31 Days: Home Brew...in the garden

Welcome to 31 Days of Coffee! Today's Home Brew finds me in the garden with my warm cuppa.

We are working diligently on our Fixer Upper house that we purchased this summer. The gardens and landscaping were sad sad sad. Weeds in every garden bed, and overgrown bushes that looked like the original contractor specials from 20 years ago.

We thought we'd have to wait until our contractors finished work on the exterior, but with this nice autumn weather we decided to plow ahead (literally) with our re-landscaping plan. Bushes were removed, soil was tilled, sod was busted. It's been a workout...which is why we do  not need a gym membership!

I made the decision to keep these yews. I'm hoping to prune them back even more in the spring, but for now I figured they'd make a nice green backdrop. I knew I'd have to extend the bed out another two feet to make room for some other flowers and plants. My husband, Mr. Left Brain, required a line to know where to dig. I did not have any spray paint, so I made the line using flour in a sifter. It worked!

Nice clean beds ready for planting! We're hoping to get a pagoda dogwood planted in this bare corner where the giant overgrown bush once resided. This variety of dogwood has a nice shape, with lovely interest during every season. Blossoms in the spring, leaves in summer that turn red in autumn, and red branches that will look amazing in the winter.

This week, we turned our attention to the bed by the front sidewalk.

We purchased plants and bushes, and put them in pots where we hoped to plant them.

We started with the back row of bushes.

Incrediball hydrangeas will add color in the summer and autumn, as will the pink spirea. The azaleas will add a dose of pink in the spring, and their waxy green leaves will add interest to the garden in the winter, too.

Next we planted a few hostas at the front to make a nice border for the shrubs.

This should look much better when the plants and bushes have filled in next year.

There it is! Today's Home Brew! It's amazing what we can accomplish with caffeine every day (and sore muscles and Advil every night!).