Saturday, April 24, 2010

{before & after: curb appeal}

Spring is in full swing! This often brings our attention back to our outdoor spaces and gardens. Last year my husband and I did a re-vamp of our front lawn to improve our home’s curb appeal. All the reno’s we have been doing in our home thus far have been carefully selected to get the most bang for our buck when it comes time to sell, and I think a home’s first impression should always be way up on that list! Here’s an idea of how the front landscaping looked when we first bought the home:



The front garden left a lot to be desired… the plants were looking a little bushy, and we were constantly at war with a plethora of weeds! We decided to rip everything out and start from scratch:



The first thing that we had done was some decorative curbing to define the space:




Both my husband and I are not quite gardeners per se, so in order to minimize our on-going battle with weeds, we opted for a heavy-duty liner topped with large-sized river rocks. It’s been working great so far! So here is how it all turned out:



We did a few other things including replacing the worn roof. As well we did a quick and inexpensive upgrade by changing the light fixtures in front of the house, the new ones were from Home Depot. Good-bye 1986, hellooo 2010!


We chose plants with some structure to them, a Pom Pom Juniper (I call her our cheerleader!), a Japanese maple, and a hedge of boxwoods.



In a few years the boxwood hedge should fill out and will then be trimmed squarely together.

Here you can see a close up of the stamp and coloring we chose for the curbing. We pulled some of the coloring out of the brick in the front.


In the spring, we get a nice little touch of color, so pretty:


Since spring has arrived, it has been so much fun to watch things grow. And the best part of all is how low maintenance the landscaping has become. I’m hoping we’ll get a return on our investment in the future! I'll be linking this post to "Metamorphosis Monday's" over at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to pop over there to see tons of great before & afters!! I will also be participating in the "Bring In The Spring!" party over at Posh Pieces, you can head over there for some serious spring inspirations!


 


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The rocks don't do much for me...why not some mulch instead?

Marcus Design said...

I totally agree that mulch looks great, but since 'low-maintenance' was one of our top priorities, we were advised to use the river-rocks. It has been only 1 year, but there is literally no maintenance...it's awesome!! My parents have mulch at there home, but they professional gardners once a month!!!
Nancy

Lisa said...

Your new front yard looks great! So much neater and cleaner and of course, easier to maintain. I hate weeding but hate the weeds so I too put heavy black liner and river rock and mulch to eliminate it as much as possible. It does help to keep things looking their best.

Anonymous said...

I love it. It's beautiful. Your boxwoods look great. I've never had any success with them. Boohoo. I like your cheerleader. I do like the rocks. It gives it more color, and brightens things up.

The House Creative said...

I love how it looks. You gave it a nice change, and its not to much, very simple and clean for an entry. I have boxwoods outside my house too. We removed some large ugly and overgrown hedge trees and opened up the space a bit. Then we planted a boxwood hedge and it looks much better. Boxwoods have a clean look to them. Love it! I would love for you to stop by my Bring in the Spring party and link up. It goes all week!

Ann @ makethebestofthings said...

The after pics made me smile. Love the river rock and the colored curbing and the pom pom juniper...really nice improvements.

DesignTies said...

I love the river-bed look, Nancy! Mulch just isn't the best option for our rainy lower mainland days, especially if you're looking for low maintenance... you don't have to replace or top-up the rocks!! A really great transformation that looks fantastic! Good choice on your new front light, too... the original one was too small.
Victoria

theLENNOXX said...

I LOVE the river rocks! It looks so much cleaner and a lot more chic! The island in the middle of your lawn is such a great touch, it looks organized and clean. And your cheerleader is soooo pretty =)

Carolyn said...

Your home definitly has good curb appeal!

Carolyn

Allison Shops said...

Your planting beds look great! Dropping by from BNOTP, #7.

Allison

Lisa said...

Hey, Nancy I forgot to mention that I'm hosting a give away come on over to my blog to enter.

Karena said...

It is absolutely a beautiful transformation! Love it Nancy!

Karena
Art by Karena

The House Creative said...

So glad you joined the Spring party! Your yard is fabulous!

BubBLeS said...

Absolutely awesome transformation! :) Loving it! Question though.. how do you know what angle stones to get to get the curvature you want? (I'm looking to line my flowerbeds, too, and yours is definitely an inspiration!)

kpriss said...

(I realize I'm late for the party - but I just came across this and I'm ever so thankful!) Puuuuhleaaaase help me out with a few answers - we're trying to build our garden from zero too and so far we've only got as far as bringing in the big guns - the big trees (it's a rectangular yard, our backyard garden, with, so far, six firs and a young red oak. Plus two decorative bushes). We've been advised to build a mulch - zone around the trees but we don't know exactly how and we're pretty puzzled. How did you came with the oval idea? does it work for every rectangular shaped garden?

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