There’s a good chance that if you’ve driven through our neighborhood over the last six months, you’ve seen some pretty unusual things happening at our house.
We’ve painted our brick, stripped it, and painted it again. We’ve experimented with window colors, changed the garage door, and spent more time debating paint colors than I’d probably care to admit. At one point, I’m sure our neighbors were wondering what in the world we were doing to this house.
And lately, things haven’t gotten much less interesting.
We’ve had our kids driving their four-wheeler around the front yard with a grass seeder attached, hauled dirt home in a wheelbarrow from the opposite end of the neighborhood, and spent an evening working on landscaping in the dark after hosting our kids’ birthday party.
And somewhere in between all of that, there’s usually me standing back, telling my husband to move something just a tiny bit to the left.
If you’re new here, you might be wondering how we got from the house we started with to the one we’re working on today. There’s quite a story behind it, and if you’re curious, you can catch up on our adventures with the painted brick, dark windows, and garage door. Each one has been part of a much bigger project to make this house feel more like ours.
Which brings me to the landscaping.
Of all the exterior changes we’ve made, this was the one I was really hoping would finally bring everything together. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the house with some beautiful landscaping around it, especially because I’m still not completely in love with how our dark window trim looks against our beige siding.
I was hoping this fall would be my moment to step back and finally see everything the way I’ve been picturing it.
But after months of work, the landscaping beds are still empty, and the plants I was so excited about won’t be going in until spring.
I’m disappointed, especially because we knew fall was an ideal time to plant. But with winter approaching and so much money already invested in the project, I don’t want to rush out and buy plants just to risk losing them. I’d rather wait and make sure we get it right.
So I’ve been using the extra time to study landscaping whenever we’re out, looking at plant combinations, paying attention to what catches my eye, and trying to figure out exactly what I want for our own house.
In the meantime, our front yard landscaping project has turned into quite an adventure of its own, and we’ve managed to accomplish a lot more than I initially expected.
Our Front Yard Landscape Project Begins
We started by tearing out the old landscape edging and replacing it with charcoal-black blocks that we’d actually used at our previous house. We’d loved how they looked there, and I knew they’d be beautiful against our painted brick. It was probably the easiest decision we’ve made throughout this entire exterior project.
My husband took on nearly all the work himself, with one lucky exception. Our neighbors were having landscaping done, and we were able to pay one of the workers to use his skid-steer to cut out our beds to the four-foot width we wanted. That saved my husband a whole lot of digging by hand.
From there, he got to work installing the edging. And I took on the very important responsibility of making sure every block was straight.
I’ve told my husband for years that I have what I like to call a laser-level eye. I can usually look at something and immediately tell when it’s just a tiny bit off, and this project gave me plenty of opportunities to prove it.
As he laid the blocks, I’d stand back on the sidewalk and inspect the row. Every so often, I’d ask him to move one just a little. He’d make the adjustment, pull out his level, and sure enough, the bubble would be dead center.
After a while, I don’t think he even bothered questioning me. We’ve done enough projects together that he knows I’m going to notice when something isn’t straight.
Although there was one particular evening when I think my inspections tested his patience.
We Always Seem to Be Working at the Most Inconvenient Times
We were hosting our kids’ birthday party at our house, and my husband decided to spend their nap time positioning a few more landscape blocks before everyone arrived. I think he just wanted the front of the house to look a little more finished since we were having family over.
He managed to get several blocks in place, but I hadn’t had a chance to come outside and inspect them. So we left them positioned without setting the concrete.
The party came and went, everyone headed home, and then we realized we were supposed to get rain that night.
By the time we got back outside, it was dark and starting to mist. My husband was trying to get the blocks set in concrete before the rain got any worse, and I was finally getting my first good look at everything he’d positioned earlier.
You can probably imagine how that went.
There he was, ready to finish, and there I was asking him to move a block a tiny bit in one direction, then another. I don’t remember him being nearly as enthusiastic about my laser-level eye that night.
We did get them set, although the next morning there was one block we weren’t happy with. When we eventually got back around to that section, my husband chipped away the concrete, reset it, and decided that was the last time he’d be doing that.
And if you’re wondering why this project took us so long, that evening is a pretty good example. Between trips, family activities, work schedules, and the weather, we were constantly trying to fit the landscaping into whatever time we had available. My husband even had a stretch of time off when we thought he’d make some serious progress, and it rained practically the entire time.
Eventually, though, the edging was finished. And even with absolutely nothing planted behind it, I love how much more defined the front of the house looks.
