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Edgy Mulch

OUR 2nd HOUSE

Whoa girl that mulch is edgy.  I hear that all the time these days 🙂

Okay….let’s hashtag this sucker.  #BORING

This is one of those INCREDIBLY dry and ho-hum landscaping posts that only interests my grandparents.  Hi Pappap!  So forgive me if your brain just explodes from boredom.  On the flip side…landscaping is one of those things that might not be easy or quick or interesting but it sure does help the look of your exterior.  I mean…you can paint all you want but if you have no plants or grass…and just a big open dirt pit of weeds…and you like it….I’m probably gonna consider you a weirdo.  #differentfolksdifferentstrokesbutyouareaweirdo

Back in the beginning of 2011, we moved in.  This is one of the first pictures of our house.  It had overgrown rose bushes…random shrubs…and some missing plants.

There was no real designated garden beds and the plants were REALLY close to the house.  But I forged on knowing that sometimes a little pruning can be a problem solver.

Then later that year, we added more plants and created beds for the plants and threw down some pine straw.

But as luck would have it…those bushes under the garage windows never really filled out.  First of all…they are full-sun shrubs…and were in the only spot in our whole yard that gets partial sun.  And like I said…they were planted 8 inches from our brick wall.  So I ripped them out (we tried to transfer them to a sunny area but they was just too much root loss) and we transferred two of the rose bushes to a more sunny area.

Right before the house was painted, I put in some more gardenias and some indian hawthorns.

Our real issue was that the garden bed never really could retain it’s shape and the straw was a pain and a half to replace.   I had experimented with some leftover bricks (see the little bed on the right?) to test if a little garden border would make much difference and surprisingly in our yard, it did seem to help both with ‘bed retention’ and because it was mulched instead of strawed, it was easy to touch up over the seasons.  Jeremy requested that the border be more tight fitting than the bricks so that less weeds would get through (we do all the yard work ourselves so edging, weeding, and mowing each week needs to happen in the most efficient way possible).

My request was to use mulch just simply because that is what we used in our last house and I can actually do it myself.  The straw was just really hard to work with because 1.  it was harder to make look nice because fluffing it usually looked terrible and 2. four bales (that’s the amount I could fit in the back of my car) didn’t actually cover that much.

So I was a woman with a mission….find mulch and an edger.  In the end, here’s what we chose:

And here is what the bed looks like now:

So after I found the right edger, I snapped a photo of Lowe’s promotional poster (20% off all in stock edgers) and we stocked up on the mulch at Lowe’s since it was on sale.  Then I went over to Home Depot where the folks in the orange honored the Lowe’s promotion and gave me 20% off the 138 concrete Edgestone edgers in buff.  I bought all they had.

Then I went to a different Home Depot where we bought another 177 of the edgers.  Also 20% off.    But for this front section, we ended up saving $80 just for taking a photo and asking for a discount.  That’s success in my book.

Now remember that I said I moved the roses to a more sunny area?  Well, smack dab in the middle of our circle drive is a bed that we worked on last year.

It had five boxwoods that we moved from another part of our yard and a couple Nandina’s that were a buck at Walmart.

Well, I moved two of the boxwoods and then split the Nandina’s (three are now seven!!!) and put in two of the roses.  I have a spot on the right hand side for one more…but transferring these suckers are beastly #roseshavesharpweaponry

Overall, the edger makes a huge difference.  I think it’s like the ultimate contrast and looks really close to the color of our house.

Oh and yes…the plants did survive the summer which is the ultimate first test.  I hope that now that they have a little insulation that they are really able to set their roots and thrive.

Jeremy wants to remove the tree.  I argue that technically speaking, it’s in the right location to bring attention to the front steps…and it’s a nice bit of shade in our overwhelmingly-sunny yard.  He thinks it’s getting way too big and is covering up some of the house (which it is but I don’t think that’s bad).  Plus, that little round window up there is not centered on the peak of the house….if I had to drive up everyday and see an off-centered window, it would drive me batty.

So maybe we could trim the tree up a lot more?  We’ve trimmed up the bottom a lot but maybe it needs a really heavy pruning?  Is it time to bring in an arborist?  I’m leaning toward yes.

