Curb Appeal Chronicles: Part 1

When our family bought our house 15 months ago, it was a foreclosure and had been vacant for 6 months.

The yard was in sad shape. The bushes were overgrown. Weeds had overtaken the yard. The grass (which our neighbors said had been knee-high the summer before we moved in) had lots of bare spots. 

April 2012

Tal and I have a 3-5 year plan to transform our front and back yard from "eye sore" to "eye candy." This spring and summer, we're concentrating on the front yard only and targeting areas that will give us the "biggest bang for our buck."

With our $600 budget, here's our to-do list: 

• Remove the 7 shrubs in the large flower bed to the left of our front door.
• Remove 2 shrubs to the right of our front door.
• In the large flower bed, plant bushes in an "L" shape (next to the garage and in front of our dining room).
• Plant a flowering tree or bush (6-8 ft. tall) in the center of the large flower bed.
• In front of the flowering tree, plant some annnuals or low grasses. (TBD)
• In front of our arching front door, plant a tall bush (6-8 ft tall) on each side.
• Lay mulch in the front yard.
• If our budget allows, fill 2 large pots with colorful flowers and place on each side of our front steps.

Last Saturday, Tal and I put our plan into action. Here's what our front yard looked liked on Saturday (and for the last 15 months):

Before:

Before:

(a close-up of our 21x18 flower bed)

After

First, Tal pulled out the 7 overgrown bushes below:

Then, Tal removed the top layer of weeds, roots, and leaves:

Savannah and I scooped up the piles of debris and

dumped them in the back of Tal's truck:

Savannah was a good helper!

Take a look at Savannah filling her shovel with dirt

and dumping it in Tal's truck:

When we were done, the three of us went to the yard waste landfill (where yard waste is converted to mulch) and dumped everything from the back of Tal's truck:

In the coming weeks, our goal is to plant shrubs, flowers, and a tree, as well as lay some mulch. Stay tuned!