This week, we're excited to feature a DIY project by one of our multi-talented employees! Samira works online by day but by night, she works on her fixer-upper home, which she's put lots of sweat equity into. This week, she shares with us the steps she took to renovate her curb with new plants and flowers. Enjoy!
This is clearly the before picture. Actually, it is the after picture - as in “After my Mom came to visit and tore up the yard.” When my Mom left, finishing it was left to the love of my life and me, rookie gardeners responsible for countless tragic Money Tree deaths.
Our first step was to plan the results and estimate costs and materials. Our priorities were: minimal watering and weeding, planting non-allergenic plants, mimicking the paved area of our next-door neighbors and creating more privacy for our house and patio.
We excavated the grassy areas to make space for paving stones. Then we mounded the extra soil and covered the area in black landscape fabric. Lesson learned: leave enough time to complete a project - we really underestimated the endurance of 2 people who sit behind computers all day!
We choose drought-resistant plants since we live in Southern California. The bushes are Ballerina Pink Indian Hawthorne, the plants with the spiky long leaves are New Zealand Flax (also known as Cordyline), the large flowering plants are Tropicanna Canna, and the small “puffs” are Blue Fescue.
I assumed planting the bushes and plants would be the hard part of the project, but it ended up being the easiest and we were done in a little over an hour. We then covered the entire area with 24 bags of mulch. An important tip to my fellow newbie gardeners – the garden center isn’t kidding about how many bags you need per square foot. Mulch helps prevent weeds from seeing daylight while also keeping moisture in the soil.
As for the paved area, we laid more landscape fabric, covered it with an inch of sand and measured where the square pavers would go. After positioning the pavers, we added ½ to 1 inch of pebbles between them. We used about 15 bags for both sides of the house.
Total time to complete the project (side of house only – as pictured): 21 hours.
We’re very happy with the results and get a ton of compliments from our neighbors. We’ve even inspired some neighbors to spruce up their properties! Best of all, we feel a great sense of satisfaction. The most important part is doing your research on the best plants for your area as well as techniques and tools to complete the project.
Happy Gardening!
