Sunday, April 4, 2010

Garden Trek Series - Episode 3


People, when you are trying to sell your house, PUHLEASE, do something with its curb appeal.  In this stale housing market that might just be the little thing that sets your home apart from the other gazillion homes out there going for a bargain.  When we were looking for ours, Steve had to twist my arm to get me to look at this one.  I could hardly get past this...





And these pictures were taken after I moved in and had the rosebushes trimmed and dead azaleas removed, and planted some pansies so I wouldn't be too embarassed when my family visited at Christmas.  I don't think these people ever ran their sprinkler system.  And if they did, it was set for everyday for 8 minutes per station.  My understanding is that you don't water everyday, but only when rainfall is less then 1 inch in a week.  Either way... everything was looking pretty dry, dead, and depressing.

Here is what we did with the front bed.  It may not look like much, but just wait until the end of the growing season.  A little time will do wonders to this bed...
    notice the arbovitae that was moved to the left of the courtyard, anchoring that side of the house

  • Removed an arbovitae from the corner of the garage and replaced it with sweet olive (Osmanthus Fragrans) so that we could enjoy the fragrance when in bloom as you approach the house and balance out the landscape because of the other plant introductions
  • Removed the big Sago Palm that was just sitting there smack in the middle of the flower bed and planted it in the back. 
  • Added two gorgeous Blue Star Junipers flanking the window.  I would have preferred to have had them closer to the house, but there were some pipes right where I wanted them planted
  • We added three layers of bushes:  Mock Orange dwarf in front of the window, Loropetalum, and Sunrise Winter Creeper

  • Divided all of the summer blooming bulbs/rizhomes and added some pretty grasslike blomming flowers which I have no idea what they are called
  • Planted a beautiful cone shaped holly tree at the right corner of the house
  • Extended the flower bed on the side of the house all the way to the gate, where we planted some regular Mock Orange, Creeping fig to grow up the wall and some fox tails for a change in texture.
Underneath the small window there is a palm tree that we are waiting to see if it died in the freeze
In the late Summer I will post some of these same areas so we can see how much it has filled in.  Also, I have to pick out my summer flowers and am thinking about using deep pink/purples...  Maybe the fuschia pink periwinkles, or petunias, or just load up on verbenas and sprinkle a few burgundy coleus with the chartreuse edge here and there.  What do you all think?  We are also thinking about painting all of the shutters black.  These seem to disappear.  I hated them when I first looked at the house... but now that we have a few plants growing around them, I have grown accustomed to them.  We'll see.

This is not my home, but I love how they painted the trim on the doors/windows black.  I will be doing that too to my courtyard's windows. Don't know where I got this picture, sorry.


This post is linked to Metamorphosis Monday

This upcoming week should be interesting at the Shiny Pebble. I will be writing a guest post at Housewife Bliss and Amanda from AB Home Interiors will be hippifying my dining room.  I have also recieved an award from Christina at Greige  and will be sharing some little things about myself later in the week.  Meanwhile, stop by her fabulous shop, My Sparrow.  I have placed a link to the right.  Also, I'll have an update on the Chanel Nail Polish Sweepstakes.  There is still time to enter you chance to win.  So check back and join in on the fun. 


24 comments:

Unknown said...

beautiful home!

I like your blog, I'm a new follower. Please check out my blog as well (and follow you like .. i hope you do)

www.the-blisslist.blogspot.com

Allison Shops said...

Looks great. We worked in the yard today and will be making more changes soon. Never ends, but it is enjoyable.

Be sure to stop by AtticMag this week for a Giveaway!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful home you have. You're right, curb appeal is very important. Your landscaping all looks so nice.
be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

carissa said...

wow - you've done some gigantic improvements... it all looks amazing. no, more like spectacular! i adore the junipers!

Porchlight Interiors said...

Such a big improvement! You have a lovely home! Tracey xx

ForeistCage said...

you have beautiful house!lovelove..:DD

http://foreistcage.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

To say you have a green thumb is an understatement! You are a gardening whiz...can't wait to see your dining room!

The Shiny Pebble said...

Hi y'all. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.

The Zhush - Not a whiz, I just can't bare to stare at dead plants. hehehehh

ForeistCage - Thanks. I'd love to find out who designed your blog header. It is soooo cute and cool.

