Welcome to the 807th Metamorphosis Monday! I feel so fortunate to have found someone who is willing to help me with the landscaping and ongoing lawn/yard maintenance at the Dollhouse. It was one of those meetings that truly felt like divine intervention. During the time I was staying with my son/DIL following the closing on the home and before the sellers moved out, a gardener knocked on my son’s front door. He was working at the home next door and asked for permission to go into my son’s backyard to reach the shrubs he was trimming for the neighbor.
While we were chatting, I mentioned that I had just purchased a home a few doors away and wondered if he would be able to help me get the yard back under control. He said, yes! He took a look recently, gave me an estimate and a timeline for all the work he would be doing, and that work got underway this past Friday. I believe the shrub trimming and weeding is all done, so today, he and his crew will spend the day spreading mulch.
I wish I was there to look at all the various mulches that are available, but since I’m not, I just asked that it not be big bark chunks or shredded, and not be red or jet black. I prefer a natural brown/dark brown color, and if using bark, I prefer it be smaller pieces. What I really, really, really prefer is pine straw, but apparently that is extremely hard to get in Ohio, and if you can get it, it’s super expensive. In today’s post, I’m sharing a few of the photos that he took as he and his crew cleared the weeds. You may remember these HUGE shrubs that had me temporarily trapped in my backyard. Ha! Funny now, not so funny then!
The shrubs were removed, and this whole area has been weeded and is now ready for planting. I’ll have to decide what to plant back in this area, definitely something that won’t encroach on the already-narrow driveway again.
This is how the “path” down the right side of the house looked the day before the closing. Nightmare! You can’t even tell there’s a stepping-stone path down this side.
Here’s how it looks now, with the path once again uncovered.
This is where the path ends, and this is how it looked back two years ago when Katie (a previous owner who loved this house for 20 years) lived here.
The weeds were 2-3 foot tall after the closing, and here’s how this area looked after the Seller’s realtor hired a landscaper to come in and “weed” the yard. Really, all he did was scalp the weeds down to the ground.
Here’s how it looks now with the weeds actually removed. My gardener has been able to uncover some of the plants that managed to survive through the two years of neglect. He believes some will come eventually come back, but I think we are going to have a fairly blank slate for planting in a lot of areas.
This is a photo that I previously shared showing how this part of the yard look right after closing. It was another area that the realtor’s landscaper scalped to the ground after closing. He didn’t remove any of the weeds, just cut them down to the ground, right along with any plants that were still attempting to grow there.
My gardener removed all of the weeds and these areas will all be mulched today.
The stone paver patio may get cleaned today, too—not sure if there will be enough time for that. The company that I had clean out the gutters will be coming back sometime in the next month or two to clean the roof. The roof isn’t too, too dirty, but it does need it in a few areas around some of the dormer windows. That same company also cleans pavers and that process involves getting rid of all the weeds, adding sand back between the pavers, then sealing it so the weeds can’t start growing between the pavers again. It’s a rather expensive process, but it’s supposed to last for several years, or so I’ve been told.
So that’s what has been going on at the Dollhouse the last few days. I will be there in person later in the week, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found a refrigerator for the home. Thanks so much for all your awesome recommendations in the comments of a previous post where I asked for suggestions for a great refrigerator. I hope to decide today, then I’ll be sure to share the one chose, once it’s installed. It will be SO NICE to have a working icemaker again and a refrigerator without broken shelves. I have really missed having ice during my trips to the Dollhouse.
Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday! Pssst: Did you know Between Naps On The Porch is on Instagram? You’ll find me on Instagram here: Between Naps On The Porch. Like to know when a new blog post is up? Subscribe for email updates (it’s free) and your e-mail will never be shared. Subscribe for free post updates here: Subscribe.
Metamorphosis Monday: Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects even recipes. Please do not link up Table Settings, save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday. If you are participating in Met Monday, you’ll need to link your post to the party using the “permalink” to your MM post and not your general blog address. To get your permalink, click on the name of your post, then copy and paste the address that shows in the address bar at the top of your blog, into the “url” box for InLinkz when prompted.