Now for the good ole before and after….

I think our roses didn’t do as well this year with all the rain and little sun.  All the other plants are looking decent….bigger than before, huh!?  I didn’t know if they would all make it (enter Amy Winehouse bush scandal aka Katie-should-read-celebrity-news-before-making-offensive-jokes)…but thankfully, they all did after lots of tender care.

Speaking of tender loving….I am so into this plant its kinda inappropriate.  I love the color and the fact that it’s constantly a surprise on what it looks like.  It’s like Lady Gaga in that respect….never know what you are gonna get 🙂

Okay…so boredom complete.  Post over.  #thatwasalotmoremanuallaborthanitseems

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Comments

  1. Your beds look lovely edged with the pavers, and mulched. And I REALLY wish I lived closer to you–I have several Autumn Joy Sedums that I divide & share with friend gardeners –I would love to add to yours!

  3. Your favorite plant at the end is Sedum, and I think it’s the darker color, Autumn Joy sedum. Now, I just learned this myself so I haven’t tested it yet, but see in your picture how the sedum is kinda falling over and gappy? And earlier in the season I know mine is so compact and neat, well apparently if you trim the stalks early in the season (I was told to trim until the 4th of July), then supposedly it’ll stay more compact and not fall over. I’m going to try it next year! I have a big patch of the lighter purple color, but also just inherited some of the burgundy Autumn Joy. Oh and I split my plant a couple years ago and it did just great, so if yours is getting big, know you can dig out a chunk and have sedum more places!

  4. This is not a boring post! I’m really into gardening, so this is right up my alley. Your edging and garden beds look great and I love the tip on the price matching. I’m with Jeremy on the tree situation. I too have a tree that is that same distance from my house and it’s maddening. It keeps getting the nearby gutter clogged. We’ve kept it for the five years we’ve lived here because it delivers great shade but we have to start saving up money for its removal and stump grinding

  5. Not boring at all! Looks great. I think there is a major lack of landscaping posts on most of the blogs i read so i am happy to see this.

  6. Looks great. I love how much freshens everything up. We buy it by the truck or trailer full from local garden supply stores and its so much cheaper. Luckily some of our beds are landscaped with rocks (the ultimate mulch as it never needs replaced) that we got for free but the rest is mulch. You can see some of it here http://thebrickbungalow.blogspot.com/search/label/Lily%27s%20garden as we continue to work on our largest flower garden area (some day the grass will be killed and replaced with rocks).

  9. Hey Katie, I love your site, and the yard looks great! I had heard that you are never supposed to mulch right up next to your house because of termite, and instead put some kind of pebbly drainage. Is this not something y’all are worried about, or did you do some other protective treatment that I just can’t see?

  11. “if I had to drive up everyday and see an off-centered window, it would drive me batty”

    Yep. Leave the tree.

  12. Looks great! Love the contrast!

    In our area, some of the local tree-cutting services will bring you free mulch!! Two catches though- first, it’s unstained- just the natural color (not sure if that’s necessarily what you want, but maybe in the back or something?!). Second, you might have to wait just a bit. The ones I looked at, you sign up on a waiting list, and then when they’re cutting trees in your area, they’ll call you and bring it by.

    It’s kind of a win-win because they have to pay to dispose of it, so they give it away for free. Just a thought for when it comes time to fill in/replace the mulch!

  13. I like boring landscaping posts! Anytime I see my favorite bloggers post about digging in the yard I don’t feel so left out…All my latest projects have been backyard focused. Tell hubby no tree chopping allowed, he sounds like mine. =-)

  14. Gosh, Katie. What a difference in the before and after. Your home and surroundings look gorgeous. What grand curb appeal you now have. Good job!!

  15. Thanks for this post. It’s a good reminder of what I need to do in our front yard. Yours is looking so much better. It’s that hard work you’ve put in that I need to still start working on. You’re already reaping the benefits of your work meanwhile I still need to get started. Wish I had my mother’s green thumb along with her knowledge of plants. I can’t really ask her for help as she lives in a different part of the world. Oh well… Enjoy your pretty front yard!

