Monday, April 18, 2011

Progress and Patience!

Yea! It is spring (in most places) and we have survived the L-O-N-G C-O-L-D winter and now it is time to get out in the garden! Warm sunshine here we come! Oh, wait, um, there is this wind to deal with!

Sooooo, yesterday while I was pouting sitting in the house waiting for the wind to die down so that I could take the baby out and we could play in the garden, I picked up the April Southern Living Magazine.

In the front of the magazine, the letter from the editor had a wonderful message. I know some people may be like me and skip this sometimes so I thought I would share what M. Lindsay Bierman (the editor) had to say.


Here it is word for word:
"As much as I (Bierman, the editor) want a yard that's worthy of these pages (Southern Living Magazine) by the end of this month, I learned from my first garden to cultivate patience and restraint before really digging in. Let's get real: You can't create Giverny in a weekend. The dirty secret is that most show house borders and "instant garden makeovers" you see in magazines and on TV quickly fade like fresh flower arrangements. If you focus first on the bones, using bulletproof plants like boxwood and holly to define and enclose spaces, you'll achieve long-lasting beauty without a single bloom. After that, you can blow your budget on annuals and perennials and pour on all the cottage charm you want."

This made me stop and think of our progress on the landscaping so far. When we moved into our house there was nothing but sandburrs which were so bad that my daughter's fourth word was "stick-a". I decided that my goal was for my daughter to have what I had growing up - a beautiful green yard that will be a cool retreat from the harsh West Texas heat.

So although, I may become a bit frustrated at the pace of our progress I am very pleased with it. So since the summer of 2008 we have gone from this:

To this
Yes, the pergola makes a BIG difference! Thanks Dad!
This is the area before the pergola:

The front WITH the pergola - much better!

This was the view from the front steps


And now we have this:
This was the west side of the house from the front entrance:

Now we have this:
This was the west side from the front:

And now this:
And these stepping stones lead to a swing that hides under the biggest tree we have!
Here is the swing which is a great spot for reading or enjoying the day with my girls!

As for the east side of the front yard. There are laveder crepe myrtles, pittosporum, dwarf pampas grass and several salvias.

Stepping stones lead you back to the front entrance where the pergola that my dad built stands.
The west front yard:
Again the front steps then:

Front steps now. I love glazed pots and I chose red to draw attention to the front entrance.

Tune in next time for photos of our progress on the backyard, kitchen garden, and courtyard. Have a wonderful weekend!
(Here are some teaser photos)



We are joining in at Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday
and The Girl Creative
and
Photobucket

14 comments:

  1. Wow, you really have made great progress. The whole thing looks wonderful so far, I'm bookmarking you so I can follow along. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. What great progress you've made! I subscribe to Southern Living-usually I read the editor's message but I must have skipped it this month. Thanks for bringing it to my attention and he's so right. I love your pergola. I've always wanted one. This is my first visit to your blog. I'm coming from BNOTP today. I am now following. Come visit me-we're having a giveaway this week.

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  3. Lovely pics.Beautiful collection of pictures.Great work.Well done.Meanwhile,plz do check my blog on freeing your mind read it,follow,be inspired and comment to improve my works too.Have a wonderful day.Thanks.

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  4. Oh my dear!...incredible progress since 08 only, wow! I adore the way your house's sorrounding look. Wonderful pics too, young lady and your princesses are adorable! I'm also your newest follower so I can come back and see what you're going to do next! I like your house's arquitechture too.
    Have a nice week.
    FABBY

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  5. Thanks or dropping by sweetie and for the nice comments! Yes, start collecting china sets, it's so much fun, I have 15 sets! I'm also married 36 yrs.!...yes! Wish you the same and for ever, I have a daughter that reminds me of you, she also has 2 little darling, if you like you can go look at: My Ganddaughters Disney Cruise. Can't wait til you tablescape!
    Hugs
    FABBY

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  6. Elaine, thank you! I love your tablescape! I am going to have to make some lemonade!

    Jane, your rockway looks so great! I want to do more rock work here in our landscaping but I will have to see if my hubby is up to it!

    Ebendy, Thank you for the lovely inspiration at your blog.

    Fabby, you are too sweet! I love those tablescapes - keep them coming!

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  7. Kelsey, Thank you for visiting my blog and for your kind words.

    I had forgotten Texas was so large!! Your expansive views are awesome.
    The transformation from 2008 is really blowing my mind. You have done an incredible amount of work. Do you have enough rain or do you use irrigation? Everything looks so lush. I am coming back to see the back. keep up the good work.

    I am your newest follower. Ginger

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  8. Thanks Ginger! You are too sweet! I loved seeing all the roses you featured on your blog today! I LOVE roses and getting to take a virtual garden tour is so much fun! Here in Alpine we get most of our rain in the summer starting in June. Therefore, the rain meets most of our needs in the summer! However, April and May are very dry here and so I have to supplement. I use soaker hoses and water by hand mostly. Thanks for the comment. It is so nice and wake up to a compliment!

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  9. Wow! What a transformation...just beautiful!

    Thank you for visiting my blog and thank you for the compliment! I look forward to checking your blog out too. God bless! ~Meghan

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  10. What a beautiful home you have! I love your pergola!! :)

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  11. I am a yard and green grass nut and this is gorgeous. Beautiful yard. thanks for joining WUW.

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  12. Beautiful transformation, Kelsey! It takes patience and love to pull off a home update like this. Your home is lovely! Thank you for sharing and I, too, love your pergola :)

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  13. Thank y'all very much. It was a lot of fun to turn a sticker patch into a fun yard to play and relax in. Luckily we get our rain in the summer here so we usually only run the sprinklers in April and May. I hope y'all have a wonderful and fantastic day! Happy gardening and blogging!

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  14. Your yard looks much improved - - and I love the style of your home - - not a cookie cutter house!

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