Hi Susan – the time for the link party – must be set for PM not AM. Cannot share on your blog. Thanks for hosting!!
Oh no, let me go change that. Thanks for letting me know!
Okay, it should be correct now. Sorry about the time goof.
Susan, I’m with you in keeping the mulch “natural”. We use cedar bark mulch, supposedly it’s naturally bug repellant. After you had all those weeds taken out, now it’s a rebirth for your gardens. I know they’re going to be beautiful! You have a good eye for that – can’t wait to see all the progress 🙂
I’m going to check out how cedar looks once I’m there again. I’m not crazy about the “shredded” stuff, I think I like small pieces better. I wish I could find a way to bootleg some pine straw up here a couple of times a year. Hahaha. Probably cost a fortune just in the gas alone.
Looks so much better!! Is that another house beyond your patio?
The building of the homes in this area (Schantz Park Historic District) started around 1907. Back then, the homes were all built with alleys running behind them. I just learned recently that the driveway for my home used to come in from the alleyway that’s way down behind my house. At some point, someone who lived here had a driveway cut in from the street the home faces. So what you’re seeing (if it’s the photo where there’s a trashcan by a garage door) is the back of the home on the other side of the alley that runs behind my property. Another photo in this post shows a side porch, and that porch belongs to a beautiful home that’s to one side of the Dollhouse. Hope that makes sense.
Susan, what a wonderful improvement to your pretty property! Such a LOT of work! My hubby & I diy’d our lake property which was in a similar state(& still a work in progress). My husband relaid a beautiful paver patio & path—we used polymeric sand & keep it refilled with the same as needed. No weeds sure made a huge difference. You must be s anxious to get up & see it in person!
You are not kidding! I knew I needed some help, it would have taken me forever doing it alone. I’m going to try and keep it under control, but I’m thankful to have someone to help me with it.
Ohhh, I wonder if that’s what they use, too. I’ll ask the company that I was talking with about that. I don’t want to have to constantly worry about the weeds coming back between the pavers.
I am! I can’t wait to get up there and work on some things inside the house. I think on this next trip up, I am going to do some really intensive cleaning. It needs things like all the A/C vents cleaned…and the baseboards. Not fun stuff but it does need to be done.
Sometimes it’s best to just start over with out of control landscape. While you have the opportunity, I’d consider doing something else with the very unattractive downspout drains. Your landscaper should have some good suggestions. I’ve seen many interesting solutions online.
I think you’re right! There were just way too many weeds after two years of them growing unchecked. Yes, definitely! My gardener mentioned putting those underground. I need to talk with him about how we are going to do that. If you know of a great solution, please email it to me at [email protected]. I don’t want to compromise the water removal, but they are an eyesore to look at.
I had some awkwardly place downspouts right at the front entrance to my house and I replaced them with rain chains that are gorgeous. You can find a lot of them online which is where I got mine.
It is exciting to see the transformation of your neglected yard. I know you have plans for the plants you intend to use. Then there are the plants you’ll discover along the way. Enjoy the process!
It is! Yes, I need to think about that this autumn. Thanks, Lynne!
This is the first time I’ve actually seen your new house and I love it. I can see exactly why you call it “the Dollhouse”. lol Love the style.
Thanks! It really does feel like a life-size dollhouse. lol
Nita, if you like, you can see more of it in these two posts:
https://betweennapsontheporch.net/not-going-to-make-you-wait-lets-go-inside-the-home-i-just-bought/
https://betweennapsontheporch.net/lets-tour-the-gardens-basement-bedrooms-baths-in-the-home-i-just-purchased/
The house is charming, and I have to say, as a Californian who is having to constantly contend with concerns about wildfires, that I love seeing greenery! So sad that we’ve had to do so much removal of vegetation, and now their are restrictions on what you can plant, and where you can plant.