  16. Just a note to say that I really enjoyed this post – the edging and mulch really do add to curb appeal! Were there any tricks you learned while putting in the edging? I think I agree with Jeremy about the tree – but are there any botanical gardens in the area that you could run the question by? I think of lot of them are happy to work with homeowners about what plants/trees work best in the area. Good luck – that was a lot of work, but a huge payoff.

  18. Wow, what a difference! Looks great! And I agree with you – the tree needs a trim but it should stay. Tell the boss man us readers said so. 🙂

  19. We just finished a fairly major landscaping overhaul of our front yard, so I laughed when I saw your final hash tag. So much more manual labour than we had anticipated! But worth it in the end. Your landscaping looks great! Can’t imagine doing all of that with kids in the picture, you’re a brave lady. 🙂

  20. It’s amazing what a difference a little mulch makes in the appearance of flower beds! Your bushes came back so much fuller, they look awesome. My only thought for what it’s worth is on your tree conversation. I always worry with trees that close to you house that as they get larger the roots will grow under your home and affect the foundation of your house. My husband and I used to do a bit of real estate investing and we saw that all the time as we used to check out potential properties. This was of course with trees that had gotten very large. May never be an issue for you guys, but it’s just a thought.

  22. This was not boring at all! These are my favorite types of posts. The home improvement, before & after, DIY stuff! Looks great!!

  23. Agree with the others! Not boring at ALL! Your hard work has paid off. Your garden beds look lovely. So neat and a nice contrast with the grass. Thank you for inspiring me.

  24. Soooo…you lied to me! I wasn’t bored in the slightest. 🙂 I like reading landscaping and gardening posts because I’m an apartment dweller and I can live vicariously through you wonderful yard-owning folks. Plus everything you write is entertaining, so write on even about the supposedly boring topics.

  25. Katie, what IS the plant at the bottom? I had someone give me some cuttings of it earlier this year, and I just planted them in a big pot until I figured out where I could put them in our yard. You’re right, though. It’s very interesting! I loved how the leaves were succulent-like. The lady who gave them to me said her’s didn’t flower, but mine have.

  26. thanks for this info! I was given some cuttings of this plant and never could figure out what it is! Mine is the light purple variety as well.

  28. Thanks for posting the name of that last plant. I think I have one of those in my hand-me-down landscaping and I really like it, so I want to get more. Plus, it’s pretty hardy, right? As in, I can forgot to water it in an Illinois drought and it will stay with me? Hope so!

  29. Sedum! We have an ABSURD amount of sedum here. Second only to hostas. Thinking about how much work our yard needs makes me want to become a hermit and only work indoors.

    Love the difference you made!

  30. If I’m remembering correctly all sorts of pollinating (stinging) insects love sedum so you’ll have to watch that with your children.

  32. Not bored at all – does that mean I’m old?! You did a lot of work and it looks great – such an improvement. I’m thinking the tree has to go though – way too close to the house 🙁

    And thank you Meredith KA, I’m going to try that next year with my sedums; mine are pancakes – possibly something to do with all the rain we had this weekend – but not all.

  33. Ditto everyone else! Gardening is awesome and doesn’t get enough blog airtime. 🙂 Everything looks great! Keep up the good work!! And here’s hoping you didn’t get too many scratches from moving the rosebushes… I get scratched up just trimming mine, haha.

  34. As a transplant from the NE to the Rocky Mountains…save the tree! I didn’t realize how much I loved trees until I didn’t have them around. I love them framing houses, shading yards, and hiding flaws. If vines are architectural concealer, then trees are foundation!

  38. Tricks? Um…don’t give up. And sometimes you have to step back like twenty feet and look at the line to make sure it isn’t too straight or weirdly curved 🙂
    xo – kb

  39. I could probably get free pine mulch (GA is like the pine tree capital of the world) but hardwoods they don’t do for free (at least what I’ve found!). If we still had a truck, we would probably get a whole bed of it for cheaper but since we don’t have a truck, we just do the bags for now.
    xo – kb

  40. I hear that too…but I also heard that termites can basically go through anything and tunnel through even solid stuff because they have great stubbornness 🙂 So after talking to our termite guy, we found that dirt, pebbles, or even a brick house doesn’t deter them. If they want in, they find a way. He said that the best way to lessen the effects is just to be really diligent in checking for their little mud tunnels and for evidence of them inside and out. We did do less mulch right near the foundation and built the dirt up just a little more…but for the most part, we didn’t do anything else.
    xo – kb

  43. Looks great! It is amazing how mulch can make everything look tidy. I have a horribly black thumb, but I feel like a pro after putting some mulch down.

