So we've been working on our landscaping the last few weeks. When we bought this house a year ago, it was pretty weathered. We've already done work inside - a LOT of work - but the outside was also quite unkempt. We started by removing some poorly-placed trees in the backyard, which we already talked about here.
There were also some plain-looking plants in the front of the house, but we thought we could improve the look and "curb appeal" of the house if we made some improvements there.
These are what we installed below both large picture windows in the front. Two small white-flowering bushes on each side, with a small red-flowering between them.
Here is the other side:
Here is a close-up of the red-flowering bush:
We added a couple of rose bushes that were grafted to trees, and put those in pots next to the front door.
We have two VERY tall pine trees in the front lawn, with a kind of make-shift stone bed around them. We removed the plants (and weeds) that were in there and added some roses, gardenias, calla lillies and dragon flowers.
We also added some gtrasses around the patio in back. Those are just starting to come out of their winter dormancy. We will cut these back this weekend so they can grow anew.
And, this is what's going on in the vegetable garden: basil, oregano, rosemary, jalapenos and tabasco pepeprs, tons of onions and a bunch of heirloom tomatoes, some in the raised garden, others in post. There are also two avacado trees (one more ordered) an two lemon trees, also in pots.
Can I just add? It is AWESOME living in an area where we can start the vegetable garden around Valentine's day, and where it is warm enough to grow all these vegetables, fruits and flowers pretty much year-round.
We still love it here in Texas.
John P. Needham
Spring, TX
February 28, 2016