During the month of July, I will be posting a before and after series with a variety of home projects I know you will find useful. Today's post contains ideas for front yard landscaping you can complete yourself! Or, if you'd rather hire someone, do it! Just make sure you trust them. More on that later!
I will show lots of before, during, and after photos that I hope will inspire you with your landscaping projects.
Get more ideas for outdoor spaces.
Curb appeal can make all the difference in leaving a good impression on guests you invite to your home. Unfortunately, we got busy with life and let our front landscaping get a bit out of hand. It was definitely not a look we were happy with!
BEFORE:
The crabapple tree on the far right was dying. It's difficult to see just how bad it was looking in the above photo. At one point it was full and beautiful, but those days were over.
In the photo below, you see a close up of the Alberta Spruce (right by the steps) that was dying. The bamboo shrubs in front of the boxwoods were looking pretty bad as well. It was time for some updating!
ANOTHER BEFORE:
Take a peek at those blue doors. They were Black Fox by Sherwin Williams a few weeks ago. On a whim, I painted them Naval. I'm not loving them. I'm still deciding what color to use, but I'm definitely planning on changing them. You can weigh in on my Facebook poll. My thought is going back to Black Fox or possibly Drizzle by Sherwin Williams. I'd love your opinion!
Initially, we were just going to hire someone to do all of the work for us. This did not go well. The company we used overcharged us for work that was less than optimal. We definitely needed help getting the trees pulled up due to their deep root system, but the rest was all feasible to do ourselves. As you will see, we eventually did!
DURING PHOTOS AFTER TREES WERE TAKEN OUT:
You can also see different plants I had just stuck into this area through the years. There were mums and hostas that didn't look right in the space. I was able to transplant the hostas to some shaded spaces in my back yard.
Of course in the above photo, I have paint brushes drying on the porch! Always some project going on here. My dog, Bentley was excited to find his ball that was lost under the boxwoods months ago.
As I mentioned before, we hired someone to put in plants for us. That did not go as we had imagined. This is the AFTER the landscaping company gave us:
Ummm, not exactly the "after" impact we were hoping for. The plants they used were dianthus, which I love. But, this look was not working for me! So, I finished the project myself and the following photos are my after!
FRONT YARD LANDSCAPING AFTER:
I used Veronica Perennials, daylilies, a hydrangea, and Bronze Leaf Red Begonias. The begonias were the only annual I planted as I want this to be fairly low maintenance in years to come. I added black mulch and more rock as well.
The dianthus were moved to a different location:
It's so much better than when we started. We had a few hiccups along the way, but the extra work was worth the end result.
Have you completed any landscaping projects lately? I'd love to hear about them! I hope you got some great ideas for your front yard landscaping today.
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Kimberly @ Berly's Kitchen says
The after photos look great! A little landscaping goes a long way. Love the little pops of color against the green. 🙂
[email protected] says
Thank you, Kimberly! It was long overdue!
Eryn says
I can't believe that's what the landscape company left you with! You after is a thousand times better! I love the whole look and feel the same with planting as many perennials as possible! Annuals are lovely but I am all about low maintenance!
[email protected] says
Thanks, Eryn! It's definitely an improvement. Hopefully next year will be an easier year!
[email protected] says
I like the black mulch! It makes such a statement. This looks lovely to get to come home too!
[email protected] says
Thank you, Kim! I'm glad it's finished!
Jillynn says
It looks great now!!!! So clean and crisp!!! Our landscape is all perennials and I love it!!! The only annuals I can keep up with are the vegetables in the garden:-) hahaha. Looks amazing and clean! Now I have the urge to go trim all my shrubs and bushes!!!
Jillynn
[email protected] says
Thanks, Jillynn! I agree that perennials are the way to go, I just couldn't resist the begonias! BTW, I think a new baby warrants not trimming shrubs and bushes...they'll still be there next year!
Kristal says
Wow, it looks great! Landscaping really does make so much of a difference. Thanks for sharing thebtupes of flowers you used as well! Picking out flowers and plants can be so intimidating for me. Having a picture to go with the name helps so much.
[email protected] says
Thanks, Kristal! I appreciate your feedback...I agree, a visual with a name is very helpful for me too!
Erin says
Beautiful after shots. I love the border grass and the touches of purple. I just moved and my yard is in desperate need of attention, but I have to get the inside up to par first 🙂
[email protected] says
Thanks, Erin! I appreciate you stopping by my blog! I agree with you...if it were me, I'd focus on the inside stuff first. Enjoy your new home!
Jessica Bradshaw says
That looks so good! We are about to try to replace all of our mulch with gravel and add a couple of different plants.
[email protected] says
Thanks, Jessica! I'm so glad to have the rock in portions of the landscape now. It will cut down on work in the future replacing some of the mulch. Good luck with your project!
Debbie Savage says
Oh, my goodness! I am so impressed! Will you help me design my backyard! Your home is so lovely and you are truly talented! I have no green thumb!
xo Debbie | http://www.tothineownstylebetrue.com
[email protected] says
How sweet of you, Debbie! I actually don't have a green thumb either...I just read up on what works well in my zone! Thanks for your kinds words! April
Amanda says
Looks beautiful! Your after...much better than other company. Stinks that didn't work out for you. Some great inspiration.
[email protected] says
Thank you, Amanda! I wish we would have done it ourselves from the get-go, but lesson learned. Thanks for visiting my blog!
Stephanie Lane says
We are getting ready to move so this is great inspiration....
[email protected] says
Thanks, Stephanie! Good luck with your move!