A Surprise That Wasn’t Really a Surprise
While we were digging everything out, we also got a better look at something we’d already suspected might be a problem.
Earlier, we’d had water leak into our basement during an exceptionally heavy stretch of rain. We weren’t certain what was happening with the drainage, but we suspected something wasn’t right.
Once my husband started digging, we got our answer pretty quickly. The existing drainage pipe was cracked and filled with dirt.
Considering we were already standing there with the whole front of the house torn apart, I was glad we discovered it then instead of after we’d spent a bunch of money putting everything back together.
My husband removed the old piping, dug a new drainage line, and replaced it with 4-inch PVC pipe. He’s also been working on bringing in more dirt to raise the soil and create a better slope away from the house.
We’re happy with the decision to use PVC for the replacement, and it’s reassuring to know that the damaged piping is no longer buried underneath our future landscaping.
Of course, bringing in more dirt created another opportunity for one of our more memorable family outings.
A Wheelbarrow, a Double Stroller, and Some Free Dirt
One of our neighbors was having a pool installed and had a pretty impressive pile of dirt that was going to be hauled away. We needed dirt, they had dirt, and free sounded pretty good to us.
There was just one small inconvenience. Their house happened to be at the opposite end of our neighborhood.
So my husband grabbed the wheelbarrow, we loaded up the kids, and off we went.
The kids thought riding in the wheelbarrow was fantastic. Meanwhile, I was following behind, pushing an empty double stroller so they’d have somewhere to ride on the way back while we brought the dirt home.
I can only imagine what we looked like walking through the neighborhood with this little operation.
We ended up making one trip, and I can’t say that a single wheelbarrow of dirt solved all our problems. But the kids had a great time, we made use of something that was otherwise going to be hauled away, and we got a pretty funny memory out of it.
Which, at this point, seems to be a recurring theme with our house projects.
I’m Starting to Think My Husband Just Likes His Tiller
Now, there’s another part of this project that deserves a little explanation. Our front lawn was perfectly fine.
But my husband wanted to level part of it out so that more of our new landscape edging would be visible. The way the yard sat before, some of those blocks we’d spent so much time installing weren’t showing as much as we’d wanted.
I could appreciate his reasoning, but I also think he really enjoys using his tiller because this is now the third time we’ve tilled up part of our front yard.
So out came the tiller again, and before long, a section of perfectly good grass was back to looking like a construction site.
Once he got the ground leveled, we needed to put some grass back. And that’s where the kids came in. Our kids love helping with whatever we’re working on. Honestly, with two little ones, sometimes the easiest way to get anything accomplished is to figure out how they can be part of it.
My husband came up with a solution and hooked the grass seeder up to their little four-wheeler so they could help spread the seed.
They were beyond excited about their new responsibility, although their enthusiasm got the better of them when they took off before Dad was ready and managed to overturn the spreader.
Grass seed went everywhere, including one very impressive pile in the middle of the yard. We did our best to spread it back out, finished seeding, and covered everything with straw. Then we waited to see what would grow.
The grass is finally starting to come up, and the kids are so proud of it. They love seeing the results of something they helped with, and I love watching how excited they get over something as simple as grass growing in our yard.
Hopefully, when it all fills in, we’ll have a level lawn and a much better view of the edging we worked so hard to install.
One More Season of Waiting
At this point, the new edging is installed, the damaged drainage has been replaced, and we’re getting the soil and grass back where they need to be. There are still empty beds and unfinished areas, but I can finally start to see what the front of the house might look like when we get everything planted.
I want the landscaping to feel simple, elegant, and pretty without looking overly crowded. One thing I know I want is a pink hydrangea tree, but beyond that, I’m still deciding. We’re also planning to add black slate rock to the front beds and move the existing rock to the backyard, where we can reuse it.
And while I’m disappointed we won’t get to see everything finished this fall, I have a few months to really think about the plants instead of making decisions just because I’m anxious to get something in the ground.
I’m hoping that when spring arrives, I’ll finally get that moment I’ve been looking forward to, where I can step back and see how all these exterior changes look together. And I’d love for you to stick around and see it with me. We’ve already come a long way with this house, but I have a feeling there’s still plenty more to share.
Until then, I’ll keep collecting landscaping ideas and watching our grass grow. The kids have already decided that part of the project is a success.
And if you happen to drive through our neighborhood and see us doing something unusual in the front yard, there’s a pretty good chance we’re working on the house again.