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Rain on a Tin Roof

DIY and Home Decor Blog. Fly Your Freak Flag.

You are here: Home >> Outdoors >> Our Front Yard Landscape Makeover

October 24, 2017 By Jenna 22 Comments

Our Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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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.

Landscape Before

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.

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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.Β 

Landscape Before

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…

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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.

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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

Laced Up Elderberry

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - Infiniti White Lagerstroemia, a dwarf, low-growing crape myrtle.

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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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 BaptisiaFront Yard Landscape Makeover - Decadence Lemon Meringue Baptisa

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

Cat’s Meow Nepeta

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - Primo Black Pearl Coral Bells

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

Opening Act White Phlox

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - Magic Show White Wands

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

Front Yard Landscape Makeover - 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.

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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. πŸ˜‰

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.

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

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

And don’t forget to water!

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

We’re looking forward to seeing these babies grow!

Front Yard Landscape Makeover

And also getting rid of that hideous green paint…

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Filed Under: Outdoors Tagged With: landscape

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Comments

  1. Debbie Reynolds says

    October 24, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    Love it!

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:37 am

      Thanks, Debbie!

      Reply
  2. Cindy A. says

    October 24, 2017 at 1:17 pm

    Your landscaping looks great! We recently ripped out all our old hedges and replaced them with more manageable shrubbery. It makes me happy every time I pull into the driveway. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:37 am

      Same here, girl! I’ve nearly hit the mailbox just looking at the new landscaping and smiling! haha!

      Reply
  3. Lisa A. says

    October 24, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    Jenna – house looks great. Just have to say that the day I spotted Bridget Booties at Target a month or so ago while shopping for some fall booties – I literally said “Wow, those have Jenna’s name all over them” and for a split second thought about sending the link to you but came to my senses and rethought the idea. Started laughing the minute I saw you had them on the blog….

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:37 am

      Thanks, Lisa! Girl yes, I totally stumbled upon those boots by accident, but am so darn happy I did!

      Reply
  4. Pam S says

    October 24, 2017 at 2:03 pm

    It’s so much prettier, and what a variety of plants!! Can’t wait to see when it all fills in. What a job! And so well done!!

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:36 am

      Thanks, Pam! I can’t wait to see it all fill in either!

      Reply
  5. Wendy says

    October 24, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    Jenna Jenna Jenna. Our wild and talented Jenna. PLEASE oh please join me in a fight against small scale inoperable shutters. Shitters? They make me shudder.

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:36 am

      haha! I love working shutters as well, but for our house and budget, it just didn’t fit in!

      Reply
  6. Debra Bartels says

    October 24, 2017 at 11:11 pm

    Oh to have your energy. When everyting blooms it will be beautiful!

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:35 am

      Thanks, Debra! I think so too! And don’t kid yourself about the energy – there were a lot of breaks taken and I was beyond exhausted by the end of it all!

      Reply
  7. Susan the Farm Quilter says

    October 26, 2017 at 2:18 am

    Your yard is going to look beautiful! I have never tried mulch – everywhere I have lived the wind blows like a demon and blows it away. It does look nice and I hope your landscape fabric holds the weeds back (I HATE weeding). I’m looking forward to the pictures next summer to see how they grow and how awesome your house looks without the green paint! How many six-packs were required for full recovery?

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      October 26, 2017 at 11:34 am

      Thanks, Susan! Girl, I hope that paper keeps the weeds away as well! We might let Grunt Labor take care of those though if it doesn’t! haha! And there was a lot of beer consumed after that – margaritas as well! πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  8. June says

    October 27, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    Wow much better, I had some old green bushes when we bought our house … glad to see them go. You got a lot of variety of plants and I think the white and green plants with your red brick house as a back drop.

    You have a long house! Good job!

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      November 7, 2017 at 12:54 pm

      Thanks, June! I love the variety too and can’t wait to see them grow!

      Reply
  9. Wendy says

    October 29, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    Looking so much better even with the remaining green paint! Can’t wait to see your front landscaping mature next spring and summer.

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      November 7, 2017 at 12:53 pm

      Thanks, Wendy! Me too!

      Reply
  10. Ashley Tukiainen says

    November 6, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Looks very clean and bright! You planted a few good medicinal plants in there too! Elderberry is good for all kinds of things (I’m an herbalist πŸ™‚ ) I hope you post an update later on so we can see it in bloom

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      November 7, 2017 at 12:38 pm

      Oh awesome, Ashley! I’ll definitely have an update on them as they grow!

      Reply
  11. Nikki Gwin says

    November 7, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    I love your new plantings. And I wonder what color you will replace the green with??!
    πŸ™‚ gwingal

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      November 8, 2017 at 6:11 am

      Thanks, Nikki! Probably the beige-arey that is around the windows. πŸ™‚

      Reply

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