Let the Challenge Begin!

In a previous post I shared pictures of our “wild” garden taken last year after we purchased the house.
After many hours of clipping, digging, pulling, and planting, we have managed to turn our wild garden into something beautiful!

Early Spring: 2015

This was taken in April after trimming away the extra growth and taking out the evergreen shrubs under the porch windows. I planted white hydrangeas under the porch window.  Yes, those are the two tiny green stubs under the windows.

Before Picture: April 2015

Pretty plain…

After Picture: August 2015

Voila!! And now there is color! I’m amazed at how nicely it turned out. Zinnias (shorter mixed colors) are great bloomers and will keep your garden bright all summer if you deadhead the spent flowers. It’s October and they are still blooming profusely.

We pulled all the day lilies in the left corner and planted a little vegetable garden.

Recycle Tip – Put old bricks to work! The imperfections add to the vintage charm!

We found a stack of old bricks behind the garage from the former chimney. We decided to re-purpose them into a little footpath to the garden hose.

Turning Trash into Treasure: There is no shame in shopping the curbs for vintage pieces.

Derek found these old rocking chairs on the curb while walking the dog one day. Knowing that I would love them, he carried them all the way home for me because they wouldn’t fit in his car. Man what the neighbors must have thought after seeing him walk down the street with a couple of old rockers in each hand.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to use unconventional containers in your garden, they add interest and whimsical charm. Every time I see this little yellow sauce pan, it makes me smile. 🙂

An old ladder makes an awesome plant stand. I added whimsical birdhouses and used a variety of planters to keep it interesting. My sister, a creative flower genius, helped me put together the fun planter combinations.

The back porch is filled with fruit box planters to give it that farmhouse vibe.

I love how the purple pops against the chartreuse.

This red, white, and blue basket kept the patriotic theme going all summer long.

Tip: Hide imperfections with summer planters. They distract from the rotting stairs and provide visual interest to the front porch.

While the front yard did not get a major transformation this year, it still received much needed maintenance.