    My vote is to keep the tree. It softens all of the hard edges of the brick facade and helps re: the large scale of the whole house. I think trimming it is a good idea, though. Thanks for the landscaping posts!

  45. Totally unrelated to this post, but I’ve been curious to find out – are you having a boy or girl this time? Or are you waiting until the baby’s born to reveal the gender and name? I almost forget you are pregnant since you haven’t posted about it in awhile, but SO excited for you and your family!!

  46. i loved this post! the way you have thought to take pictures throughout is really helpful. it’s like my favorite ‘chore’ in the house… windexing. you can ALWAYS tell when it’s been cleaned (all the fingerprints have been removed!)

  47. Oh nice post Katie..given me ideas! Would be good if you could mention some good long lasting plants for summers n winters! Im on the look out …

  48. Maybe just raise the canopy of the tree. Don’t cut any big limbs just cut the smaller limbs off the big limbs. This will show the structure of the tree but not block so much of the house. Plus the darker bark will contrast nicely against the grey brick.

  50. Love how it looks. Nicely done.

    FYI on free mulch. I m not sure about your local recycle center (county trash people) but ours gives out mulch for free. A lot of towns and counties seem to do that if you know how where to look.

    You can bring one of those Lowes recycle cans with a lit and take all the mulch you may need. If you have a pick up truck they usually dump it directly in there for you. It’s amazing and best its FREE. Works great here in NJ and usually nothing is free here 🙂

  51. Oh yes, we can get free pine mulch but the acidity of it seems to make some plants not do so well. I would love to find a company near by that had free hardwood mulch…that would be amazing.
    xo – kb

  54. Does adding edgers make it more difficult to mow? I have issues with garden beds losing their shape, too, but am hesitant to add edgers because of extra effort when it comes to mowing/trimming the yard. Thanks!

  55. Thanks for the awesome info! I have the same plant and never knew what it was. Mine is kinda droopy this year too. (I live in central Washington state)

  56. More difficult? No. We actually never got the edges anyway because the riding mower would then get the straw…so now we have the same amount of work.
    xo – kb

  58. You’re the first person I’ve heard call her grandfather Pappap, besides my family! Yay! I love Pappaps!

  59. My husband is a Certified Arborist, Hazard Tree Risk Assessor and owns a Tree Service company. When you hire a tree service PLEASE make sure they are fully insured for WCB and Liability, as well as being an actual ISA Certified Arborist (International Society of Arboriculture), not just an “Arborist”, which anyone can call themselves without training and certification. Also, make sure the Arborist is the one actually performing the work.

  60. Well, that is a hard question without knowing your area. I know that I’ve heard from gardeners that you should try to pick ‘native plants’ that will thrive in your area.
    xo – kb

  61. If you wanted a beautiful bush/tree with some usefulness, blueberry bushes do fantastic with pine mulch, because they love the acid. They also turn a beautiful red in the autumn, beside providing healthy free fruit!

  62. I second Natalie on hiring an arborist! You can find one in your area by searching at http://www.treesaregood.org
    A couple of other thoughts from an Arborist reader- mulch is excellent to have around trees, but it’s not a good idea to let the mulch pile against the trunk, keep it several inches away.
    Pruning your tree could certainly help let a bit of light in and keep branches away from the house. But also consider the mature tree size (can’t tell from the pic, but looks like you have a Chinese elm?) and this might just end up being too large for a location that close to your house/foundation. In the long run if you instead planted a similarly large (and off center window blocking!) tree a little further away from the building you could still have all the beauty and shade without worry about your house.

    good luck! Doing a lot of yard work at my house too, the gardening post are welcome!

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