Happy Monday Y’all!
I hope you guys had a great weekend! I know we certainly did!
A few weeks ago I tackled a pretty big project on the side of our house. If you have been reading this blog for a while now, you know that I have blogged about this area of our home a couple different times. It seems like each spring I tackle it again & again, making more progress year after year.
Even though I strive to keep this side of our house looking presentable, it never fails that when spring rolls around we are always back to square one. Here is a look at where I started this year…..
A little less than inspiring wouldn’t you say?!
The first thing I did was start pulling weeds! Low & behold there were the hostas I planted a couple years back, springing up through the soil.
Then, I added some impatiens to the window box & things were already starting to look much better.
I decided that this was the last year I wanted to deal with the weeds, so I picked up a roll of weed control fabric to cover the area. I simply cut holes in the fabric to allow the hostas room to grow.
I also picked up several bags of mulch to surround the hostas & cover the fabric.
I had gotten some coupons in the mail from Lowes a few weeks prior & I decided I would put them to use for this project. So, I stopped by our local store & picked up some stone edgers to put the finishing touch on the flower bed.
When I got home from Lowes, I made the decision to extend the flower bed and wrap it around the front of the house. I removed the concrete splash block from underneath the gutter spout & dug up the grass until I got down to the soil.
Then, I added a layer of the weed control fabric & topped it off with mulch. I picked up a couple more hostas while at Lowes & filled the new spot to coordinate with the rest of the flower bed.
To lay the stone edgers, I simply dug a path that outlined the outer edge of the flowerbed & laid the stone edgers one by one. I made sure that each one was level and that I maintained a straight line all the way down. I also made sure to tuck the weed control fabric underneath each edger as it was laid to create a barrier.
Once the edgers were laid, I discover that I still had enough room to add some flowers in front of the hostas, so I used the same impatiens that I had planted in the window box & filled the flower bed as well. This is what it looked like when I was finished.
Quite the improvement, right?!
I’m so pleased with how it turned out! The project actually took me about two afternoons to complete, but I think the time & effort definitely paid off! I’m so happy with the way it looks now.
The following pictures were taken this past weekend (a few weeks after I completed the project.) You can already see a huge difference in the size of the plants.
This side of our home is shaded for the biggest part of day, so the hostas & the impatiens absolutely love it there!
And to really appreciate the amount of work that went into this space, I went back through my archives & found this picture of how the side yard looked just a couple years back.
So SAD! At this time, the side of the house was nothing but a catch all. It completely lacked character & curb appeal.
But now….it screams curb appeal & that makes my heart happy! 🙂
And every time I walk down this side of our home I smile! 🙂
I’m looking forward to watching the hostas & impatiens mature even more in the coming weeks! I can’t wait to see what things will look like in another month or two. I’ll be sure to keep you posted!
What do you think of my side yard makeover?
Have you completed a similar project this spring? If so, I’d love to hear about it!
Thanks so much for visiting me today!! I hope you have a fantastic Monday!
Linking up here….
Before & After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick
Tips & Tutorials Tuesday at Home Stories A to Z
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Hookin’ Up with HOH at House of Hepworths
The Scoop at Crafty Texas Girls
Best DIY Projects of June at Beneath My Heart
Summer Linky Party at Thistlewood Farms
Beautiful job, Tonya! Wow, what a difference!! You’ve given me a lot of inspiration for my own yard.
Gorgeous! You did a great job with this and the stone edgers really make a big difference. We are constantly adding plants to our yard–it’s a work in progress and something my husband and I both enjoy. We do have one spot in the back that drives me crazy, so maybe I can convince him to put a little border around it like yours 🙂
Looks great, Tonya!!!
looks great!!!!
Beautiful! 🙂 I need to get out in my garden ASAP! 🙂 BTW, I made your strawberry coolwhip/jello pie with homemade graham cracker crust last night. Its waiting for me to try in my lunch today! Can’t wait! YUM! My daughter loved how it was PINK!
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Looks amazing! One thing I don’t understand is how you were able to plant the impatiens on top of the landscaping fabric in the mulch? Could you please explain. I have been very apprehensive to use landscape fabric in areas where I want flowers because I don’t understand how this is done.
Gorgeous! What a difference some elbow grease and great design skills makes! Great Job!
This is gorgeous, Tonya! What a great before/after. It looks so pretty and cottage like.
Did you know you can split your hostas and replant/basically spread them? I bought 4 hostas one summer, the next summer split them (getting 2-3 off of each one) then had 12 plants. then split those and had even more! 🙂 They will get huge if you don’t split them but they multiply very quickly. Just in case you had another area you wanted to fill in – you could easily do it for FREE with your present hostas 🙂
Looks great!
It looks lovely, Tanya! What a difference. You know we all love a good before and after, don’t you? Great job!
It looks marvelous! I always want to have pretty gardens but never want to put in the work ha! Our house has tons of English boxwoods and that’s it. Pretty boring stuff.
It looks fantastic. Be careful though with your downspout not having anywhere to run except in the garden area. You might end up getting water pooling up against your foundation and you don’t want that.
Beautiful I have no green thumb to save my life. My yard has little to no curb appeal.
It looks gorgeous! This is on my list for this summer too! Great job Tonya!
Love it! What a big difference!! Good job!
Gorgeous!
Oh my, it looks so beautiful! I love that you extended it around the front and I LOVE hostas, I’m going to plant some in my front yard along with some hydrangeas.
Tania
Beautiful! This was my first year buying inpatients for my front porch and I love them. I also have a line of hostas on the side of my house. I split three large plants (gigantic ones!) and had enough to go the length of my house and then some. My side garden started off very similar to your before shot. After 4 years, it now looks like http://thebrickbungalow.blogspot.com/search/label/Lily%27s%20garden but its not done yet!
What a difference! I planted a row of hostas on the side of my house too – looks great with the flowers mixed in.
Kelly
Awesome transformation ~ I bet you love that view driving up to your home!
Wow, that is an amazing transformation! Love the color combination! But I wanted to ask — have you not had any trouble with slugs on your impatiens? I tried for two years planting a row of impatiens just like you did, but in front of hydrangeas, and they never hardly grew. I always figured it was due to slugs, but I have heard this year of some impatien disease going around, and some nurseries would not guarantee their impatien plants. Your’s look incredible!
What a difference! Good job!
You are awesome! It looks fantastic! You reminded me of me when you said every time you walk by it makes you smile. I do the same thing with my projects. Isn’t it fun making thing beautiful 🙂 great job keep up the hood work.
Just visiting from 320*Sycamore. Great job! It looks lovely and it looks doable. Thank for the inspiration.
so insightful!!!thanks for the details!!
Really nice job! Worth the backache, I bet.. Thanks for sharing !
So gorgeous! Love it so much. What kind of mulch did you use?
love it. i want to do something similar to the side of my house. thanks for the inspiration.
Wow Tonya,
It looks amazing to see all those hostas and the little flowers beds. I have never heard of the weed control fabric. Is that what landscapers would use if they were building a raised flower bed??? This is a wonderful project in itself that requires a little planning in itself! Do you have a pic of your back yard? Would love to see it.
Shobha
Looks great, how wide is the flower bed, would like to know as I would to plant hostas??
Planning to do this for a friend of mine, I even have the hostas and some day lilies for the project. We’re doing a rain garden out in front of her house, and this will be a nice way to handle storm water coming off the back.