My flower garden

I made a goal earlier this year to improve the state of my yard. When we moved into our house four years ago, I was really excited to take over and improve upon the fairly mature, fairly planned out landscaping the previous owners had accomplished. I had grand plans. The first year I basically kept things maintained, pulled out a few bushes and shrubs that weren't my favorites, and tried to identify everything we had and learn how to care for it. Then I had a baby--and we know most ambitious plans get pitched out the window when your big and pregnant. The next year was more maintenance. Year three, I had another baby. So, the yard has slowly morphed into something with more weeds than lawn, more dirt than plants, shaggier trees, overgrown shrubs, etc.

This winter I knew I had to make some progress in the spring or else the weeds would finally overpower the lawn entirely. So, I've been working a little at a time since March and trying not to overwhelm myself. I focused on the front flower bed, since it's the area I see the most, and I told myself any progress past that area was just icing on the cake. Now, the yard is actually looking pretty nice and I'm pleased with my progress!



Here are my clematis bushes which were absolutely breathtaking about a month ago.



I bought some iron hanging baskets and filled them with flowers which are finally starting to fill out with color



And I finally filled the beautiful clay flower pots we bought for the front entryway.



Our next project is the front area by the street, which was overrun with butterfly bushes and dandelions and every other weed known to man. We've got the space cleared, I've sprayed the weeds, and now it's time to clean it up. I'm looking forward to having a nicely landscaped area for people to see as they drive by.