A Front Yard Landscape Update, Green Beauty Boxwoods Growing Like Weeds!

Welcome to the 597th Metamorphosis Monday! Over the past few months, I've had several requests to give an update on the front yard landscaping I completed back during Spring 2016. I've been meaning to share an update because I'm absolutely stunned how much the Green Beauty Boxwood shrubs I planted back then have grown! Here's a before photo that was taken that May not too long after I planted all the … [Read more...]




Did Those Boxwood Shrubs Bounce Back? Sharing a Few Landscape Updates!

Welcome to the 504th Metamorphosis Monday! Back in May 2016, I redid the landscaping directly in front of my home. I chose Green Beauty Boxwood shrubs as my foundation plants and this was how they looked on the pallet at the store just prior to having them delivered.   Here's how they looked after I planted them over the course of a few days. It was a challenge keeping them watered until I … [Read more...]




The Easy Way to Dry or Preserve Limelight Hydrangea Blossoms

How is your weekend going? I've been working a little outside. I need to be working A LOT outside! There's tons of weeding to be done...and other stuff. One little project I knocked out was cleaning out the interior and exterior of this Lazy Hill Farms birdhouse. I didn't think I'd be posting about it so neglected to take any "Before" pictures, but it was yucky. We've had soooo much rain this spring and … [Read more...]




Deck Updates, Great Deck Cleaner and a Little Garden Whimsy

Welcome to the 488th Metamorphosis Monday! Last week I shared some deck updates I was working on. In between all the big storms we've been having this past week, I've been working on spiffing up the deck for summer. Before In this photo from last week, you can see the decking was super dirty from all the yucky stuff that had fallen from the giant tree whose trunk you can see there at the end of the … [Read more...]




A Bottle Tree Makeover for Summer & A Bit of Furniture Re-arranging

Welcome to the 487th Metamorphosis Monday! For this week's Met Monday, I have more of a "Before and Middle" than a "Before and After." See the bottle tree that's out on the deck in this photo below? (View this beach-themed table setting here: Beach-themed Tablescape.)   I love bottle trees, love their folklore and whimsy. If you've never heard of bottle trees, they have an interesting … [Read more...]




Dharuma Hydrangea, A Low-Growing Hydrangea That Loves the Sun

Back in the summer of 2014, I planted a few flowers around my mailbox including a Dharuma Hydrangea that was supposed to do well in full sun and be low-growing. I didn't want a big shrub in this spot since space was limited. Do you see it there, just behind the mailbox?   Here's a photo of it a few weeks after it was first planted.   As I was leaving to go someplace one evening … [Read more...]




Not Again!

Is there such a thing as bad tree karma? If there is, I think I have a terrible case of it. A few months ago, a large tree in my back yard that had been leaning since the day I moved in 26 years ago, decided it was tired of leaning and gently laid itself down across the length of my backyard. Scared the willies out of me when it fell since it was late at night. I sat listening inside my office wondering … [Read more...]




Lazy Hill Farm Feeder: A Beautiful Accent Piece for the Garden

Welcome to the 442nd Metamorphosis Monday! When I had cute Eastern Phoebe birds nesting in the corner of my front porch...   ...I was offering fresh mealworms a couple of times a day via this pitiful setup. lol The mom and dad Phoebe would get super excited each time I brought out mealworms and placed them in the bowl. Occasionally, I would look out the window and see them perched on the … [Read more...]




Stacks of Dishes, An Unwanted Visitor and A New Accent Piece For the Garden

It's utter chaos at my house right now. I'm in the "has-to-get-worse-before-it-can-get-better" stage of reworking my dish storage. I've been pulling out all the dishes, chargers, etc... that I think I will want to store in the new cabinets that I've ordered. (Sorry about the dark photo, took this very early this morning.)   If you missed that post about the cabinets, you'll find it here: … [Read more...]




