Our Front Yard Landscape Makeover

It is much overdue, but our home’s exterior has finally started getting the facelift it so desperately needs.

We have wanted to update the exterior of the 70’s Landing Pad from the time we bought it…but there wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with it then – it was just flat out ugly.

And so instead of updating the exterior, we put our resources toward the interior where there were a lot of fixes that needed to be made.

Then earlier this year, a storm came through and caused some roof damage, which led to a new roof. Close on the heels of the new roof came new windows, quickly followed by new shutters and new landscaping.

We still have to get rid of that green trim color, but doesn’t it look so much better?

I’m sure the neighbors really appreciate it too because for a while, it looked like this in our front yard…

Disclosure: This post is in partnership with Proven Winners, however all opinions are 100% mine. 

Grunt Labor was over all the overgrown shrubbery one day and so he and Nicky did what they do best and hooked a chain to each shrub, then pulled them out.

And then weeds grew and grew and grew until we were able to finally tackle the space this month…

And while these plants are still babies so to speak, I think it looks so much better already and I can’t wait to see them grow and really highlight the house. Let’s get down to the details of re-landscaping this space, shall we?

Prepping the Beds

Like I said earlier, all of the old shrubbery had been pulled out. Before we planted the new stuff, we dug up the monkey grass that was on the lower end of the house and then sprayed all the weeds to kill them.

After the weeds were all dead, we pulled out the larger ones and Grunt ran our tiller through it all.

After that, I came back through, smoothed it all out with a rake, then covered everything with weed paper.

Planning the Beds

I worked with Proven Winners on this project and they were so great about helping us figure out a plan that would work well with our home and lifestyle in terms of what colors would go best with the brick, our home’s location and how much sun it gets, getting low maintenance plants, etc.

With the exception of night time and a few hours in the morning, the front of our home has the sun beating down on it all day. We also live in Tennessee where it’s hot and humid often, so all of our plants and shrubs were chosen with those things in mind. So if you have a place in your yard that has similar conditions, this is a great list of plants and shrubs to get your landscaping wheels a turnin’.

Sun Lovin’ Shrubs

Since my plants are still babies, I’ve linked below to what they will look like as they mature.

Shiny Dancer Viburnum

I really love the deep, but shiny green on the Shiny Dancer Viburnum. In the spring, it will have white flowers.

Emerald Envy Viburnum

We have an Emerald Envy Viburnum on each end of the house. These too will have white flowers in the spring.

Fire Light Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are my favorite. In fact, Grunt Labor planted me a whole row of them one time and you can read about that story here. Anywho, I was really excited to get a hydrangea in the mix here. And I’ve even got a flew blooms on this one! This one is a Fire Light Hydrangea. It starts with white flowers in the summer and they age to red.

Pearl Glam Callicarpa

This one is a Pearl Glam Callicarpa. It may not look like much now, but it gets white flowers in the summer that turn to purple fall berries and the berries are beautiful – such a gorgeous color of purple!

Arctic Sun Dogwood

This Arctic Sun Dogwood will have gorgeous yellow and coral stems in the winter.

Laced Up Elderberry

This is a Laced-Up Elderberry. The leaves have kind of a deep purple hue with a lacy look to them.

Infiniti White Lagerstroemia

Grunt Labor is a big fan of crape myrtles, so I was also excited to get these, which are Infiniti White Dwarf Low-Growing Crape Myrtles.

Scentsation Honeysuckle

This is a Scentsation Honeysuckle. They will be trained up the porch columns and will have very fragrant, yellow flowers in the early summer.

Sun Lovin’ Perennials

We of course wanted to have mostly shrubs in the front that would always have some sort of foliage interest throughout the year, however, we are big fans of perennials too that come back each spring with gorgeous flowers, so we mixed some of those in the plan as well.

Decadence Lemon Meringue Baptisia

These Decadence Lemon Meringue Baptisia came in a small little container, but promise big, beautiful yellow flowers.

Cat’s Meow Nepeta

After seeing what these Cat’s Meow Nepeta look like when they are in bloom, I cannot wait to see them next spring!

Color Spires Crystal Blue Salvia

This Color Spires Crystal Blue Salvia will have a spiky look with light blue blooms in the summer.

Primo Black Pearl Coral Bells

I’ve always been a fan of these coral bells – I love that deep hue.

Opening Act White Phlox

Phlox has always been another favorite of mine, so I was happy to get these Opening Act White Phlox in the ground here as well.

Magic Show White Wands Veronica

I don’t think I have ever saw these before, but this Magic Show White Wands really does look a little magical when they bloom.

Fruit Punch Maraschino Dianthus

I’ve never had any of these perennials before, but I’ve always thought they were so adorable. They are Fruit Punch Maraschino Dianthus. They have little red flowers that will pop up.

Planting the Beds

Once everything got here, I brought all the plants around front and started placing them in the beds where they would go without actually planting them first.

This helped me to see if I had too many perennials in one spot, some shrubs too close together, some too close to the house, etc. Once I got everything where I wanted it, I planted them.

Over 40 shrubs and perennials all in one day.

Because I am a rock star. Or because I’m insane. Most likely the latter.

The neighbor literally came out and told me I was going to kill myself.

I laughed in the face of this so called planting danger.

I also drank a lot afterwards. 😉

Anywho, when you’re planting in a bed with weed paper that is down, just use a box cutter to cut an X or circle in the weed paper, then dig your hole, put the plant in and fill back in with dirt.

After everything was in the ground, we put mulch down all over the bed to help retain moisture and of course, to make it look pretty.

I see a weed that’s gotten through the weed paper there on the edge though. Womp, womp, womp.

And don’t forget to water!

We’re looking forward to seeing these babies grow!

And also getting rid of that hideous green paint…