Landscaping Remodel

If you couldn't tell from all my previous posts, my house is in a constant state of remodel or repair, or both. The repairs aren't fun to devote posts to, so let's talk about the good stuff! We recently decided that our exterior needed some sprucing up.  I'm not gonna lie; my neighborhood lends itself to giving you a "keeping up with the Joneses" complex.  We were lucky to be able to buy into this area last year when prices were lower, and we found a house that needed work, so we got a good deal.  Little by little, we've been trying to bring the house up to a respectable level on par with other homes in the neighborhood. It's not that I'm jealous of other people's homes nearby; it's more of a realization I've had that my house is a huge investment and I need to take pride in it and give it the money and attention it deserves (to protect that investment).

There were areas of our yard that were missing sod and would turn into mud pits after it rained.  Our trees were very overgrown because they hadn't been trimmed since who knows when.  The flowerbeds around our big front trees were really just dirtbeds.  And, in the front of the house where there is a wide expanse of brick, the previous owners had left a huge flower pot with dead ivy in it.  The exterior just looked tired and unkempt.  Here's what we did:

First up was getting the trees trimmed.  We used our weekly lawn maintenance guy for this part.  David, the owner of DFW Area Lawn Care, is very communicative, reasonably priced, and has always done a good job for us in the past. We saved a couple hundred bucks in this area by timing the work to occur the weekend before bulk trash pick up. That way, the guys could just leave the branches at our house instead of having to haul them off themselves. You just don't even realize how much there is to cut until you see it piled up in front of your house!

  

The same crew put down Weed 'n Feed throughout our yard and installed sod where we needed it.

  

All of these areas had been dirt for the past year, so I barely recognize them now!

We also got the guys to plant flowers around the two big trees in our front yard.  It really is a nice finishing touch and gives it a polished look.

The rest of the work done was accomplished by ourselves. We removed the flower pot and dead vine from the front of the house and replaced it with a charming fountain.

The owners had left a large pot behind, with nothing in it, so I picked out some pretty flowers to fill it with and placed it on our front porch:

Lastly, there was an area in front of our fence that already had a couple of established plants in it, surrounded by dirt, so we opted not to sod it and instead turned it into a flowerbed.  We added a couple more grasses and mulch.

Overall, I am thrilled with how everything has turned out.  I feel a lot of pride when I pull up to my house now, and I think the cost was justified.  Here's the breakdown of what we spent:

Tree trimming, sod, and flowers surrounding trees: $1,950

Flowers for front porch, grasses, and mulch: $65

Fountain: $200