Completed One of my Original 101 Goals

When I bought my house, the builder had landscaped with bushes and mulched with white decorative rocks. I am not a bush person nor a rock person, so a few months ago my mother in law came over and helped me thin out the rocks and pull out the bushes. All that remained in my front flower garden were three azalea bushes and, of course, a flower bed full of red clay.

Fast forward to this weekend when I decided enough was enough! I was tired of looking at my bare flower beds (and I'm sure my neighbors were tired of looking at them as well), so I weeded them and then took a trip to Lowe's where I finally managed to buy some perennials. Those of you that know me know that I'm pretty indecisive. I've been to Lowe's forty times in the past two months to "browse" the flower selections. I've never planted anything before in my life, and I didn't want to make a mistake. This time, after reading a Southern Living article on choosing plants for you garden, I decided I was going to buy whatever looked pretty to me. I ended up with four Zagreb Coreopsis and two Prairie Splendor Coneflowers. (I will show you a picture of one of my Zagrebs, but the Coneflowers haven't bloomed yet and still kinda look like a weed, so I won't show you a picture of that one just yet!)

This is a picture of my front flower bed. As you can see, I planted the four Zagrebs directly under my front porch because they are supposed to be mounding perennials. Once they fill out, they should curve just under the bottom part of the railing. There is a space of about two feet between the last Zagreb and the first Coneflower. My plan is to put a trellis in that space and get a climbing plant. Next summer, I'm going to curve the flower garden out in front of the three windows to diminish the hard line of the house. I'm also going to put window boxes on the railing to make the porch pop out. (Don't worry, I'll post pictures again when I finish my landscaping project!)

Here is a closeup of my Zagreb. Currently, each plant is about 8 inches tall (I took this picture from the top so you could see all the pretty little yellow flowers).

All in all, I've spent less than $50 so far. The two coneflowers were a little more expensive, but the Zagrebs were about $4 a piece. I also bought a bag of soil and a hand spade. I am going to buy mulch pretty soon because I don't want to be weeding every weekend, so my cost will go up when I make that purchase this weekend.

I didn't think I'd get to this 101 goal before next year, but I'm glad that I did! I enjoy the calming effects of gardening. I just hope my plants live!

House Projects

The hubs and I have been living in our house for about seven months now, and I have to say that we love it. It's only two years old, so there isn't much that has to be updated. Now, they did put some cheaper flooring down in the bathroom and kitchen, but I can live with it for the time being. Honestly, the flooring doesn't bother me.

That said, we do have some updating that we want to do. Here was the list at the start of the new year:

1. Build a shed
2. Buy a lawn mower
3. Expand the deck
4. Get a new kitchen faucet (I found one at the Restore the other day for $25... I'm not buying one right now, but it's good to know I can get a deal when I'm ready)
5. Expand the flower beds
6. Cut the pipes in the front yard

When we first moved in, we painted the living room, the kitchen, hallway, and the guest bathroom. I still need to get one more bucket of paint to go over the living room/kitchen/hallway trim. For now, the paint looks fine, and I'm living in the house, so if it doesn't bother me, why should I care if there is a smidgen of white paint next to the ceiling? Exactly. I shouldn't.

Well, just last week we finishing building our shed. (I say we when really I mean my fantastical father-in-law and my hubs, although FIL did 3/4th of the work). I'm so impressed with the way the building turned out. It matches the house perfectly. (I will post some pictures later.)

Now we're on to the lawn mower, and in typical frugal fashion I've got my sister's husband hunting a used mower for us. The project I'm most excited about, though, is expanding the deck. I lurve spending the afternoon outside when I get home from work. It's probably one of my favorite things to do, and on the weekends I find myself sitting on the deck as well. I cannot wait for the deck to be double the size so I can invite people over the hang out with me. Right now there is barely room for me and the hubs.

Now, we aren't conquering that whole list this year. We probably won't touch the flower beds for awhile because I know from experience that gardening can get hella expensive if done right. But every little improvement we do to the house makes me love it even more. It's our little joyful labor of love, and I'm proud to share it with Mr. Wookie.