Swift & Straightforward Landscaping Updates
A few weeks ago we shared on Instagram how we (at last) landscaped the front yard at our beach house in Cape Charles. But we hoped to give you some more details on how we knocked it out in simply a few hours, what we planted, and how it is doing today (nearly two months later). Plus we enjoy the idea of having these photos on the journal to look back on in a few years when things continue to grow in. The beach house gets tons of sun, so everything seems truly glad so far.
We do not frequently feel quite confident in the landscaping & gardening department (hence relying on professionals for our backyard at home) but we knew even our limited skills could drastically improve the greenery situation at the beach house. For reference, this was the state of its “landscaping” when we first picked up it:
But even as lately as this winter, things were still looking fairly bleak. Sure, the house itself had gone through some fairly dramatic changes, but the yard was still extremely sad looking. Do not mind the giant mess of vines in the foreground of this picture. It is a photo from after our contractor took out the rusted shed in the backyard and cleared out the raging poison ivy that surrounded it – which ended up by the curb awaiting pickup. It truly upped the ambiance. Gave it a certain Maleficient vibe.
So back in April, we found out that Virginia’s Historic Garden Week was coming to Cape Charles. Not that our house would be on the tour, but with plenty of tourists coming into town, we knew they’d be walking right past our house (a house on the corner of our street WAS on the tour). So we took it as a deadline to at last dress up our front yard. Lucky for us, the yard is not quite big, so we were able to knock it out in simply one morning.
Not knowing if the local nursery would be open for the season yet (it closes down for the winter) we stocked up on a few plants at our local Home Depot before our 2.5 hour drive to the Eastern Shore. Our typical M.O. when purchasing plants is:
- Choose a variety of colors, even if that simply means a variation in greens
- Look to incorporate distinct heights so everything grows in and feels varied and layered
- Read the labels to make sure they work in the conditions we have (full sun, part sun, etc)
- Choose perennials over annuals whenever possible (meaning they come back each year as opposed to dying off in the winter)
- Go with as many non-deciduous plants as we can (meaning they will not drop leaves in the winter, which can make the whole landscape bed look like it is full of dried brown sticks four months out of the year)
With that in mind, we kept things plain and purchased what you see below:
- 3 sunshine ligustrum bushes (bright greeny-yellow color, do not drop leaves in the winter)
- 3 gardenia bushes (darker leaves with white flowers that bloom, do not drop leaves in winter)
- 3 purple flowering phlox (colorful flowers that creep like a ground cover – they do drop leaves but they are perennials, so they should come back each year)
- 2 large ferns to hang on the porch (the only things we are planning to replace every spring)
Buying the phlox was weirdly invigorating. We cannot plant anything that flowers here at home because the deer must get notifications on their iPhones about it or something. It simply seems like the minute anyone puts them in the ground they get nibbled to stubs. We enjoy the deer, but sometimes they are a real buzzkill. Fortunately, Cape Charles does not have the same issue, so we picked up the phlox because a neighbor two doors down already has a pleasant bed of creeping phlox and we thought the purple would look lively with a pink house.
Long story short, we loaded everything up in the car and hit the road the next day.
Since we are nothing but true professionals, neither of us managed to take any photos of the process (this seems to happen a lot when we are working under the ticking clock of having to get on the road in time to get back before the kids are out of school). But I in short used a shovel to cut out some swooping planting beds that Sherry and I had “sketched in the dirt” on either side of the porch. The local nursery was open, so we were also able to grab a couple more plants:
- 2 taller camellia bushes to anchor each side of the house (they flower & do not drop their leaves)
- 2 creeping phlox for the end of the sidewalk (who says no to more perennial flowers?)
- several bags of mulch to finish the job
Admittedly, we realized afterwards that we were not especially crazy about those little slivers of mulch connecting the main beds to the front corners, but we did not have the time to fix them on this particular trip. Plus, we had quite low expectations for that phlox staying alive. After all, we had absolutely no system for watering our plantings while we are gone (besides mother nature) so we mostly were simply hoping they stayed alive through the Historic Garden Week event.
Well, fast forward about two months and things are doing surprisingly well! Not only has everything survived, you might even say several things have thrived! The color of the mulch has even mellowed out, so we do not mind those dinky slivers along the sidewalk as much anymore.
The ligustrum and gardenias have already grown quite a bit, and we have even had a couple rounds of flowers on the gardenias (thanks to everyone’s pointers on Instagram about deadheading the old flowers). The purple flowers on the phlox withered, so we have clipped them off in hopes of spurring on some fresh growth there.
Although the thing I am likely most excited about is a mystery plant on the left side of the house, which has come back with a vengeance. This bush was fairly large when we picked up the house (simply scroll up to see it – it was nearly as tall as the front door!) but it had to be trimmed back during construction so things like the siding could be brought in and the brick foundation could be repointed.
Then during the strong water meter hunt of 2017 it had to be fully chopped to a stump. But it is making a swift comeback (it is the one on the far left below). It should be a strong anchor and provide some privacy on that side once it gets fuller. We will certainly keep it pruned so it is never as big as the door again, but a “free” plant the regenerates from a stump gives me strong joy (and confidence in its hardiness).
There is still plenty more to landscape at this house, particularly around the side and the back, but all of that is on hold until we can get our shed and patio installed… which is on hold until the duplex gets a little further along… so who knows what sort of timetable we will be on for that. But at least in the meantime, we have the front looking a lot less bare. Plus the neighbor’s hydrangeas have began blooming and they are giant and colorful (and also something the deer eat like candy in Richmond), so Sherry has been campaigning to layer some of them into not only the sides and the back, but perhaps the front landscaping as well. Will keep you posted if/when she gets her way. Ha!
If you are looking for more landscaping or curb appeal ideas and projects, we have a whole category of Exterior Upgrades – including some of these go-tos:
