Curb Appeal - The Seemingly Never-Ending Home Improvement Project!

We live in a subdivision that was developed during the 1980s. There are lots of mature trees, manicured lawns, and several houses with curb appeal to spare. Then there's our house. Mature trees? Check. Manicured lawn? Um...well, the weeds get mowed on a weekly basis. Curb appeal? Severely lacking!!! Until recently...

We bought our house from my parents three and a half years ago. They made a few minor improvements to the 20+ year old shrubs, but it seems like as soon as we moved in, the weeds took over. A year or two ago, Alex cut down 3 pine trees that were growing right up next to the house and were starting to block the gutters. Then the stumps just sat there. So ugly. This past Spring, he cut down 4 bushes in the same area and planned on removing lava rock, all the old stumps, and putting down new mulch. Then the mild Spring weather suddenly turned very hot and humid and the whole project was put on hold. I was certain we had the ugliest landscaping in the neighborhood. Weeds grew several feet tall and literally covered the entire area along our sidewalk leading up to our front door. It was embarrassing.

Alex took a week of vacation in September and spent 3 days digging up lava rock, pulling out old stumps and planting new bushes. We went to a local nursery and bought Green Velvet Boxwoods, Nandinas (which turn dark red during the Fall and Winter), and some monkey grass. We dragged the pack-n-play out onto our porch and Natalie hung out with us for a few hours while we laid down new weed barrier (fingers crossed that it actually works!), spread new cypress mulch and planted all the plants. Here's the final result! We are so excited to no longer be the "ugliest house in the neighborhood"!