Renovating and decorating our new/old house, a cozy cape cod built in 1940. It won't happen overnight, so join me for the journey.
One day, my ants in his pants husband decided he wanted to use some of his new free time to cut the beds in the front yard for a bigger garden. Of course I thought he was crazy because our budget was a big zero! If the beds were in place, of course I would want to plant something. It turns out craigslist is a great place to find avid gardeners giving away their extra plants.
This is the way to the front door from the driveway. The previous owners wanted a very low maintenance yard so they used rocks instead of mulch or plants. Imagine rocks on both sides of the sidewalk and how much work it was to remove them.
Our first spring here we planted the Japanese maple tree and the ground cover next to the sidewalk. The river birch you see in the distance was next. Our house and yard has been a work in progress over the years. We have done so much work here and there and finally the front has a real garden.
This picture was taken the other day; it has already filled in quite a bit since last spring.
We inherited the stone border when we bought the house and kept it. It had a very narrow bed that ended just past the front steps. The whole thing was filled with a row of daylily and hosta plants that we removed and used in the back and side yard. The rest of them were sold on craigslist and given away to neighbors.
About eighty five percent of this garden was given to us for free or bought for next to nothing at neighborhood plant sales and craigslist.
We still have some empty spaces that we are just getting to this year. The pink azaleas under the tree were recently bought at Home Depot for ten dollars each.
The exterior of Sixty-Fifth Avenue needs a complete makeover...the plan is to have it done next spring. I'm ready for the outside to match the inside.
Sharing with diy day the thrifty home
I think the front of your house looks fantastic! We're learning a lot about landscaping right now... I think it takes a little time, but we've been getting quite a few compliments on the little work we've done to spruce up our front yard so far!
ReplyDeletewhat a great way to recycle and meet neighbors! my mom gives me all of her plants that need separating and our yard looks all the better for it and our pocket a little fuller. i am so glad to hear you and your husband had such a great summer despite hard financial times. just goes to show that it is not what you have, but what you do with the resources you do have, and the love you share.
ReplyDelete.... WHAAAAAAT?
ReplyDeletewho would've thot!
THis is just beautiful and gorgeous!!! I love it...and to imagine to find things off of Craig's List is great...I would have never thought:)
ReplyDeleteThe yard looks so pretty. You are right about people giving away plants...I just never remember to ask. :)
ReplyDeleteYour yard looks fantastic! Landscaping is something that intimidates me but I've been shown time and time again that it can be done cheaply and look beautiful. I'm going to keep an eye out for deals on CL for sure!
ReplyDeleteIt looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty and lush. Anyday now, our flowers and grass are going to be wilting from the Arizona heat. Not good.
ReplyDeleteWow! So beautiful! :)
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
ReplyDeleteHow pretty! I live in the land of complete rock yards (not just the beds, but the whole yard; in fact, it's illegal to put grass in the front yards of new homes here).
ReplyDeleteSo, as you can imagine, there aren't too many people getting rid of plants on Craig's list, unless you want palms (scorpions included for no extra charge ;)).
Garage salesare rare around here; a plant sale woud be AWESOME! I've thought about doing one of those myself, but I don't know if I would have many buyers.
Another idea for flowers to fill in the beds is to buy seeds in bulk from a place like Wildflower Farms. I have thousands of Johnny jump-umps from a small amount of seeds that I ordered through them.
I love your urns; they are so beautiful!
Your garden is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this! And definitely can use some of these ideas for our own front flower bed which is totally plain jane right now.
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous! I love the ground cover and all of the varieties you've planted. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteIt's gorgeous! I LOVE!
ReplyDeleteWow, looks great!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful job. I love flowers by the front door. Yours look amazing.
ReplyDeleteLovely lovely!! I lvoe how everything ties together and looks so nice!
ReplyDeleteLovely landscaping!
ReplyDeletehi london,
ReplyDeletewhat a great make-over. i love japanese maples. was that free also? they are very expensive here in california. everything looks amazing. i love those pink azaleas too. and i love the urn on your porch. the best part is that you did this on a zero budget. yippeee!
~janet
Thanks Janet,
ReplyDeleteThe trees were planted the first spring and fall after we moved in. We planted six total, front and back.
Everything has been done in stages inside and outside. We have been working on the front yard over the years, but not until last spring were we ready to plant the garden.
Londen
That looks gorgeous and on such a cheap budget. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI seriously don't think I use craigslist enough. I need some plants. And huge planters. I could also use some outdoor furniture. I just know craigslist would be a good source...I gotta get on that!
ReplyDeleteThe yard looks gorgeous! You guys did such a great job! I had NO IDEA that you could get plants on craigslist, that actually makes great sense! Good for you, and thanks for passing along the tip!
ReplyDeleteSo pretty! In the second picture, there is a bright green, low growing plant to the far left. Do you happen to know what that is? I would love to know!
ReplyDeleteEverything you do is so lovely. If this was my welcome home every day, I would be like, "tee hee hee!" Just beautiful. Can't wait to see what you do next. xoxo
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled across this wonderful blog! what a great idea craigslist huh? love it! have a fabulous day!
ReplyDeleteluvs and glitter
~jen
Did you husband start a gardening career? I think he should.
ReplyDeleteDo you need any hostas?
pve
thanks for following me!!!
ReplyDeletepve
Good Morning! I gave you an award. Check back to Webster's Updates :)
ReplyDeleteOoh, I adore your front porch urn!!
ReplyDeleteGiveaway by Beth Cosner Design is up on my site....come visit!
Karena
Art by Karena
Absolutely gorgeous! Really a wonderful design sense. I am soooo impressed!
ReplyDeleteit looks FAB!
ReplyDeletelandscaping is no easy task. everything is filling in so nicely.
i must check out craigslist for plants. great tip!
Your beds are filling in beautifully! Nice choice of plants. It's going to look terrific this summer.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your yard. Really. I am unemployed, the second time in eight months since we moved from MO to TX, and it has been very hard on us. Harder still for me since we just moved into a house (renting it) a month after this bout of unemployment began and I was so excited to have a yard and to get to plant and landscape. I would love for our front yard to look so great! How many of the plants in those pics, or what percentage, came from CL ads? I never thought of looking on CL for plants! Now to afford a $5 shovel! (Yes, we are indeed that poor right now, thanks to my unemployment).
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of bush-type plants are those in the "corner" garden(s) in your pics? Do they require hedge trimming, random pruning, or do they maintain themselves? I like how they fill out the garden space. The yard really does look lovely.