Limelight Hydrangeas in Bloom and Sweet Visitors To The Porch

Just popping in this Sunday afternoon with a quick post...a couple of random things that are going on right now that I thought you might enjoy. You may remember last year I purchased a Limelight Hydrangea to go in front when I was landscaping the front yard with boxwood shrubs. I already had one of these tree form hydrangeas but decided I wanted one on each side of the front porch. This photo is from … [Read more...]




A Few Garden Updates and A Plant I Wish I Had Never Placed In My Yard!

Welcome to the 431st Metamorphosis Monday! Happy New Week! Hope you had a great weekend! I spent part of mine working in the yard and I still have so much more to do out there. For the last couple of years I've known that I should trim-reshape the Green Mountain Boxwoods I placed in planters on either side of the front porch a few years back, but I've been worried I would totally mess them up. Here's … [Read more...]




Washing Benches at O’Dark:30, Birdie Nesting, Hat Storage and Garden Updates

I awoke this morning long before daylight. The numbers on the ceiling showed 4:00. Apparently my body is still on Morocco time which is 5 hours later. Ugh. After laying there for about an hour, I gave up on sleep and got on up. So what do you do at 5:00 AM? I gave both the benches on the front porch (and the porch itself) a good wash, they were seriously covered in pollen.   I took this … [Read more...]




Brad Nailer for a Small Gate Repair & Deer Ate My Violas!

Welcome to the 415th Metamorphosis Monday! I've been on a mission the last several months, really going all the way back to last summer, to clear out anything and everything that I don't use on a regular basis. That has included going through all the closets in my home. There are 12 closets in this house: 10 upstairs and 2 on the main level. That's not including the eve storage off the upstairs living … [Read more...]




Planting Tulips and Violas & A Little Christmas Table Shopping

Welcome to the 408th Metamorphosis Monday! Yesterday I cut and brought in the last of the Limelight Hydrangea blossoms. Can you believe this hydrangea was still producing new blooms! The temps have been dipping toward the freezing point each night, so I knew these last few flowers were about to be gone. Limelight Hydrangeas truly are amazing, giving blooms throughout summer all the way into fall. … [Read more...]




Home & Decor Updates: The Good and The Not-So-Good

Welcome to the 406th Metamorphosis Monday! I have several small Before and Afters updates I've been wanting to share, so I'm grouping them all together in one post. Before we get to those, a couple of folks emailed and messaged me recently to let me know the Better Homes and Garden dishware that many of us have been collecting over the years, is back in stock again. (Thanks for that!) They have added … [Read more...]




Erma Bombeck Would Have Loved This!

Welcome to the 405th Metamorphosis Monday! Imagine you arrive home one evening an hour or so before nightfall. As you pull into your driveway, you glance over and see something rather shocking. Your next-door neighbor is outside in her front yard, merrily vacuuming the lawn while grinning and laughing maniacally. Do  you: A. Smile, wave, and act like everything is normal Or B. Call the … [Read more...]




The Metamorphosis of a Limelight Hydrangea

Welcome to the 388th Metamorphosis Monday! Happy Independence Day! Hope you're having a fabulous one! Thanks for sharing all your experiences in the comments on yesterday's post about my Windows 10 update nightmare and the following scam telephone call I received. I learned yesterday from two different readers that someone actually sued Windows over the damage their update caused to their computer … [Read more...]




Periwinkle Blue for a Whimsical Potting Bench

Welcome to the 386th Metamorphosis Monday! When I ordered this potting bench, I had plans to give it a few coats of marine varnish. (Potting Bench can be found here: Potting Bench.) But somewhere along the way I changed my mind and decided to have a little fun with it. I wanted to paint it, but what color? I searched online for painted potting benches and found a lot of cute ones, but still didn't see a … [Read more...]




How I Plant Trees and Shrubs in Georgia’s Red Clay Soil

Recently someone asked in a comment if I had written a post showing my process for planting shrubs. I was thinking about that today and remembered that I had written a post about 1-1/2 years ago that showed how I planted some Leyland Cypress trees in my back yard. I figured a refresher is never a bad idea, so hope you find this post helpful. I don't have the best luck with keeping indoor plants alive, … [Read more...]




Should Burlap Be Removed From a Ball & Burlap Plant, Prior to Planting It?

Got a question for ya. When you're planting a balled and burlapped shrub or tree, do you remove or do anything to the burlap before planting it? If you've always wondered about that, I have the answer once and for all from one of the most respected growers out there. In the past when I've planted shrubs that were ball and burlap, I've always been told by a well-known, popular nursery with many locations … [Read more...]




A Whimsical Garden Bench for the Front Porch & Some Landscape Updates

Welcome to the 382nd Metamorphosis Monday! See that chart below? Yay, for sunshine! Finally, the re-varnishing of the screened porch floor can start tomorrow. It was scheduled for almost two weeks ago, but the weather has not cooperated. Finally, we have sunny days ahead.   Boxwood Shrubs for the Front Yard Landscape While I've been awaiting sunny days, my focus has returned to the … [Read more...]




A New Addition To The Garden: Copper Roof Dovecote

One of my favorite things to do each spring is to go on the spring garden tours in my area. I love a garden tour every bit as much as I love a great home tour. Over the years while on garden tours, I would often come across these big, beautiful birdhouses. Eventually, I asked someone and found out they were dovecotes. The ones I saw and loved the most were by a company called, Lazy Hill. When I added on … [Read more...]




Transplanting a Waterfall Japanese Maple

Welcome to the 325th Metamorphosis Monday! My Before and After this Monday involves this Waterfall Japanese Maple. It's a success story with a disturbing twist. I planted the maple here about 15+ years ago when it was very, very small. It turned out to be a bad spot for it because it grew much more quickly than I expected and soon overshadowed the shrubs, which had to be removed. When I was having … [Read more...]




Ready For Spring Planting

Welcome to the 312th Metamorphosis Monday! Thanks so much for all the comments left on my last post. I read each one, not just once, but several times. Your prayers, encouragement and individual stories have been a true blessing and they have brought me much comfort over the last few days. So many of you well-know the heartache of losing someone very close to you. I'll be returning to that post to read … [Read more...]




It’s Flag City Around Here!

Welcome to the 311th Metamorphosis Monday! If you are participating in Met Monday (a blog party that's all about Before and Afters) please don't forget to include a link in your post back to today's party so your readers will find the other participants who have also linked up. Please do not link up a post you've just previously linked up in the last 2-3 weeks since readers will have already seen that post. … [Read more...]




Gardening Challenges And A Wacky Idea That Just May Work

Welcome to the 299th Metamorphosis Monday! I have something kinda wacky to share this week. You'll either think it's the most brilliant thing you've ever heard or you'll think it's completely NUTS...pun intended! But before I share my wacky plan, here's what I've been up to...planting Double Mint Gardenias. So far I've had two planting sessions and I still don't have all five of them in, but I'm making … [Read more...]




Leyland Cypress Trees Offer Screening And Privacy

Welcome to the 298th Metamorphosis Monday! Shortly after moving into my home 22+ years ago, we planted a lot of Leyland Cypress trees on either side of our home to provide screening and privacy from the houses on either side. One side of my porch and deck is very private, the other side is kind of close to my neighbor's home. I like my neighbors but there are times when it would be nice to have more … [Read more...]




Goodbye Squirrel Highway

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on whether I should move the Savannah Holly I planted recently back a little toward the house, or leave it where I had planted it. In case you missed that post, I planted a Savannah Holly tree at the right corner of my home as kind of an anchor plant for that end of the house. The landscape plan created by a landscape designer last year indicated the tree should be … [Read more...]




The Landscape Plan

Last September, after a summer spent reclaiming my front yard from the overgrown jungle it had become, I consulted the services of a local garden nursery and had a landscape plan created. I thought you might enjoy seeing it so I'm sharing it in today's post. To get a closer look, press CTRL + a few times on your keyboard. Once you're done viewing the plan, press CTRL 0 (zero) to return to normal. When … [Read more...]




