LET THERE BE limeLIGHT!

Continuing where we left off in the front yard - Easton and I hopped in the car and headed to my favorite nursery - Bates Nursery. If you live in Nashville and need some plants, I highly recommend them. I also recommend getting on their email newsletter. Good stuff, I tell ya!

After much research and discussion, I ended up selecting 6 Limelight Hydrangeas. Hydrangeas are by far, my favorite flower but some of the varieties can be on the finicky side. Limelights aren't. They are drought resistant and suitable in full sun and don't require a lot of upkeep. They bloom from June - August and produce 12"-15" blooms that start out lime green, then turn white, then finally a pink in the fall (regardless of the soil's pH balance). They can grow up 6-8 feet tall and just as wide so they should fill in the space nicely.


But before I could fill our fence line with these beauties, we first had to remove the base of the weed trees. And by we, I mean mainly Branch (my husband is a saint, in case you weren't already aware). We started removing them the old fashioned way. We would soak the ground, and then go at the bases with a shovel. I had seen online that the easiest way to remove a shrub is using a chain around the trunk and pulling it out with your truck. The problem was that there was a picket fence in the way. Well, what do you know, after Branch had removed 5 of the 7 shrubs, he leaned against that old picket fence and half of the panel popped off. So being the smart Howard's that we are, we removed the entire panel of fencing (all the pickets stayed attached). This allowed us to pull out the last two shrubs, which also happened to be the largest. Victory!

One of three loads we took to the composting facility

With all the shrubs out of the way, it was my turn to take over. I dug all the holes and planted all the hydrangeas. We were making progress! Next up - mulch! The place where we took all the shrubs to be composted sells mulch by the truckload. And for only $21.50 we got all. this. mulch.



Which then I spread it. All. by. my. self. 

I'm pretty proud of myself, y'all. It was hard work. It took me five days. While baby bear was napping. Which is in the afternoon. In July. In Tennessee. #iamwoman

So now, we have some beautiful after pictures. Are you ready for them? Because I sure am!

In case you forgot, here's what we started with:


And here's what we have now!


Before:

After!

Before...

After!

I also added mulch to our side yard, which previously looked like this:


And now looks like this:
What a difference fresh mulch makes!

The hydrangeas should fill in a little more by the end of the season but really branch out next summer. I can't wait until I have vases full of blooms! We'll also be adding grass seed in the spring to fill in the patchy areas. Not only do we think it looks awesome but our neighbors are super pleased. We went from being the ugliest house on the block to at least top third! ;)

I also added some fun accessories and hanging baskets to the porch to spruce it up since it's so much more visible now.



Now that the outside is done, I've shifted my attention to the long awaited nursery projects. More to come on that soon!

Love y'all!

Comments

  1. WOW, it looks so much better! Good job! I love hyrdrangeas too; they will only look better and better as they grow and fill in that space. I know you were tired after unloading all the mulch...

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