A Look at Our New Landscaping

Hi, friends!  It’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated here on the blog!  We have been busy this Spring with a few projects and also a couple of little people who have our attention so much of the time!  The babies are right at 5 months old now and as always, you can see what all I’m sharing about our lives by following me on Instagram. So much fun going on!  Here’s a recent picture of the babies and me on Mother’s Day at the Dogwood Cottage.

We’ve made some big changes to our landscaping this season so far so I thought I’d share a little before and after! We’ve had these trees and shrubs since we first built this house in 2009 so they had become a big part of the house.  A friend of ours who was a landscaper had told us years ago that shrubs and some trees on a house tend to last around 10 years and then need to be replaced.  And he was right! Here is a look at how big ours had gotten…

Then, in the fall, we had the large arborvitae trees removed and replaced with smaller ones.  We knew the shrubs would need to go, too, because they had outgrown the space as well.

So, this spring, those were pulled and it really started changing the look…

Because I love a manicured look, we went with boxwoods in the front this time, which will eventually grow into a hedge again.

We also had some drift roses and some bobo hydrangeas planted along the left retaining wall.

Some of the biggest differences are that it has opened up the house and given more exposure to the window box and the front porch sitting area (which were always partially hidden).

We also have a new Camellia tree on the far right side which will grow and bloom in the winter!

And in other exciting news, the first Magnolia bloom of the season has made an appearance.  This tree has also grown so much in the past few years since Dave planted it for me.

I’m excited to see all the blooms that come out of this new design through the seasons!  Do you have any of these types of trees or shrubs at your house?

I’m working a little more on styling the porch and hope to share it soon!