Need Your Opinion: 8 Feet vs 10 Feet

Welcome to the 297th Metamorphosis Monday! Greetings! How was your weekend? This weekend was a productive one around here. I was able to get all the Savannah Holly trees in, although one may need to be moved. I need your help to decide. I hired someone to help me get all the trees planted and I worked alongside him digging the holes and helping the entire time. I'm sore today, but it's a good … [Read more...]




Here We Go Again!

I'm in serious landscaping mode again and I may have bitten off more than I can chew. That's usually my modus operandi, dive in head first and when it appears I'm in over my head, start digging my way out. Only this time I'm just plain digging! :) Before we get to the digging, I am busting to share some absolutely adorable stuff I found in a local nursery this weekend. I love shopping at a Pike Nursery … [Read more...]




Overcoming Winter Kill And My Own Personal Version Of Crop Circles

Welcome to the 289th Metamorphosis Monday! So, remember when that awful ice storm hit Georgia this past winter and paralyzed all of metro Atlanta? It was in the news for days since so many folks were stranded on the interstates and roads, unable to get home for several days.   That ice storm did this to my "just-sodded-last-summer" front yard. I shared these pics on the blog in May of this … [Read more...]




A Garden Update

Welcome to the 286th Metamorphosis Monday! We've been having spring-like weather all this week, crazy weather for the middle of July. The cooler temps have been a nice respite from the heat. The garden I put in around the mailbox several months ago has been thriving in the milder temps.   I thought for this Met Monday I'd share a how's it changed over the past six weeks. Here's how it … [Read more...]




A Vicious Intruder In The Garden

Welcome to the 282nd Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was great although part of it involved dealing with a vicious intruder in the garden. You may remember this view from last summer, it's the walkway that leads to my front porch.   Notice the clump of bushes off to right. Three of those are spiraea a friend gave me many years ago. They have pink flowers each … [Read more...]




I Broke The Number One Rule Of Container Gardening

Welcome to the 280th Metamorphosis Monday! I never did much "container" gardening until I added on a screened-in porch.  My old deck was hotter than the hinges of...well, you know. The west sun beat down upon it every single afternoon making it impossible to sit out there. Forget sitting, you couldn't even walk barefoot out there without risking 3rd degree burns on your feet!  And then there was the … [Read more...]




Tree Form Tardiva Hydrangea Adds Privacy and Screening To The Deck

Every year I spruce up the deck a bit for the spring/summer season. I've delayed this year because I've been getting estimates for having the porch and decks pressure washed and painted and it didn't make sense to buy plants and fill up all the pots if they were all going to have to be moved, come painting time. Once plans for a Memorial Day cookout got underway, I threw caution to the wind and started … [Read more...]




Boxwood Topiaries for a Traditional Landscape

Welcome to the 240th Metamorphosis Monday! How's your Labor Day weekend going? I hope you're having a fun one! Well, it took some doing but I finally found a couple of matching boxwoods for the planters I purchased recently for the front porch area. Remember these large containers I purchased a couple of weeks ago?  They replaced the too-small concrete pots that had been there for … [Read more...]




Create a Small, Sun-Loving Perennial Garden

Welcome to the 238th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I did a little more planting and if the rain will let up, I'm headed to a nursery today in search of plants for the large planters I purchased recently for the porch. I'm in a bit of a conundrum, though. Two of the nurseries I have talked to told me they will be getting large shipments in for fall, so I'm trying to decide: Do I … [Read more...]




New Lattice Planters for the Porch

You know those days when you run and work, work and run, but at the end of the day you're not real sure what you've gotten accomplished. Lately some of my days are feeling that way. I'm kind of in never-never land or maybe a better term is landscaping limbo. I have about forty-eleven projects running through my head and some require decision making, some require additional money and some require input … [Read more...]




