our garden

Gardening is quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of the summer.  I love spending time getting my hands dirty, pulling weeds, and watching the growth.  We were blessed with a home that already had a lot of landscaping done, and last summer my mom helped me add some lavender and speedwell plants to fill in vacant spots.

This summer, there were two areas I wanted to tackle - the bed by the garage and the two beds in front of our porch.  The main problem by the garage was that the bleeding heart plant dies around mid-June, so I needed to fill in that area.  The beds in front of our porch were lopsided and only contained bushes; I wanted to add height, symmetry, and annuals.  It is still a work in progress, but I love it already!

See the changes below:

before  ::  by the garage

after  ::  added jalepeno, red pepper, cilantro plants to grow around the bleeding heart

before ::  in front of porch (sunny and lopsided)

after  ::  exchanged little boxwood for a lilac bush, added two peony bushes and thyme to fill in between the plants

before  ::  in front of porch (shady and too short)

after  ::  added two astilbe plants and transplanted boxwood

Overall I love the changes and smelling the lilac flowers is the best!  Last year, Hayley was so sweet and asked me to post about our front porch makeover.  Click here to see the before & after pictures, and here to see how vintage bargains helped me save cash :)