Front Yard Landscaping: The Before

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It seems appropriate to share progress on my front yard landscaping while it’s currently covered under a couple of inches of snow, right? Have no fear, though, I took pictures at the start and end of the project. It’s just taken me a bit longer than anticipated to share them here.

As many of you know, I purchased my current home last June. One of the projects on my list of home improvements was work on the yard. There are two acres of land, and it seems to have been neglected for several years, so I’m excited to give it some attention.

The first area I wanted to tackle was this grove of trees in front of my house.

Front Yard Landscaping: The Before #landscaping #frontyard #exterior

Front Yard Landscaping: The Before #landscaping #frontyard #exterior

While the grouping of trees provided privacy and shade, the planting bed was a bit out of control.

The trees that were planted there were not the prettiest, plus they were being taken over with vines. So much so that several of the trees were dead. I also use the term “planted” loosely. My guess is that these trees were volunteers, so the spacing of them was not ideal. In addition to all of that, there were lots of random trees, bushes, and weeds popping up in the ground cover below the trees. As you can imagine, everything needed to go for a fresh start.

Front Yard Landscaping: The Before #landscaping #frontyard #exterior

I hired a local tree trimming service to cut down the trees and remove the stumps since this was work I wasn’t equipped to tackle.

In the span of an afternoon, everything was cleared. I even had them cut down a couple other dead and oddly placed trees on this end of the property.

Front Yard Landscaping: The Before #landscaping #frontyard #exterior

I would have had a few more trees removed, but in my borough, there is a limit as to how many trees you can cut down at once. Also, removal of any tree with a diameter larger than 6 inches must have borough approval. It’s a bit annoying, but I appreciate that this is necessary to maintain the lush and forest-like feel of the area.

Front Yard Landscaping: The Before #landscaping #frontyard #exterior

Front Yard Landscaping: The Before #landscaping #frontyard #exterior

With tree removal complete, I worked with a local landscaper to develop a plan to take this empty and awkward planting bed from blah to beautiful.

And yes, I realize things don’t look that great now. I think this is one of those “It gets worse before it gets better” situations.

I did a bit of research and found a great company that I was excited about using to help me tackle the whole yard. I thought if I could have them do a portion each year along with a few projects on my own, Bayberry House would soon be looking more manicured and loved.

After talking about my goals for the property, picking plants, and deciding on a layout for the new bed, a date was set for installation.

And since this is just the “before” post, I think I’ll end it here.

I’ll pop back in and give you a look at the finished project in the coming days. Stay tuned! Until then, I hope you enjoyed this look at my front yard landscaping project in the middle of winter!

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9 Comments

  1. I personally think you need trees there to block the view of the Nouveau looking McMansion that you can now see at the near end of the next block. That view wouldn’t work for me.

    1. Well, the trees there wouldn’t block that house. I would need trees along the entire front of my property. It doesn’t bother me too much. To each their own.

      xo Michael

  2. The view of the house sans trees looks so good now!! The house is way too pretty to cover up with trees. Good call! Excited to see how things continue come springtime!

  3. I have a term for what you removed: trash trees! We had a huge row of them between us and one neighbor. When we got rid of all the vines, weeds and trash trees we uncovered a lovely magnolia in the neighbor’s yard. She was thrilled! It’s taken many years but that stunted magnolia is growing nicely now. And the trash tree line has been replaced with hydrangeas, day lilies and other pretty things. Looking forward to seeing your transformation.

  4. Love the new look. Based on where we live (Chicago suburb), hubby is a Cook County forest restoration volunteer. So I totally understand the need in removing trees, vines and whatever other invasives there might be. All this removal will pay off because the things you’ve removed will help the new growth get off to a better start. As always, looking forward to what’s to come!! 3″ of snow where I live this morn and more to possibly come with lake effect. An indoor day for decluttering, watching movies, baking and the list goes on………lol