Garden Decorating: Garden Makeover (Part 2)

This post was most recently updated on October 18th, 2012

Sheesh, people, gardening is hard work!  I envy any of you that are passionate about gardening.

Although I love to decorate, I’m not blessed with a green thumb like my sister was lucky enough to inherit from both grandmothers.  But that hasn’t stopped me from having garden envy for years. I’ve always wished for, but never really had, a nice garden.We’ve kept things as ‘presentable’ as we could, but with 2 dogs and 3 kids it seemed like an impossible task  – especially to keep it that way.  But despite these challenges, I decided that this year I was going to start a garden makeover.  I’m tired of having a garden but not wanting to be in it!

You notice I said ‘start’?  I realize that its going to take years for us to achieve the garden I want. And, trust me, I’m not under any illusions that out boys’ pirate ship swimming pool is going away any time soon, or that our daughter and her friends won’t still want to do the ‘slip-and-slide’ on the grass.   But you have to begin somewhere, right?  Before I left for Haven, I stained (what seems like) a million fence and deck posts, re-painted my outdoor furniture, painted my doors, and, just this week, we planted a new shrub bed.

Gosh, I wish I had some before and afters to show you.  I was so anxious to get started that I didn’t take pics.  (Sometimes I forget I have a decorating blog. Duh.) These chairs were red and green, and the paint was peeling, so I painted them this bright sunny hue, which is Behr’s Empire Yellow. The wicker table was brown, and I sprayed it white.

The vintage floral pillows came from Joe Fresh/Loblaws (Canadian).  I like that they incorporate some turquoise and green along with the yellow since most of the other colors in the garden are green and  turquoise.

I added a little pop of color with a few hanging baskets.

I’ve got bigger plans for this shrub bed, but here’s where I’ve gotten so far.  The heavy lifting is done; now it just needs some mulch and finessing. I’m also planning to put a pretty window box on the shed.  It needs to be painted, and hung, and filled. Gah! Hopefully, I’ll get to that project next week!

Unfortunately, my focus on the backyard means that the front has been pretty much ignored this year.  The flower bed out there needs to be weeded and mulched. Seriously, where do you gardeners find the time and energy?!? I did manage to add a few pots of annuals out there, including this basket on the front door which replaced my Sisal & Starfish Summer Wreath for now.

In this one, you can see a little of our Front Entrance, Sunshine-Inspired Gallery Wall peeking out :-)…

I’ll be back next week to hopefully show you a little more, including the window box on the shed!

Have a happy weekend,