Our efforts to get the yard looking decent stem primarily from these two thoughts:
- planting small now = more time for plants to grow (smaller plants = less $$)
- we are hosting an outdoor wedding for my sister in 22 days
And because we are frugal we looked high and low for the cheapest solution for our front yard’s center bed only to find it buried right in the back yard. You may remember where we left off…. we had just transferred some plants from a different area into the bed (aka free plants)…
And pinestrawed the rest…
Well, now it looks like this:
Yup – we found some large rocks back in the woods and our dear neighbor Larry (who actually built his entire house himself) had this orange machinery to pick them up and put them in place.
I think I may just start calling him Ahhnnold. Get it – like the terminator? the strong guy with the machine? and you know, just because I can.
I must admit I am a moth to a flame when it comes to any kind of big truck/tractor/tow truck/large wheeled machine…it is not the only thing that makes me an 8 year old boy either.
Since two of the rocks didn’t fit in the bucket, they chained them up.
I was the ever helpful photographer/water girl. important stuff.
I also was the one who got to decide where the rocks went…as in I said “in the middle of the bed sortof naturally like”…great plan, huh?
These were the three largest that we could find that were close to the path and I like the simpleness of the look…especially since our house has stacked stones – so it ties together.
There you have it – lots of words about rocks.
The exterior has come a long way…
And of course, just like our azalea post, this one was sponsored by the woods…as in, it was free. Gotta love that price tag. It totally rocks. You saw that one coming, didn’t you?!
Kristen says
Wow! I really like those rocks! They look great in that space and how awesome that you found them in your own yard!
Ashley L says
Looks awesome, Katie!
Ashley says
Katie Bower–I love you and your free stuff. Seriously–that looks awesome! I mean, it totally rocks 🙂
Amanda M. says
Gorgeous! We have outlined all of our flower beds by getting rocks from the creek and woods behind our house. People pay big buck to by rocks, and landscape posts… and we did all that for free!
Melissa @ AlmostFitChick says
I love this idea! We have a ton of pond rocks that we have left over from when we tore up our pond. We definitely won’t need a big orange machine to move them, but now I’m thinking they’ll look great in the front yard!!
Thanks for the great idea!
John@OurHomeFromScratch says
Those rocks look perfect. I have to get me one of those tractors!
Sherri says
Wow! What a difference between the before & after pictures.You are making more progress each day on making your house a beautiful,warm, & cozy home. Each space is taking on its own charm. Neighbor Larry deserves a batch of brownies or something. You can see how massive & heavy those suckers are!… May the Lord shine down upon all of you even more brightly on the day of the wedding & provide blessings in abundance.
elaine says
Hi Katie! Those rocks look fantastic! Great job as always.
I also wanted to let you know I featured you today over on my blog (big fan). Thanks for the continued inspiration and wonderful blog.
jessica says
WOW! That looks great! Way to go AND it was free! Nice work
Cait @ Hernando House says
Love it! It does totally rock! haha Gotta use what you got, especially when you have such generous, woodsy sponsors 😉
Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says
I really like the way the rocks look out front. It sort of ties in with the facade of your house. Seriously – this looks like a totally different house from when you moved in! Good luck with wedding prep!
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
Big trucks/tractors make my little heart go pitter-patter, too. Guess that’s just the country girl in me. Or the engineer. Go figure.
I love the rocks! Something pretty and viney would look good growing on them and from my personal experience, viney things are generally hard to kill. 🙂
Melissa @ A Place to Nest says
Rock-tac-cular. Lame I know. I am in ready for the weekend excitement mode and bit slap happy. Great job!
Vica says
I love watching machines too. We stood in our front yard for 2 hours a couple weeks ago watching the tree guys remove a huge fallen branch.
Love the rocks and how you make something awesome out of what you already have.
Monica says
It looks great Katie. I love how the colors in the rocks pull out the colors in the rock on the house. Have a great weekend!
shannon says
your sister and i have twin wedding dates! FUN! from a fellow bride-to-be, i hope her wedding day is perfect and everything goes wonderful.
also – i just love your posts about updating the outside of your house. i feel like so much progress has been made and y’all are doing a fantastic job!
happy weekend 🙂
Lindsay @ Lindsay's List says
22 days!! Eeek! So exciting! Is everything ready on her end? Because it looks awesome on yours!
Mary@TheGoodLife says
Those rocks look amazing. Great job. 22 days! Yikes! Its gonna be great.
Em says
Reasons why I love Bower Power (aka Ode to this blog, inspired by a simple post about rocks):
-Your posts aren’t too wordy
-You don’t over explain
-You don’t word everything to be totally politically correct
-You’re frugal where it makes sense to be but you also spend money where it makes sense to spend it
-You somehow make a post about ROCKS entertaining!!! 🙂
Just thought you should know 🙂 Keep up the great work!
candace @ thecandace.com says
The house looks beautiful – it’ll be such a wonderful place to host your sister’s wedding! Great job!
KRISTEN says
Wow! That looks great. People pay BIG bucks to have rocks in their yard in Texas.
