September 13, 2011

It's a jungle out there part 1

So remember yesterday when we talked about the excited, happy, good looking newlywed couple?


Yup, there they are! Well did anyone happen to notice the jungle around them?? I mean even looking back now I don't remember the front garden looking so wild but here is the evidence.

Before I even get too deep into this post I should mention that I never really had any experience with gardening before we moved in. I had plants in apartments and places we stayed but never a garden that was all my own. Talk about pressure...

One of the first things Tim and I did to the front was remove the Humongous hasta plants that were in the small section of our garden. We felt like they were suffocating that smaller space. I had a strong impulse to rip everything out at that moment but my voice of reason (my hubby) convinced me to wait. He was right too. By the time we moved in it was getting pretty chilly so we decided we would wait until the spring to see what came up and surprised us.

Winter came and went....


And we were excited to see what would spring up. But I wasn't ready for all of this.



It was too much for me. I was starting to wish that I ripped everything out in the fall but if I did that I would have missed out on these gorgeous flowers:


Aren't they pretty? I have no idea what they are but I am glad I didn't rip them out. After spring was in full swing though I realized there were some ground covering and weeds that I didn't want so I went to work. First we planted these gorgeous blue and purple plants and cleared away the weeds. It started to look better already. 


These were working out great. The area looked more open and yet still full of flowers. This did not come easy. It took me hours and hours to do all the weeding, pruning, digging and planting that by the time I wanted to work on the jungle up the walk way I was wiped out...But I wasn't too tired to check out my neighbors yards for some inspiration and tips.



This neighbors garden had elements that I really enjoyed. I liked the idea of having small bushes that would remain relatively healthy looking all year round. I also wanted to plant perennials in between. The last point I liked about this garden was that it had some sort of pattern to it. The rest of my garden may be random but I like that idea of a pattern up the walkway to lead to the front door.

With all these ideas in mind I got to work on looking for plants that would be part sun (since I have a shady lot), perennial and smaller in size (to avoid the jungle affect).

I will talk more about the steps I took to finding the right plants tomorrow and explain why I am now in love with Home Depots garden center.

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