Digging in the Dirt

Jason and I learned many things from building our first home and would actually enjoy doing it again, now that we have that experience under our belt. One thing that we learned is to be present when the landscapers are putting in the sod and planting! Our sub-par, contracted, landscaping team, simply covered up large plots of dirt, concrete, old bottle caps and garbage with pinestraw (that's the southern equivalent to mulch) but not a plant in sight around the side and back of the house. Side note -we did really like how the front yard turned out though.

We've had good intentions of tackling the left over landscaping project for the past 2 years but haven't ever managed to get to it. It's like we've been busy or something! Well, spring break found us with a spare moment so I headed to Pike's Nurseries for some guidance. The heaven's apparently took pity on my serious lack of gardening skills and put a landscape architect in my direct path. Moments after I walked into the store, an employee approached me asking how he could help and yeah, he had no idea what he was getting into. I immediately confessed that I was a novice in the gardening world and then showed him the barren pictures of the outside of our home and told him that I need landscaping that was easy to care for. That angel then sat down with me and literally mapped out a landscaping plan, (including dimensions and directions) for our planting endeavor!

The side of the garage - Phase 1 before

The side of the garage - Phase 1 after

For those gardeners out there - We planted a Tea Olive at the front corner of the garage and the shrubs are Cleyeras. Truth be told, it wasn't nearly as complicated as I'd expected (once somebody told me what to buy, where to put them and how to plant them - hee-hee). But then again we started with the easiest part of the plan. The kids loved mixing the dirt and running through the sprinklers all day long. Not a bad way to spend the day together in my opinion (Jason and his back have another one I think). I'll post phase 2 this weekend. This is what we are starting with ...