Front Yard Progress

Oh yes!! We are makin' some real progress!

I decided it was time to landscape the front area. 

Here are a few pictures from way back - I love to compare and see how far we've come!

Wow! The house was practically sinking down into the ground. We removed so much dirt from the front yard.

Here you can see the new porch and much lower yard. We also installed a french drain.

The crawl space has gotten wet a few times and so we haven't wanted to do much landscaping for fear of directing the rain water right under the house.

But I have hated to leave it so bare. 

Here's how it looked last summer.

White paint on the band boards made a huge difference, and I even experimented with filling in the gaps under the porch with stones. I loved how it looked, but it wasn't sturdy and we didn't want to completely close off underneath the porch.

( We did install lattice as you'll see.)

I decided to "very carefully" make some flower bed borders. The plan was not to change the height or slope of the area.

My husband really wasn't too happy with me messing with it and decided to pull out the big equipment.

First, the area was tilled.

(Isn't that one cute little tractor?)

Next, more dirt was removed to make a low area for the water to drain away from the house.

I get excited whenever I realize that something big is happening!

We spent a lot of time smoothing dirt.

You know the children's song, "Don't build your house on sandy land, don't build it too near the shore...) I would also add, " Don't build it on right on top of the dirt either! 

Here is how our front yard is looking right now,

out the front door to the left,

and to the right,

the area above has seen the most improvement, with lattice and now, the prospect of flowers!

I really want to plant a border of hydrangeas - I need advice to help me decide! Like, which kind, and will I be happy with only one type of plant. (when they're done blooming that's it.)

On around to the side of the house,

I would like to make a screen to hide the heat pump.

This side gets the most sun - I've already bought two knockout rose bushes and I have peonies to transplant.

If the grass will grow, and the flowers will bloom, by next year this time it should be even better!

This is so much fun - I love the progress!

The sweet peas on the left are dated 1933, I'm excited to see if they will do anything!

And the sugar snap peas are from my niece - I can hardly wait!