Earning my "Green Thumb"?

It's been another super busy and productive couple of days around here. The weather has been awesome and has made me want to spend all my time outdoors. I mentioned here a few weeks back that I did some major prep work in my backyard (pics of that in a minute) but this past weekend I actually managed to tackle the front flowerbeds too which needed a TON of help! My dad and brother decided to come up and help me with the overhaul and I'm so very thankful that they did. It takes a lot of muscle to fix up a yard! 

Shame on me, I didn't take any "before" pics but I did get a fun in-process picture of us ripping out the dead plants and mulch in the flower bed...

 

That mulch/bark/"ugly dirty stuff" was easily half a foot deep and it was NASTY! Just from the front flower beds alone we filled up 2 huge green trashcans and 6 trash bags of that stuff. It was so gross looking and absolutely had to go. Once that was gone, we were able to see what we had to work with. 

We then pulled out a bunch of dead plants and weeds, which left the entire left side of the flower bed empty, so next we transplanted five overgrown plants from other parts of the flowerbed to fill in the space. After that we planted several new flowery plants to add some color and to fill in the empty spots, and then laid fresh clean bark across everything. 

I so wish I had some "before" pictures to show you because these after pics are such a massive improvement. For someone who has considers herself to have absolutely NO green thumb, I think it turned out pretty awesome! I'm excited for the pink flowery plants to grow in more and add even more color to the front of the house!

I also added a few fun potted plants to the porch...

As I mentioned before, the backyard was my main goal to fix up before Jake gets home. We love spending time out in the yard barbequing during the summer so I wanted it to be a nice space for us to really enjoy.  The yards on base are not very large and the grass that was put in was not looking so good so for the past month I've been filling in empty dead spots with grass seed, fixing up holes dug by the dogs, fertilizing, mowing, edging, and watering like a crazy person!! It's finally turned nice and green and starting to look like a nice yard - its a miracle!

This past weekend I added the finishing touches on the yard (for now) which included new patio cushions, some patio decor, an outdoor rug, a few hanging planters on the fence, etc...

One of the biggest things I did was install a small side fence that keeps the dogs only on one side of the yard when we are not home (the yard actually curves around the house which you can't see in the photo below). Bailey and Badger are now able to play, dig, and "do their business" in their own area which keeps the rest of the yard clean and green and nice. The dogs have taken to the change really well and don't seem to mind much at all. This area of the yard has shade all day long so it's a perfect place for them to be. I've also moved their igloo doghouse around the corner for them to enjoy where it's no longer an eyesore :)

So what do you think?? It's such a major improvement on what we had last year at this time that it's hard to believe it's the same yard. I definitely worked for it though! My whole body has been so sore all week and I also ended up with this horrible farmer's tan and some super sunburned lips :(

It wasn't even 70 degrees out so I didn't think about wearing sunscreen... not smart!! It went down a lot by the next day though and thankfully I'm headed to the beach this weekend so I can even it out :)