So, I got a phone call one day. My brother says, “I bought a house….. know a landscaper who wants a job?” And, thus began my summer project.
This is the house on my first visit. Small, adorable with lots of potential. A lot of work had already been done on the inside and all was heading in the right direction. My first mission…. get rid of overgrown shrubs.
This is the main flower bed along the far right side of the house. Currently full of vines! Lots and lots of vines… of the poison ivy variety. It took me two days to clean it out.
The new deck along the back of the house. Door leads directly into the kitchen.
Continuing along the back of the house and up the left side. Ugh! What a mess. There must be four different kinds of trees, azaleas and more poison ivy. More on this one later.
Water heater is not a new garden ornament! That will be the home of a nice new rhododendron in the coming weeks.
BINGO! I unveiled a second flower bed while raking leaves early one morning. Anyone notice the hidden beauty in the back of the picture? Boy did I make an incredible discovery (you’ll see below)!
Week two into clean up project…. house gets bright new roof! I love the red.
Clean-up of second flower bed uncovered the mega load of poison ivy (foreground of picture)! Good thing I’m not allergic. Round-up became my new best friend..
Clean up of second flower bed complete. Great row of azaleas all nicely trimmed and raked free of leaves.
But, just look at this! Hidden amongst dead limbs, leaves and poison ivy. One heck of a beauty! This has to be the biggest oak leaf hydrangea I’ve ever seen and ayone who appreciates gardening will understand when I say that it took my breath away.
Most of the flower heads are over a foot in length…. Wow!
Overgrown bed almost clear. Next up… time to crank up the tiller.
Ahhh… a blank slate!
Front of the house, minus the azaleas.
Planting begins. Day one: One crape myrtle, three forever hydrangeas, one small azalea, seven stepping stones and three hostas. The irises were already in the bed. I tidied them up and left them at the front of the bed.
And then there were pine needles! Just the finishing touches needed to complete the beds.
Now if only I could fast forward a year to see what it will look like when it’s filled in a bit.
The front of the house is still a little bare and may need an addition or two. That’s a butterfly bush in the middle front and three ornamental grasses beside the porch. The butterfly bush is dark purple and the grass is burgundy. Both will be beautiful when they fill out. I need to pull out my miracle grow and see if I can’t hurry things along a bit.
I wish we had been able to get before and after pictures of the inside. I will definitely post pictures of the inside, though, after it is complete.
Someone is going to score a wonderful house!
July 10, 2009 at 8:08 am
Great job, Michelle. That oak leaf hydrangea … WOW. It’s amazing how the pine needles tidy up the landscaping and “finish” the job. I would “love” to see the inside. Cute, cute house.
July 26, 2009 at 1:54 pm
[...] to flip. Previously, I posted about my involvement in this project and you can read about that here . Since posting about the landscaping and work done outside, I’ve had some requests to share [...]