Everything looks so much better. I would double check with the company that will be sealing the pavers. I have pavers as well & I was deterred from having them sealed, being told that once you do that you have to keep doing it over the course of time in order to preserve the nice way it looks. I don’t think anything really will ever totally prevent weeds.
the landscape looks AMAZING all cleaned up! The cleaning of the roof and pavers will absolutely be money well spent! This is my jam. Love it. I love the few plants uncovered and to see how they do. Looking forward to your next steps. I had never seen pine bark mulch until I started paying attention to my Southern blogging friends. It just isn’t a thing here and in OH.
Your new house is adorable and looks like a Dollhouse, I can understand why you call it that. We have a GE Monogram refrigerator we purchased about 3 years ago and love it.
Well, your gardners sure had their hands full. Amazing how fast nature swallows a yard up. Bless you for seeing the ‘bones’ of this little project, looks like fun!
It looks like you found a great gardener Susan! Thanks for the party~
Your yard is transforming back to a beautiful place. Thanks for having us over!
In one home I had a curved area on the driveway similar to what you show near the downspout. I had paving stone laid to match the existing, so I didn’t need to be concerned about the possibility of running over plants when making such a tight turn. Your yard is coming along beautifully. Can hardly wait for updated photos next spring!
Lots of work, but it is really shaping up. Once you put your touch on that garden it is going to be awesome!!!
Are those Lily of the valley on the side of the house? If so, what a treasure!! You will be a favorite neighbor of all the brides!
Love the vegetation removal. I would take out the big bushes too for a clean slate and bushes you like. Go on Pinterest and look at drains. A French drains puts it underground. What gets in the gutters ? Trees over them ? They just pulled a tree root out of my gutter. Gutters guards ?
I prefer a dark mulch and prefer pine bark over wet newspaper. I absolutely hate that black weed cloth. Weeds grew thru it. Couldn’t pull it out. One of my neighbors buys big hay bales to decorate the yard for fall. Afterwards, he gave them to me to protect my plants for winter. They are the next best thing to straw. I clip the the wires and it’s slices that I shred. Worked really well as mulch. That being said, its best to buy them from a feed store. Unfortunately, because it’s tropical and hot here, ants got in them once winter was over. The hay bales from Walmart and craft stores is not advisable. Anyone in the area have pine trees ? They would have pine straw. A County Extention Agency would be really helpful on local plants.
You have been getting so many ticks off that long long to-do list, Susan. It’s going to be so fabulous each and every change you are making. Whoo hoo!!!!
Progress! It looks so much better and I cannot believe how much you have already accomplished. I am interested in the outcome of your paver cleaning. I have 2 areas that need the same treatment. Congratulations!
I had to chuckle at the “no pine straw” to purchase. When we moved up here to nashville, we somehow had the only pine tree–a lovely long needle whate pine with loads of straw underneath. Unfortunately, not nearly enough. So I went to the nearest Big Box store, and all I got was a blank stare and “What’s that?” They eventually caught up and discovered it. I threatened to go down to near Atlanta where my nother still lived and fill up my husband’s truck–inside and out with Granny’s leftover pinestraw. Now it’s available here. maybe it will eventually reach up your way, Susan.
Susan,
Looks much better…I bet you are glad to be making progress…
Thanks so much for hosting!! I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into it along with visiting all the links!!
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
Just a suggestion but I’d consider a ground cover in that narrow area between the house and driveway (where you had those “mean ol shrubs removed” – LOL). We have some down the side of our driveway next to our house and in several areas of our landscape. It’s called creeping Jenny (I’m almost positive that’s the name) it’s fast growing and easy to maintain. I’m so excited to follow you along on this journey, your new home is just darling!
Yep, I need a nap… That was a LOT of work!!! You are well on your way!!! franki
Isn’t it great to see progress?! It’s so wonderful that you found a good gardener who shares your vision. This yard has so much potential – I can’t wait to see how you make it your own! Happy Monday and Thanks for the party!
Oh my the yard doesn’t look the same! You gardener did an excellent job of cleaning up! It will be so fun to see what grows and what you plant. I know you must be so excited to have this beautiful home. I’m enjoying all your projects!
Great job landscapers. I know your neighbors are so thankful you purchased this house. I would let you know as a neighbor I was very thankful!! I love a neat pretty yard. Makes any house look good!!