Amateur gardening.

I've never been much of a gardener.

Until recently.

As a child, "gardening" to me meant pulling weeds in my mom's flower garden and picking green beans and strawberries in my step-mom's garden. Essentially, it was a chore. It always seemed hotter than Houston, too! Bleck!

As an adult, "gardening" has proven to be meditation. A sense of accomplishment. A sense of PRIDE. Who knew I would grow to love gardening? Well, flower gardening. I have yet to tackle that vegetable garden thing. Maybe next year.

Before hubs and I got hitched, our current home [a quant little 2-story that happens to be for sale ::hint hint::] used to just be "my soon-to-be-husband's house." I had no vested interested in the thing. Post wedding, that all changed. That's when I decided I cared about how it looked. It was my home, too, and I wanted it to reflect my taste. 

Earlier this spring when the weather suddenly got nice (mid-March?!), I had a vision. But this was what I was starting with. Check out that mess on the side of the house in front of the windows. YIKES!

Actually what I started with was much worst. These photos were mid-project when I realized I never took official "before" pictures. The front bed was almost completely taken over by lillies. They're evil flowers... 

It was bad. Like jungle bad. You see, my husband has owned the house for over 8 years. He's very tidy. Clean. Keeps the house in order inside. 

But he enjoys gardening as much as I enjoy washing dishes. 

Dreadful.

No worries. Angie to the rescue!

I started by sectioning off the flower bed using sticks and string. This helped me see where to pull weeds/grass and where to leave it. (Keep in mind at times it was so overgrown that it was hard to decipher between lawn and flower bed.)

I kept pulling and digging and transplanting. It became addicting. I could picture what I wanted it to look like and I kept going. Something great about gardening is... its free! Sans the cost of mulch, it's really just a ton of sweat and hard work - a great workout! Some of those weeds were stubborn!

We made a trip to Menards to see about mulch. They had a sale on the red stuff, Ruby somethingorother, so we bought a ton. It was only about $3.50 a bag so really not all too much.

I filled that in all along the front and along the side of the house. 

Then I added rocks along the bed to define it. My dad has a plethora of rocks at his farm - again, FREE! 

It's amazing how much work went into getting it just that far. I had mounds and mounds of weeds and sticks and junk and a few trips with the wheel barrow. 

[call me if you'd like some rose of sharon starts]

I worked until a certain point along the side because at the time what needed done was more than I wanted to tackle. I had done so much, and I needed to take a break. 

At one point in the process it was very obvious from the road what was done vs. what still needed done...

About 2 weeks later I started back up and tackled the rest! I'm very proud of how it turned out. I had it all done in time for our house to go on the market in May. (this picture is still missing the rest of the rocks, but now they're there and it's lovely)

Comparing this year to how it looked last year for sale, I'd say it is quite the improvement! (plus it helps that the grass is greener 2nd time around)

What I've learned.. Gardening is fun. Gardening is a workout. Gardening makes your house look pretty and tells buyers that you love your house, and so should they! It's an adorable home.

If you're in the market for a smaller 3 bedroom, 1 bath home with tons of charm inside and out, contact me. We're ready to upgrade to something larger that is more fit for a family :) 

Happy Tuesday!

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