Vintage Life: Mucho Mulch

Cleaning up the jungle that was the yard of our 1920s bungalow was a tremendous effort.  However, the work didn't stop there.  Greg and I plan to refinance (fingers crossed) next year, and wanted to make sure we worked on the curb appeal too.  We started by painting the red bricks around the bottom of the house.

Next we tilled up the entire front yard and put down lime to improve the ph of the soil.  Then we put down zoysia grass seed and crossed our fingers that it would take, as that is a much cheaper option than sod.

Next we put in large beds on either side of the front porch and in a big heart-shaped area underneath a huge, old oak tree where it is always shady.  We planted hydrangeas around the oak tree and added more azealas to help fill out the existing hedge. I also planted 250+ shade-loving bulbs: caladiums in multi-colors, ferns, hostas, and white and pink astilbes.

Offset from the front porch, we also added a circular bed where we planted a Bradford pear tree in the middle surrounded by pink crepe myrtles.

After we put in the beds, I put down landscaping fabric and Greg ran an above-ground sprinkler system in the beds that will run automatically.  Finally, we shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled (18 cubic yards! of) mulch.  Here is the mulch pile, which Greg claimed was taunting him.

And a finished product: beautiful, mulched bed with sprinklers running!  In the far bed by the fence, you can see gardenias under the existing Japanese magnolia.