A Landscaping “To-Do” List and a Surprise “Before and After”

I've been putting off a major landscape renovation for several years. I knew it would have to start with some serious tree removal and the process would be expensive and emotionally taxing. I hate cutting down trees but there is no shortage of trees in my yard, my neighborhood or this area. If anything, as I drive around my area I see so many houses in the same situation mine was in--buried behind and under … [Read more...]




Adding Color and Whimsy to the Garden

Welcome to the 237th Metamorphosis Monday! This weekend was a first for me. It was the first time I've ever planted annuals in August. When I went shopping, I wasn't sure if I'd find any since I've never shopped for them this late in the season. Surprisingly the usual places (hardware stores, big box discount stores and garden centers) do have them, even in August. The selection isn't what it is in mid … [Read more...]




Water New Grass with an In-ground Irrigation System

One of the chief components to ensuring a newly installed lawn takes root and establishes well is water, lots and lots of water. I was told by my landscaper and the sod farm to water it at least twice a day for the first two weeks. If we were having a really super hot August (thankfully, we're not) I'd probably have to water even more. Fortunately, when I moved into this house 22 years ago, I installed … [Read more...]




Chipmunk Baths

When I decided to sod my yard with Zeon Zoysia, to save money I planned to do it in two stages: Front yard, followed by the back yard next summer. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that was probably not such a great idea. I was concerned the grass in the front yard would get damaged next summer when the backyard sodding process got underway. I'm so glad now I went ahead and did both at the … [Read more...]




A Sweet Bird Girl in the Garden

Welcome to the 236th Metamorphosis Monday! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I spent all day Friday and Saturday at the Haven Conference in Atlanta. On Sunday, I finished putting out another 25 bags of mulch. That brings the total to 102 bags of mulch! Normally it wouldn't take that much mulch but many of the beds/islands are empty, awaiting shrubs this fall. Today I'm taking you into the yard to … [Read more...]




Zeon Zoysia for the Front Yard

Yesterday was definitely a day of mixed emotions, first excitement, then some disappointment.  Though things didn't go quite as planned, I still have some fun "after" photos to share. The Zeon Zoysia sod was delivered and installation got underway. As the day wore on, it became apparent there wasn't enough sod to complete the job. The side yard and a portion of the back still needs sod, so instead … [Read more...]




Sod Day!

Today is another crazy day in the neighborhood.  This morning there was still a little work to be done in preparation for the sod, but the sod is here. 12 pallets waiting to be installed in the front and back. I went with Zeon Zoysia.  I have plenty of sun out front but the back is kind of shady. Zeon is the most shade tolerant of all the warm-season turf grass varieties. It's a fine-textured … [Read more...]




A Gardening “Before and After”

Wow, crazy day! This post was suppose to be up hours ago but so much has happened today, I'm running way behind.  I've decided to go ahead and sod the back yard at the same time the front yard is being done.  Since the job has grown, we've decided to wait and start it on Monday. Monday will be prep day and Tuesday will be install day, barring no more rain. The sod farms can't cut sod when it's standing in … [Read more...]




Landscape Renovation: Big Changes and Ready for the Sod

Things are starting to happen quickly now with the front landscape renovation. The stump grinder guy didn't make it out yesterday but he is on his way now as I type this. Then the slate will be clean for the sod installation on Tuesday. Yipee! Last week I drove by a few of the lawns installed by the company I've chosen to install my sod.  I've decided to go with Zeon Zoysia.  I like what I've read online … [Read more...]




Front Yard Landscape Renovation

Welcome to the 231st Metamorphosis Monday! Before I dive into this week's Met Monday, just wanted to take a second to answer a question I've been getting about the BNOTP newsletter, Postcards from the Porch. I haven't sent one out since Max passed because I just didn't have the energy to create blog posts and put together the newsletter, too. I will be starting it back up soon though, most likely this … [Read more...]




