house needed some attention as well. 

AFTER:: We didn't do much but just a small bed with a few azalea plants made a huge improvement! 

We are so pleased with our new beds. It really improves the way the house looks. If you are in the Ruston area, check out Cutting Edge and let them work their magic. :) I'm SO glad we decided to hire them. That's one more thing I can check off my to do list. 

Project Veggies!

The last few weeks we've been planning and talking about several projects, including but not limited to, painting our house, building a raised bed for veggies, building a pergola, staining our fence...and the list goes on. As with any "new" house that is actually not so new, the project list is soon to follow and is growing longer and longer by the minute! Since we hired out our painting to save our sanity, and quite possibly our marriage, we decided this would be a good week to tackle the veggie garden project. While the painters have been inside getting high off the paint fumes, B & I have been outside in the fresh air dreaming of the day when we can literally walk outside of our back door to go grocery shopping. :)

It might be a weird dream but I have always wanted my own garden. There is something so satisfying about getting your hands dirty, about growing something from a tiny seed and then enjoying free healthy food right from your own backyard just as God intended. It's exciting to see your dream become a plan and your plan become a reality. The first step to having our own veggie garden is done! It may sound silly but I'm so proud of us. :)

I also want my own chicken coop but that is for another day and another project.

 And the great thing about this dream is that it is totally doable. B & I are NOT super handy people. B has no skill in carpentry (sorry, babe) but he rocked this project! Basically if you know how to use a drill, you can manage this.

We chose an area in our yard that gets the most sun. This was a task in itself because we live in the middle of the woods. Literally.  I'm still a little nervous about whether our veggies will get enough sunlight but we picked a spot that gets about 6-8 hours of sun. (Please ignore the weeds in the bottom left. That is another project.)

 I'm so grateful B was totally on board with this project because it's good to have some muscles especially when you are pounding the stakes in the ground. Not only was he on board but he practically built the whole thing himself. I did my part by handing him the appropriate tools he needed, taking pictures and keeping the dogs out of the way. I think I had the harder job. :)

 We followed the plans on the Pioneer Woman's website. She lays everything out so clearly and has a picture for each and every step which is super helpful for visual people like myself. Honestly, it's pretty easy so don't be intimidated! If you've been wanting to build a garden, go for it! If you don't have a few hours to dedicate to the project- just do what we did. Divide it into a two or three day project. Day 1: Go buy your supplies. Day 2: Build the framework to 1 bed. (This parts takes about an hour or two depending on your skill level.) Day 3: Go buy soil and seeds. You will need LOTS of soil. This will be your most expensive part of the entire project but good soil is the key (so I've been told) so don't skimp on good soil. Day 4: Plan where your veggies will go and get to planting!

Here is our first finished raised bed. As you can see in the background, we have the wood laid out for another raised bed. B is planning on building that one today. If you break it down into smaller projects, it's not so overwhelming. :) 

I can't wait to get some veggies growing in here! I'd love to hear your tips and secrets. This being our first garden, I'm sure we could use all the help we can get! Happy Gardening!

Completed Patio Project!

Warning: there are a lot of pictures of two adorable doggies in this post. Oh, and this post is mainly just pictures since the point is to show you the completed patio project. Enjoy!

It has actually been completed for about two weeks but everytime I think about taking pictures we are outside enjoying it and I don't want to move from my comfy spot to get up and go get my camera.

  I know, lazy! But we have been enjoying the heck out of it, especially in the evenings. We bought a little chiminea to go out there mainly because I thought it was cute but we will probably use our bigger fire pit most of the time. Buie put it together tonight (AFTER I had already taken these pictures).

This is the fire pit that we will use most of the time probably. I actually bought it for B about 3 years ago and it's been sitting in a box in our garage (along with about a million other things). B insisted that we have a proper place to put this fire pit before we opened the box. Hopefully we accomplished that goal.

And I'm pretty sure these guys are in heaven. Conner, my prissy little guy, doesn't much like laying on the cold rocks so of course he gets his own chair or just sits in my lap. :) Scooter is fine sprawled out on the cool sand and rocks. 

 The pergola turned out nicely. Here in another week or so, we will put a stain on it and it will be good to withstand rain, sleet, hail and the intense heat of Arkansas summers. We still have some landscaping to do to spruce it up and beautify it but that will be done in time. In the springtime, I'll hang my hammock in the pergola. Can't wait!

 Scooter and Conner. They are so used to posing for the camera, I hardly have to ask them. :)

Wherever these little guys are, we are pretty happy but we hope to have plenty of wonderful memories in our backyard and hanging out on our patio. We hope you enjoyed our little patio tour! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Check out other posts about our patio project:
Breaking Ground
Updates and a Conversion
Little Sandy Toes
Making Progress

Making Progress!

