This post is sponsored by Bailey Nurseries.
If you have a home that is over 15 years old I bet you are dealing with aging foundation plants. Our home StoneGable, is 22 years old and the once beautiful landscaping around our home has become tired looking, overgrown and showing its age. Recently, we have gone through the process of replacing landscaping around our home and I’m thrilled we did. Our home looks much fresher and younger and the new plants will grow and accent our homes beautifully. Today I’m sharing a common sense approach to a very common problem… replacing landscaping around our homes!
On our recent episode of Decorating Tips And Tricks we are talking about decorating with Industrial Style in mind. You will be amazed at the ideas we have for you and how a little bit of this trendy style can update your look!
Listen HERE.
Now about that landscaping…
We replaced almost all of the bedding plants in the front beds closest to our house. The hardest part of this process was letting go and replaced our dying 22 year old boxwoods. They had been so beautiful. But because of a disease that plagues our area, there was no way to keep them alive.
However, this story has a happy ending because I found a gorgeous replacement for them…First Editions® Wildfire™ Winterberry. Winterberry is a deciduous holly that has bright, fire red berries that remain on the stem during the winter. What a pretty contrast they will be to the white and gray of our home!
Here are a few things to consider when thinking about replacing landscaping.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE AROUND YOUR HOME
If you are like me, then you probably don’t give bedding plants around your home a good once-over on a regular basis. And we should! Add walking around your home and checking out the health and wellbeing of all landscaping plants to your to-do list every month.
Here are some things to look for
- healthy leaves and/or dropping leaves at an inappropriate time of the season
- dead spots
- signs of insect or vermin destruction
- broken branches or stems
- signs of under or overwatering
- roots disturbing walkways, house foundation, or driveways, roots growing up out of the lawn, etc.
- bushes hiding windows, doors, etc
- plants blocking air conditioning units and any vents
- the overall health of the plants
Here’s how the plants around my home looked…
The boxwood looks healthy but there was a whole lot of mess and trouble going on the inside of the plants. And the Annabelle hydrangeas I love so much had gotten so big at the height of their blooming season they grew and drooped over the walkway.
We kept the boxwood trimmed and neat but they were now hiding over half of our porch railing. And the Annabelles were higher than our railing in full season! Foundational plants should show off your home not cover it up!
Four of our 8 boxwood plants had a deadly blithe and this is how they looked when they were cut out.
When the bedding plants were cut down we could see just how dead and unruly the plantings were!
YOU MIGHT NEED TO WORK IN STAGES
Like most updating and makeovers in my home, replacing our old landscaping will be done in stages. And that might be the same for you too!
So be mindful of the total cost and labor of landscaping.
We made a list of how we think we will replace most of the front landscaping at StoneGable. We are thinking it will be done in three phases.
Phase One:
- remove the dead Ash tree stump that keeps growing back and reseed with grass
- remove the overgrown holly tree and reseed with grass (this was a tough one because we love our holly tree, but deemed it was not safe because it was too hard to see around it coming out of our driveway.
- replace all bedding plants in the front of our home closest to the house
Here are all 8 new First Editions® Wildfire™ Winterberryin a row! We will keep them trimmed to about 1/3 the height of the porch when they are fully grown.
Lots of new growth already on my Winterberries!
This ishow the Winterberries will look dressed up with their berries…
The Annabelle hydrangeas were replaced with Endless Summer ®Hydrangeas. Unlike the Annabelles, they will stay round and compact and bloom all summer long.
Now that phase one is done we will probably do phase two this coming spring.
Phase Two:This phase came about after we replanted the front. I originally wanted to keep the spirea (bridal veil) but after seeing how fresh the front looked the spirea looked very overgrown and sloppy. The same for the front landscaping around the lamp post.
You can see from the image below that the Queen Ann Lilac tree is very leggy and top heavy.
- replace existing spirea with another early summer blooming plant
- remove and replant the small front bed around the lamp post
- replace the lamp post
PHASE THREE
- widen the driveway and have it repaved.
- landscape around the back walk
This might take at least another year to address.
CHOOSE THE CORRECT PLANTS
One of the biggest decisions, after deciding to go ahead with the project, was to pick out plants. And most importantly to pick the right plants! It’s very much a process of elimination. We knew we wanted to incorporate First Editions Wildfire Winterberry and Endless Summer hydrangeas.
I had seen the Winterberry plants in landscaping in our area and I love how they berries stay on the plant in the winter. Perfect for our home!!!! And I have had a long love affair Endless Summer hydrangeas! So Winterberry and Hydrangeas were a must!
We consulted our landscaper for other plants that would work well with them and our home.
Here are some things to consider when choosing new bedding plants
- height and width
- function of plant
- shapes and textures
- color
- evergreen or deciduous
- climate and zones plants will thrive in
- soil
- drainage
- sun
- wind
- surrounding plants
- plant diseases in your area
DECIDE WHO IS DOING THE WORK
We decided early on that this was not a DIY project for us. We know our limitations! So we contacted a landscaper that we have been working with for years and he helped us with choosing some of the plants, purchasing the plants and the landscape remodel process.
As you can see getting our boxwood’s out was a big undertaking. But sooo worth it!
Here is what was planted in the area that was being dug up.
AFTER CARE
Taking care of plants after they are planted will help them thrive and grow. We want to keep our investment happy and healthy!
Here are some things to think about after landscape is planted…
- mulching
- watering
- fertilizing
- trimming
- pruning
- keeping an eye on the plant (see TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THE LANDSCAPE AROUND YOUR HOME)
And most of all…
ENJOY YOUR LANDSCAPING!
Make sure to take time to enjoy the beauty your new landscaping brings to your home!
Today on DECORATING TIPS AND TRICKS we are talking about OUR STAIRWAYS. We have lots of ideas and ways to decorate them so they enhance your home!
A big thank you to Bailey Nurseries for providing product and compensation for this post. The opinions are 100% my own.
