Our landscaping progress has come a long way since purchasing our home. It hasn’t been an easy one and for some reason we’ve always decided to do major projects right in the middle of summer.  For example, summer of 2015 we completed our corner patio and this summer we tackled our biggest patio yet directly off of our home.

We couldn’t even dream of making over these spaces until we demolished and cleared out our yard first. It was a jungle of a mess where we found bread baskets, a captain’s seat from a boat, for sale signs, bricks upon bricks buried deep underground, and many other objects. Of course we didn’t find any treasures. Today’s home project is all about the before and after of our yard and the landscaping progress that’s still far from over. We gave you a glimpse into a few changes a little over a year ago with our Home Tour but a lot has changed since then.  Here’s a front row seat at our progress so far!

Side Yard

It appeared that our side yard was highly neglected for years upon moving in.  What were once bushes had turned into a pile of vines.  It took a whole day but I cleared out all of the vines to allow the bushes to grow. Not sure if they would make it or not, we waited on doing anything else to the area.  Well my friends, the bushes started to grow this year!  Let the landscaping begin.  Since these pictures I’ve added a few things to the space but we’ll take this a little bit at a time.  And total side note, the mound of broken concrete you see is from the sidewalk we had to take out in our backyard.

Pineapple Corner

You could find elephant ears throughout our backyard.  They seem to be a very popular plant here in Central Florida.  I can’t stand them.  They might look pretty neat but they take over, they are very large, and a pain to take out.  We removed them from a corner of our yard and transformed it into our pineapple corner.  We have about 5 pineapples that we started growing from the tops of eaten pineapples.  Give it two years and we’ll be enjoying pineapple everything.

Drainage

It rains. A lot. And usually around the same time every day.  We noticed our yard and old drainage system {a.k.a. broken drainage pipes} were not very effective with draining water.  Ryan being the amazing engineer that he is, created a brand new drainage system.  He even turned it into an amazing decor element in our yard while the water is secretively passed underground away from the house.  I LOVE how it turned out!

Corner Patio Update

This patio was built last summer. We were so proud and anxiously planted shrubs.  At the time we felt that they were a decent size but looking back they were so tiny.  Take a look at them a year later and how much they have grown! I’m amazed at how they took off.  I can’t wait to start shaping them once they get to our desired height.  It will certainly become a cozy corner during the fall.

Elephant Ears, Oh My!

This is a side of our yard in the back where we found the captain’s chair buried within the elephant ears.  We had to dig up three different ones to clear this space.  It took forever and as you can tell two of them are making a come back.  I’m leaving them but keeping a close eye on them!  I love the difference clearing out this spot has made visually with our yard.  It has certainly opened it up and created a clean space.

Butterfly Flower Bed

This area use to be non-existent due to an abundance of overgrown weeds flowers and three other crowded trees.  After Ryan finished his drainage, I was able to create a small butterfly flower bed. I had no idea that potato vines would grow so well in the ground and the fact that they attract butterflies! We mainly made this space for Ryan’s Passion Fruit Vine.  Our goal is for it to take over the green fence that the city owns to cover it while attracting butterflies.  The flowers on it are large, purple, and simply beautiful!

Overall View

There are days that I can’t believe this is the same yard we were greeted with when we moved in. We’ve added so many sections and spaces to it to enjoy as a family and any company we have over.  We love enjoying every part of it especially during the fall and spring. Just take a look at the before and after of this yard! 

There are already a few more things that have been added within the landscaping but that will be for another time! I’ve come to realize that turning a house into a home never ends.  But that’s what makes it a beautiful journey!  I can’t wait to keep sharing with all of you our progress of our lovely abode. I’m even more excited that you’ve joined me on this journey by visiting Within the Grove. I hope this post inspired you to start planning your next landscaping project!

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