Catching up!

I've been totally slacking on my blog updates. It's time to catch up!!

I finally got around to fixing an area of landscaping in my backyard before my cruise. I had no idea what to do with the area, so it was neglected for a while. After going thru a dozen ideas, I finally settled on a rose garden & hydrangea grouping. That area of my yard tends to hold water after it rains, so I decided to plant water loving plants. Once the hydrangeas take off, they will fill in the area quite well. I still need to tweak the area & fix the landscaping to the left of my roses, but for now...this will do!


BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER [I added an additional bush in the back left corner after I took the picture. I felt like the area needed one more rose bush!]:

ROSE GARDEN PREP:

ROSE GARDEN [final product]:

ROSES!:

ALMOST READY TO PLANT [I originally planned to leave the ligustrum plants behind the hydrangeas, but I decided it looked much cleaner & better without them!]:

HYDRANGEAS:

BEAUTIFUL!:

MY BACKYARD SMELLS LIKE A TIRE STORE [Rubber mulch is the BEST! It prevents weeds like NO other mulch & it doesn't wash away or lose it's color AT ALL!! It's amazing. I highly recommend it!]:

Now THIS is what happens when I go out of town for a week after landscaping. I told my hubby to make sure & water the plants while I was gone. He forgot. Oops. Hopefully, they will recover & perk up ASAP!! Otherwise, I'm going to make my hubs dig these plants up & replace them!:

This project only took me about two weeks to complete. Mostly b/c I am insanely indecisive! Once I figured out a game plan, it took me about 5 hours to get everything done. It's going to take me a few more weeks to finish up the rest of my backyard, but I am very excited! I haven't had this much fun or been this happy with my yard since I first landscaped everything in 2007. Anyways, I need to finish downloading the pictures from my cruise. I still need to write about my awesome trip! I'm heading back to NYC on Saturday, so I will have some free time over the weekend. Hopefully, I can get everything organized & posted then!!

XOXO