Since Charles and I have been watching some preseason football, we decided to do a little “preseason” landscaping to get ready for the Fall. We dubbed this little adventure “preseason,” because hopefully it will get us prepared for when we have to take care of an entire yard!
We are so lucky to have a place to live…and rent-free too! Charles’ grandfather moved to an assisted living facility in the Spring, so we are living at his house and helping to look after it. (We will call this the Madison house for short.) Since we don’t pay rent, we wanted to do something to show our appreciate to Charles’ parents for letting us live in the house. And what better use of a gorgeous Saturday afternoon than to do some gardening?
First, we went to Lowe’s and used our pretty hefty gift card to get some things (read: all the things) we needed. We bought 7 knock-out rose bushes, potting soil, cypress wood mulch, landscaping fabric and pins, and even a wheel barrow! We figured it was a pretty good investment.
We headed back over to the Madison house and got to work. Here are the two flower beds when we began:
So let’s get started!
Step 1: Pull up all the weeds and overgrowth from the side bed.
Step 2: Dig out about 5 inches of soil in each bed, then even them out.
With the extra soil we had left over, we spread it over a few spots in the front yard where we could not get grass to grow. Hopefully the new soil will help sprout some new grass!
Step 3: Lay out the landscaping fabric and secure with pins. We figured the fabric would make it easier whenever we had to go back and spruce things up.
Step 4: Cut X’s into fabric, dig out a hole under each X, then plant the roses.
Step 5: Cover the entire area with the new soil mixture: about 1/2 potting soil and 1/2 original soil we dug up.
Step 6: Cover the entire area with the mulch.
We were really happy with how it turned out! For all you avid gardeners out there, I’m sure this looks totally amateur, but we thought it was a good first run. And we definitely realized how much time and effort it is going to take to keep up our entire yard at the Park Avenue house!! (Read more about the landscaping we’ve done so far here and here.) Next up for the Madison house…power washing the white siding.
Hope y’all have a great week!! Stay tuned for more on the Park Avenue basement, and some light fixture dilemmas! :)
Your roses look beautiful! My husband planted some rosebushes a few years ago and they are still coming up. I love roses. Thanks for linking up on #throwbackthursday link up!
Thanks, Tanya! We planted these back in the fall and they are looking gorgeous now! I’m hoping they’ll last a few more years. :)
The bushes look nice!! We just laid down some general seeds yesterday in hopes of something growing. We didn’t have time to properly look up landscaping ideas this year but needed something lol!! Thank you for joining in at #Throwbackthursday !
My mother loves knock out roses and has many of them. They get huge and so full of roses – they are wonderful to look at and enjoy! Thanks for sharing on #throwbackthursdaylinkup
I think it looks lovely. I do love roses and gardening, though you’re right, it can take a lot of work! Thanks for linking up and sharing with #TheThemeGame x
Looks lovely x
I love knock out roses. I have 3 planted at my house. They go crazy!
:) Looks good! I love rosebushes, but I don’t have a green thumb. My husband’s idea of landscaping usually involves a chainsaw.
Ha! That sounds about right. I don’t have much of a green thumb either….luckily my mother-in-law has the greenest of thumbs and taught her son well! Thanks for stopping by, Shecki! :)
Aww that looks so nice after youve sorted it out! Cant wait for it to really grow and be lush! #TheThemeGame