Katie H. says
I must say that your house is GORGEOUS! I love the red door too, but I definitely like the rocks and bushes in the front. It looks so good without obstructing the view of the house. That’s awesome that you have such a nice neighbor!
Jordan G @ The Happy Homebodies says
I love the rocks! We went to this rock supply store to get some for our backyard. I got a little overzealous picking out my mini-boulders and somehow bent my wedding ring and engagement ring! Hubby was not pleased.
We used the rocks to soften the hard lines of our patio. Let me just say that I was fully sick of rocks after wheel-barrowing those around for awhile.
http://www.thehappyhomebodies.com/2011/05/patio-phase-2.html\
PS. I love your sense of humor and your blog totally cracks me up!
Suzanne says
Hey KT! Can I call you that? We call my little cousin that, she giggles. Anyways I have been reading yours and Sherry’s blog for a while now and after you both posted about ORBing I simply HAD to try it for myself. I must say it was love at first ORB. And you can’t beat it for $7.28.
Love ya!
Suzanne
P.S. LOVE those rocks girl.
P.P.S Have you hung curtains in the other rooms yet?
I wrote about ORBing here:
http://annapolitanliving.blogspot.com/2011/09/hurricane-irene-marathon-diy-fun.html
Rachel @ Common to Moms says
So… the wedding is at your house… is it outside? Is the reception in your basement since you have tons of space down there? Just wondering about the details (though I’m sure you will get to them 🙂 )…
Love the rocks and- you are so right- that front yard has come a LONG way!
rae says
haha, you crack me up! you’re so lucky you have natural resources…tap that!
RachelSD says
Wow!! Your exterior really has come a long way and those rocks really make a HUGE difference. Nice job making “free” look “professional.”
Julia says
looks great! the word “pinestraw” makes me homesick for GA–people don’t use it in MN. the rocks really go well with your house
Allie says
They look amazing! We have some rocks “naturally” placed in the landscaping bed in our front yard too. My boulders aren’t as big as yours (snort), but I love to strategically tuck pumpkins and potted mums in the nooks and crannies come fall. Great job and good luck with the rest of the wedding planning!
Sara says
Oh man, I really wanted rocks like that for our backyard we are landscaping right now! But we don’t have woods to dip them up for free from and landscaping places love to charge a pretty penny–booo. Plus, our backyard gate isn’t wide enough even to get a tiny backhoe thing through so we were screwed in that department. I think those rocks look fantastic there, very natural and laid back like–as though they’ve always been there!
Lakshmi says
awww Will looks so cute with his little belt and everything 🙂
Good job with the rock idea…looks nice!
Julie K. says
Wow, you have done a fantastic job! I have actually just been thinking how to change my own garden and the rocks are fabulous, I never even thought of using them, to be honest. A lovely idea, really, and I am sure the wedding will be amazing, too!
Veronica says
Kind of weird question, but what font did you use to write “exterior August 2011” on the photo of the rocks in front of your house? I love it!
Christine B says
Love the big rocks. We have a teeny winy creek next to our house with rocks in it and I have def. taken some out of their to thrown in our pathetic gardening bed. It kinda hides my lack of gardening skills. Perhapis I should just make one of those sand or rock Japansese gardens in our yard one day. . .
Kaytie @ GardenKitchenHome says
You’re making me want to get outside and do some work in the garden! Great inspiration!
Marci says
Neat rocks! Simple, but they add a great punch to the front yard.
karen says
awesome! do you know how much those would cost over here in the great land of toronto, canada?!?!?! your first born!
Kim S says
The front yard is looking good! Love the rocks, such an improvement!
Great job on blogging too, so fun to check in and see something new each day.
Jules says
Kate,
I LOVE the rocks! Can’t wait to come over and let Ethan play on them. 22 days huh? Wow, that’s quick. Call me if you need help! xoxo
Jules
Erika says
Okay, I am all about staying on a tight budget to run our household and to decorate this place- so I LOVE Cheap and Free!
And I LOVE that you guys are showing us that cheap and free can look gorgeous! I wish we had some big rocks like that to put up front in our yard. We transferred some plants out of a front bed at the end of last summer and still have not managed to come up with a solution for filling it this year. Wah-wuh…
I will just have to keep reading for more practical ideas. Can’t wait to see the wedding set up. Good luck!
Natalie says
Question/Favor:
I just booked a wedding for 2012 and I’d love your input on which lens{es} I should consider purchasing!
http://lovelylittlenest.blogspot.com/2011/09/lens-help.html
Thanks!
Natalie 🙂
Katie says
You know – I don’t shoot weddings so I am definitely not much help in this department. Eeek!
Good luck!
xo – kb
Kerry Rossow says
Holy gorgeous, batgirl! I love this! I have 4 sisters and we had such fun planning each others wedding and then baby showers!
Kerry at housetalkn.blogspot.com
Dara says
I love the rocks there, I can see it becoming the spot to take pictures with lil kiddos standing on them. Maybe even future prom pics! great job being resourceful. The woods can provide so much.