Porchlight - Thanks for stopping by

Carissa - they are my favorite too

Allison Shops - cool gig you got there. I am keeping my fingers crossed

Jonesy - I did ck it out and it is fun. You are very creative.

OneCraftyFox said...

Oh, I can't wait for the day when I have a grand home and a lush garden! Right now I'm in a condo townhouse with a private patio, but the area where it is situated is communal so there really is no privacy.

Hope you had a great long weekend. I'm hosting another giveaway, please come join if you have the chance :)

Marija said...

OH I really am not good at this outdoors stuff - you've done great work so far!

Bunch of things: Loved your interview - so fun to get to know more about you. From your little pic that pops up with your comments, I would say that you do like like Ashley Judd! Yay to measuring extravagances in calories not currency! You lost me with the last paragraph but I loved your list nonetheless :)

Marija

Coryanne Ettiene | Kitchen Living with Coryanne said...

it is looking stunning, you must be so pleased!

The Shiny Pebble said...

OneCraftyFox - for every thing there is a Season... sooner than you think things will change. I've lived everywhere from a one bedroom apt in Jersey to a large piece of land in TN. Enjoy where you are now and in the future you will remember your location with the fondest memories. Thank you so much for the compliments.

Marija - that last paragraph is quoting a bunch of the stuff that the preppy mafia writes about... I should have put some links there. :/

Housewife Bliss - Looking forward to posting at your blog this week. Hugs and Kisses

Sandra Wylie said...

Catherine - Your flower beds look great, can't wait to see them at the end of the season to see how they grow. I like your idea of painting the shutters also.

Sandra

Hope Chella said...

I love this! My boyfriend's family is in TX and his mother said that if she wins the lottery she wants to buy us a house down there with a sail boat in the backyard. The reason my man is in RI is for the ocean and sailboats which Dallas doesn't have (and now me!)

Anyway, I got you an award on my blog:
http://hopechella.blogspot.com/2010/04/youre-going-places-baby_1246.html

Happy Monday xx

The Shiny Pebble said...

Sandra... I'm thinking that will probably be happening really soon.

Hope Chella - Steve's whole family loves to sail. As soon as the little one is big enough we'll hopefully get us a sail boat to sail away on... Cant' wait to see the award. Thanks in advance, girl!

Mary Ann said...

i checked out your blog, and it is lovely! i sure enjoyed reading your entries. thanks! maryann

Mary Ann said...

not sure if my first comments made it through...your blog is lovely..can't wait to see your work in your home, you have a great style! maryann

Pemberley said...

Just got to FLA and the first thing I did was check to see if I had internet access and my first stop was your site. Garden look great and I lve to porch! Funny, we drive the same car, the same color.

Karena said...

Catherine you are turning it into a lush beauty!!

Karena
Art by Karena

The Shiny Pebble said...

Verbena Cottage - Thanks for stopping by. I took a peek at your blog and loved the layout and banner... I'll be back to look furhter.

Pemberley - how sweet of you. You know what they say about great minds...

Karena - Thank you... Let's just hope that they all make it through the hurricane season. Also, your fantastic giveaway looks like is going to be a huge success. I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Kellie Collis said...

Your home is looking just lovely - as is your garden! xx

Donald's Garden said...

Catherine,

Looks great! ! ! Keep going! :)

I've never regretted transforming most of my Saint Augustine grass into flower beds. Less watering, less work, more beauty! I read a cute little book titled 'Mrs. Green Thumbs Plows Ahead' a few years ago. The author talks about how most Americans have adopted landscapes unsuited for the typical American house. Which is the a large green lawn with a couple of trees. She believed the cottage style made more sense. I couldn't agree more! I'm happy that more and more people are planting flower beds in their front yards. Our tastes are changing because of it. What once looked odd to us is starting to look right.

btw- I've spent the last two days pulling weeds from my grass paths - ugh! "What about weeds in the flower beds," you ask? Not a problem! The beds are well mulched.

The Shiny Pebble said...

Kellie - thanks, you are so sweet.

Donald - great info, I might quote you on a future post.

Christina @ greige said...

It looks great! I love the black or a dark color for the shutters it has made such an impact on our house to make that simple change.

Best,
Christina

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