Front Yard Landscape Makeover: The Beginning

Atlanta has a lot of nicknames, Hotlanta and The Big Peach to name a few.  My favorite has always been, the City in the Forest. Apparently, it got that name because when flying into Hartsfield Jackson, Atlanta appears to be nestled down into a forest.  The drought has taken its toll on a lot of trees over the last few years though, so not sure if Atlanta is still living up to its City in the … [Read more...]




Fill Those Summer Pots and Planters Without Blowing the Budget

This past Sunday I managed to get a little planting done before the rain started back.  Most of the planting took place on the deck off to the right of the porch, the one with the bottle tree. Come spring, I'm always looking for ways to spruce up and add color and life to the deck without spending a whole bunch.  Bottle trees are a great way to add color and liven things up and they require no … [Read more...]




Wake Up the Porch & Decks for Spring

Welcome to the 168th Metamorphosis Monday! Preparing the Porch and Decks for Spring: Cleaning and Planting At the start of this past winter, I decided to try something new.  Instead of tossing the big geranium that lives all summer on the porch, and the three smaller ones visible behind this summer table setting below, I tucked them all away in my garage for the winter. Amazingly, they lived.  They … [Read more...]




Bottle Tree Dreams in Abundance

When I last shared a few pics of my bottle tree, it was looking pretty puny.   (If you're wondering what in tarnation a bottle tree is, check out this previous post: Bottle Tree: The Poor Man's Stained Glass   I've been waiting for Hobby Lobby to have another "glass" sale.  In the meantime, I've collected 3-4 more, via consumption.  Plus, my BFF, Jan, dropped a couple by recently, too.  I think she took … [Read more...]




A Dovecote in the Garden

A Dovecote in the Garden Landscape Recently, I posted about a kind soul who came to my "rescue." That post contained lots of photos of the large dovecote in my perennial garden that runs along my driveway. I received several e-mails from readers asking for more information about this bird house and where I found it. My interest in a dovecote for my garden came from years of going on garden tours. Often, … [Read more...]




Knockout Rose Trees Knock Out Squirrels

In early spring, April to be exact, I went in search of "something" to fill the two tall urns that stand on one of my decks. The past two springs I had purchased tall hibiscus, but Mr. Squirrel, who lives in my backyard, tip-toed onto my deck every. single. day. and stole almost all the leaves off the two hibiscus, one leaf at the time.   I was not amused!   So, this year I … [Read more...]




Knock-out Roses, Just in Time for Mother’s Day

I've planted pink Knock-out Roses in tall urns on my deck. I've been using hibiscus here for the past two summers, but the squirrels tip-toe onto the deck...yes, they tip-toe, they know they are doing a bad thing...and they completely strip off all the leaves on my hibiscus. After two summers in a row of that nonsense, it was time to try something new. So, this year, it's Knock-out Roses...and these … [Read more...]




Creating a Planter from a Chair

Welcome to the 29th Metamorphosis Monday! I don't have a before pic of this chair I found recently at A Classy Flea, but I was told the seat was in very bad condition and was not salvageable. So...what to do? Turn it into a lovely planter! The seller at A Classy Flea, attached a square wire planter container to the chair. I'm sorry, but I've forgotten where she said she found the … [Read more...]




Creating a Perennial Garden

Welcome to the 6th Metamorphosis Monday! My Metamorphosis for this Met Monday is a perennial garden I "built" many years ago.  I want to apologize in advance for the quality of these pics. They were taken many years ago, long before I'd ever heard of this thing called blogging. Plus, I had to take pictures of pictures to show you this transformation...but I think you will still be able to appreciate the … [Read more...]




Dreaming of the Outdoors

Ok, I know it's cold and you don't really want to venture outdoors a whole lot right now. After all, it's still January...or is it?  In Blogland it can be summer anytime we want. Just think of Blogland as a magical time machine. Ok, get your garden clogs or tennis shoes on...whatever you like to wear when you're out puttering around in the yard. Let's go see what's blooming in my garden on this Outdoor … [Read more...]