A few of you have asked for an update on our backyard project. Are we done yet? Are the rocks laid, etc.? I decided to break out my wide angle lens so I would have a more accurate account of this patio project we're involved in. We've been talking about building this patio for over two years now and I'm so excited that we are actually doing it! :) 

This is the view from our back porch when you walk out of our back door. We are fortunate to have a pretty big back yard for Conner and Scooter. This is also another reason we really wanted to have more useable space in our backyard. 

This has been Conner's favorite place to play the last week or so, right on top of the pile of rocks. Look how happy he is with himself. :)

The pergola is officially finished. Woo hoo! It is 10' by 16' and we plan to hang my hand woven hammock that I brought back from Nicaragua underneath the pergola.

I was very pleased with the overall design of the pergola. I love the decorative edges. I think it gives it a little something special, don't you? Right now, I'm in the process of figuring out what type of vine I will plant at the base of the posts that will grow and provide shade for us. I'm thinking Carolina Jasmine.

This is the view standing underneath the pergola looking back towards the house. Those rocks will obviously be laid down where this sand is. They have actually started laying the rock already and should be finished by the end of the week!

The dogs have loved the project. They love laying (and digging) in the sand. In the evenings, the sand is actually quite cool. It's been fun to see how they react to each new thing that is brought in. Of course they had to "leave their mark" on EVERYTHING! haha.

So right now it looks like a big sand pit, so pretty soon it will be a pretty patio.

All of these rocks (about 6 tons worth) will be laid down, more sand will be put on top and packed down nice and tightly.

And pretty soon we will be sitting here enjoying this view, watching the dogs play, hanging out with friends and family and maybe... MAYBE even watching our own kids play in this backyard one day. ;)

See how far we've come! 

Breaking Ground.

So my mom always told me I was talented and gifted and she was proud of me and I can do anything I set my mind to. You know all the things every good mother should say to her only daughter. But you see, these praises can bring about a false sense of security and confidence. I recently remember telling someone that I like to garden.... After looking at this picture, you will see that this phrase is almost laughable. 

I really DO like to garden. I promise. In my dreams, my yard looks like Martha Stewarts'. If fact, this area of our back yard once looked beautiful. You see, the former owner is like a Master Gardener. In fact, we are friends on Facebook and she such a nice lady and I'm actually horrified that she might actually see what I did to her backyard. So, to her, I say, I'm so sorry. :(  Please forgive me. It's my mother's fault for telling me I could do anything I set my mind to. Obviously keeping up with this garden was not one of them. So it went from this weed infested swamp fest that I was literally scared to go near for fear of being sucked in and Buie would never see me again...

Then Buie got a hold of it and it look like this for a while. Better but still an eye sore. 

After quite a bit of rain and two crazy dogs, it then became a huge mud pit. That was fun for a while, until it dried up and there were these huge holes all over it and it looked worse than ever before. What was once a lovely this garden with lilies and zinnias and roses all thanks to the former owner, had now because a huge thorn in my side. I hated to look at it because it just reminded me of failure. I let all of those pretty flowers die. I let all of the former owner's hard work just go to waste. I hated to even go outside because it would remind me of the huge project lurking over there in the corner. 

So we started dreaming of things we could do with this space. Should we plant a big tree to provide more shade for our home? Should we put in a pool? ha! ok, we quickly passed on this idea. Should we just landscape it with pretty bushes and/or flowers, something super easy to maintain? But we kept going back to the idea of having an area to gather and hang out with friends. So I started searching in magazine, Pinterest, DIY books and found a few ideas of firepit patio. We kept seeing these pergolas that provided shade and we loved the idea. Keep in mind this whole dreaming and searching process has been about 2 years. Probably because I'm so indecisive and it doesn't help that I'm a cheap skate. 

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Buie nor I both have any experience with woodwork or building anything at this scale. We attempted to get a quote from a larger company and it was WAY out of our price range. Disappointed we put it off for a while. When we mentioned our project ideas to the guy who mows our lawn, he informed us that he just happens to put in patios and pergolas. Man, did we hit the jackpot! And he's doing it for us for very little labor cost. It's CRAZY how much those big lawn companies overcharge you for labor! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have a pergola in our backyard soon. I'm even going to have a place to hang my hammock! :) 

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So this week, we broke ground on the project. The land was completely cleared and I am amazed at how fast things are getting done! I'm thinking this thing will be done by football season which is in a couple of weeks! :) We are already planning cookouts, backyard parties and just nights hanging out on our new patio. 

 The retaining wall is going up. We have to make sure everything is completely level. 

Check back for updates! 

Other backyard ideas on Pinterest.