Frugal Landscaping

What a busy weekend we had... more like lots of hard work. We finally after 2 years at our new house did some landscaping.

This is a photo of the house before we bought it, our first time looking at it back in April 2007. It needed some work.

Another before photo... right before we had the exterior painted. You can see the paint samples by the garage. We hired a contractor to paint for us we were not about to climb on the roof and latter to paint. (It was winter the grass was dead)

After.... March 2009. The house exterior has been painted. Yes I know something huge is missing the tree branches. Here in Texas the Crape Myrtle tree's have to be trimmed back during the winter and in the summer they grow big and flower. I will take another photo when they bloom it looks deadly right now. Early spring is not the best time to take a photo nothing has bloomed yet... the grass is barely green.

Now for a closer look at what we did. We removed all the weeds... I've been focusing on the inside for so long I was neglecting the front.

We then removed the Lilly's they weren't blooming looked like big weeds. We planted Oleanders $22 each at Lowe's, Azalea's on sale $3 each at Lowe's, Blue Spruce (free removed from a pot) This is what the azalea's will look like when they bloom:
Oh the Oleanders are my favorite I can't wait for them to bloom like this:
Not understanding what the blooming crepe myrtle will be... just like this except white blooms
OK back to the other side of the front, under the Holly tree. We planted Indian Hawthorne (Sale $4 at The Plant Shed) and Caladiums ($1.99 each The Plant Shed).

So how did we do it frugally?

• We worked with what we had already. We would have LOVED to rip everything out and start new but that would a lot.
• We bought the smaller to medium size plants. The worker told me the small one's are just one year behind the larger one's that are almost triple in price. OK... this is a test of my patience to watch them grow.
• We went to 2 stores. Lowe's and Home Depot are cheapest for mulch. I watched the sale's for the items I wanted to plant.
• Our front needs a big oak tree, we are hoping to have one in this year. We will not purchase a baby tree. It would take decades to grow by then we will be gone. We most likely will wait for fall to plant the new tree (another tip from the gardener we spoke to, trees in our part of Texas are dormant during the fall and winter).
• I did my research of what I liked by driving around and looking at landscaping I liked.