The funny thing about buying a house in December is that all of the plants and grass are dead so you have no idea what the yard really looks like. It’s great at the time because you don’t have to mow or do any landscaping.

UNTIL the weather warms up, and it’s a new surprise every day. You never know what kind of flower is going to bloom or where all the weeds are going to pop up overnight.

Accordingly, we didn’t realize how neglected our landscaping was until spring was in full force. The bushes were overgrown and all of the flower beds had long been abandoned.

Yep, we were ‘those’ neighbors.

Yikes.
 

The ivy and bushes were so overgrown that you could barely get to the front door :(

So last week I finally bit the bullet and made a pricey little trip to Lowe’s. Several bags of mulch, a pair of hedge clippers and many potted plants later I was ready to get to work.

I started by trimming the hedges and the ivy which was not an easy task for a wuss like me.

My hands are still bruised.  

Next I completely ripped up the old landscaping tarps (which were rotted away anyway) and old mulch before laying down new weed fabric.

Then I planted my new flowers and added mulch on top. 

It took me probably 12 hours over three days, but it’s done and that’s what matters.

Much better, right? We’re no longer the neighbors with the overgrown lawn anymore.

The noisy little dog however. . . no comment.

In other news, you may have noticed that the ol’ blog also got a little facelift.

The sidebar was looking a little cluttered and random, so I changed the links and images up a bit.

I’m actually hoping to switch to a three-column layout soon so everything will be even more organized.

I’ve got lots of good stuff lined up for this week including a garden update and a giveaway!

Can you believe it’s almost July?!