Garden in Progress

It's been the most beautiful long weekend in my neck of the woods.  We've been busting our butts working on the house.  Cause what else would you do on a long holiday weekend?

Let me introduce you to our front gardens, before all the work.

There are definitely some nice plants in there, a decent base for us to begin with.  I'm personally all about perennial flowering shrubs.  Low maintenance and pretty with just one investment up front.  Also, you can divide them down the line to increase the gardening goodness!

I'm not usually into using much colour in my garden (I know, shocking!).  I prefer a mix of greens and white flowers - lots of them.  But these red Sandcherry plants were already in the garden so we decided to roll with it.  They are very pretty and have lovely pinkish white tiny flower blooms.

So in the spirit of working with what you've got, here's a view of our front gardens now:

right side

left side

front garden bed

First, we weeded the beds.  Then we put down landscape cloth and mulch to help reduce weeding and make the gardens low maintenance.  Then we added some new plants to the existing arrangement.  We're so happy with how it turned out.  It looks tidy and I'm not ashamed to pull up to our house anymore.  I'm looking forward to seeing all these plants fill in!  

xo Meg

Pulling Together the Patio

It's an amazing day - the sun is shining and I'm so looking forward to sprucing up our patio.  Right now,  it looks like this:

Ugh.


This patio is really the only existing space for our lounge furniture, table and chairs and firepit area.  That's a lot of function for a small, cracked up patio.  Removing the patio and replacing it is not in the budget for this summer.  Instead, we'll be camouflaging the cracks defining the space for the table and chairs with a rug.  We'll also be adding some new pillows.  Budget sprucing.

We bought some amazing pillows from Tonic Living a couple of years ago  in the Sweet William Teal fabric.  Although this isn't an outdoor fabric, we store them in inclement weather and they have held up beautifully.  We are planning to add an additional set of outdoor pillows from Tonic Living to the mix. I can't say enough good things about this fabric store - an amazing Canadian source for beautiful fabrics. Until I discovered them, I would head state-side to make all my fabric purchases.


I pulled together a board of the things we'll be using on the patio.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

The Dash & Albert rug is a bit of a splurge for us right now in the size I need, but I love it.  I'm saving my nickels!  Of course, there will also be containers and plantings too.

Any suggestions for budget friendly additions to my patio?

xo Meg

Landscape and Garden

As I mentioned, there are a lot of projects we are working on around our house this spring.  This weekend, the sun was shining and the temperatures are inching upward, and the garden centres have opened around us.  

  I have been hesitant to post photos of the exterior of our new ranch for several reasons.  First of all, when you compare it to these, it comes up wanting.  

our last two homes

Secondly, although we have plans, I don't really love the look of our home.  I am drawn to older cottage style homes, with cedar shake, lovely brick, charm and curb appeal (see above).

That being said, I'm working with what I've got.  Here it is:

I discussed curb appeal here, but to recap: this summer will include painting of the brick, addition of shutters and window boxes, new front door, etc.

I have certainly been pinteresearching lots of ideas for the gardens and landscaping around the house.  Fortunately, we have some awesome large trees and perennial shrubs and plants that I actually like.  I'll just be adding some more flowering plants to the front of the house.

The backyard is kind of a blank canvas right now.  We probably won't be able to stretch our budget enough to do much back here and we're working with what we have.

We already have this table and chairs.  It's older and grayed now, so it needs a little elbow grease.  Isn't the banding on that tablecloth gorgeous?  I'm thinking DIY painted rug and perhaps a little ribbon trim to a tablecloth I already have.  

I love this garden gate and brick pathway.  Probably for another spring, but it's in the files nonetheless.

This is my shutter and window box inspiration.  I usually prefer to keep my gardens white and green.  Jay loves colour so sometimes we throw a little in but this is my preference.  The window boxes will go on the three smaller windows on the front of the house.

The sources for these photos can be found on my Backyard & Pool pinboard.  Perhaps you'd like to follow me on Pinterest?

Are you getting ready to dig in your garden?  Got any big landscaping plans?

Enjoy your Monday!

xo Meg

Down & Dirty with Frank Fontana

     Today I'm doing a little segment with Frank Fontana on The Down & Dirty show on blogtalkradio.  The producers called me last week to see if I'd like to participate and I said yes, despite the fact that I'm so nervous I could barf.  Maybe the butterflies in my belly are just excitement?

We're chatting about my Backyard Disaster project.  If you'd like the backstory on my backyard project, go here and here and here.

If you want to tune in and listen to me making a complete fool of myself, go here at 12:00 CT.

Yikes!

xo Meg

Adjustment

My kids are adjusting to having me work outside of the home.  I have always worked while they were at school or other activities.  The kind of job I had allowed me to have that flexibility.  My little one is struggling the most with not having me home.  She has a sweet, sensitive soul.

Last night when I got home from work, she had left me a little surprise on my bedside table.  She picked these from our back garden, which is beginning to show signs of spring.  And she found the little shot glass in the armoire that houses our barware and extra serving pieces.  I could just see her, climbing up on a chair to reach the tiny little 'vase'.

The little note is her version of the "A Midsummer Night's Dream" poster that I have just created for her school's production of the play.  You can't read it in this photo but she's labelled the characters: Hermia, Lysander, Oberon, etc.  There's a special note just for me on the back.

Love my girl so much.

xo Meg

Signs of Spring

   Yesterday the weather here was sunny and warm.  This is unusual for March in Southwestern Ontario.  Naturally, now I'm dreaming of Spring.

    Our plan this year was to work hard on the landscaping for this old house, but that is not to be.  Instead, to appease my black thumb (really, I kill everything, but never quit trying), I plan to make some container gardens.  I did have some success growing lettuce and tomatoes and herbs once.  I'm going to try that again.

Look at this beautiful box garden via LLH Designs!

I dream of one day being able to not kill my gardens and containers.  I've given up on houseplants, although my children and pets seem to do all right.  Look at this:

Just imagine being surrounded by all that fresh, vibrant green!
via

My all time favourite plant is the Limelight Hydrangea.  I love the bright green flowers that turn white and then brown in the fall.  I think I'll put some into the big pots at the front of our house so we can take them with us to our new home, wherever we end up.

via

What does your garden look like?  Got any advice for a beginning gardener like me?

xo Meg