The last couple of weeks/weekends we have been working on the outside of the house. We had cleaned out the front flowerbeds a couple of weeks ago and put down new mulch that is not supposed to fade for at least a year. It looks so much cleaner just doing that! We laid weed fabric down before the mulch, so no more weeds to pull out of there!!
We went and got a new Yew for one of the flowerbeds, because out of the two we planted in April, one made it and one died recently. The old one is bigger, but they have spotlights on them and a dead one did not look to nice (go figure). We were told to just fertilize the new one more than the old one and it should catch up pretty quick.
We pulled up all of the mulch around the three trees. We put tree rings around each of them. We put down weed fabric and new mulch, and then planted flowers under the two trees in the front yard. It was not easy finding flowers that will do good in the fall and stay pretty. Especially since we wanted to colors that had some contrast! SO, we chose yellow mums and blue asters. The butterflies have really enjoyed them (and so have I)!
We added a new flowerbed next to the garage. There was nothing over there, so just put in a small one to eventually hide the pipes and dryer vent. We planted a couple of bushes and some flowers in it, put down weed fabric and mulch. Then Paul planted Purple Fountain Grass next to the flowerbed and fence. I can't wait until next Spring/Summer when these plants REALLY fill in!
Paul replaced the lamps outside the garage. The ones they had put on the house were too small! They were the length of one bulb. We wanted to add sensors so that they would turn on and off when it got dark and light. We were just going to use the ones that you screw into the bulb socket and then screw the bulb into it. We couldn't because on the old lamps the lightbulb would not fit with the sensor in. That gives you an idea of how much bigger these lamps are. You can see the sensor is in with the bulb and there is still space to the bottom of the lamp. I really like them because they light up that whole side of the house and part of the front. With no street lights, it makes me feel safer!!
In the back, we had the kids empty the sandbox - kept them busy outside AND wore them out!! There was 800 pounds of sand when we made the thing at the beginning of the summer, so I am not sure the exact amount they emptied, but it was A LOT!!!! Then we moved the sandbox to the back of the yard by the back fence. They will actually get more shade there in the afternoon because of the neighbors trees. More importantly, it covered two of the three poison ivy pits!!! We bought some dirt and covered the third hole. Hopefully with the amount of rain we have had, any poison ivy that was still out there has been washed away. I was out there quite a bit helping Paul and have not started itching YET!! I also have not worn the shoes I was wearing out there since, and I came in about 500 times and washed my hands and arms!!! Am I paranoid or what?
On one of our MANY trips to Lowe's over all of these projects, we saw that all of their lawn furniture was 75% off. We saw a three person swing that said it was $99. We asked if it was clearanced and we were told it was 75% off the $99. We grabbed it (the last one!!). We went to check out and it actually was not clearanced, but the manager said that since we were told it was, several times, they had to give it to us. We got a $99 swing that actually folds into a "hammock" for $25!! We got it assembled and put it out by the sandbox so we can sit out there and relax while the boys play in the sandbox.
Some projects we are planning on doing over the fall/winter/spring is 1. putting a pond/garden where the sandbox WAS. 2. putting some hedges up along the side fence. 3. we are probably going to get a Purple Plum in Oct (that is when our nursery is supposed to get them) and put in the backyard. 4. Taking down the electric fence that is around the backyard and doing one of the buried fences for the dogs - the hotwire just doesn't look good around the entire backyard!!
Here are some pics of what we have gotten done so far:
Front flower beds with new, brighter mulch.
New tree rings, mulch and FLOWERS under our two trees in front yard.
New lamps Paul hung outside garage.
NEW flowerbed next to garage. They will eventually hide the pipes coming from the house and ground.
Purple Fountain Grass, planted at side yard by fence.
The sandbox after we got all of the sand out of it.
This is what the ground looked like when we moved the sandbox. We actually took some grass from the side yard (where the flowerbed is) and covered the spot. Hopefully it will root and grow some grass.
The sandbox moved to back of yard and the new swing/hammock.
No comments:
Post a Comment