LESSONS IN LANDSCAPING

As you may remember our yard looked a little something like this (only worse by the time we actually took possession of the house): 

After a failed attempt of removing the bushes with hedge shears, my dad educated me on the art of tying bushes to a truck. It was awesome. My bushes made it to a free listing on facebook and are now living happily at a home in Hudsonville. I was glad someone could actually use them!

A blank canvas! 

I mentioned in a previous post that my sidekick Ali educated us on how much we would save doing some landscaping this fall and I'm SO glad we listened to her advice. It totally changed the look of our house and certainly saved us big bucks on waiting until spring. 

I spent about two weeks (with major help from Linda and Connie) picking away at this every night. I cannot tell you how many people in the neighborhood I've met and have complemented the change! I especially loved those who lived in the neighborhood for 20+ years who said it has never had landscaping and the grass was always dead. Makes me wonder what they were using the greenhouse in the back for ;) 

We will be adding some trees and shrubs as time and budget allow, but I think it's a great start! 

I also think I found the nicest neighborhood in Grand Rapids. Seriously, people are SO nice! This woman happens to drive by our house often and has watched the progress. She literally stops her truck, gets out to introduce herself and goes on and on about how awesome our yard looks! A few days later, I find this box of plants from her on our doorstep. How sweet is that?!