Bush Whacking

Since the weather here at the Jersey Shore has been so amazing this August, we've been able to start working on some of the outdoor, curb appeal boosting projects we planned on doing in the Fall.  First up was losing three flowering almond bushes that grew along this darling little split rail fence in our front yard.  They bloomed for a very short time in the early spring.  I was not thrilled with the show, and I was even less happy when the greenery filled out and blocked my view of everything when I sat out on the front patio.

The winter view, before the almond bushes got big and green

The front yard, with its new knockout rose bed


Hubby started things off by bringing me home 5 knockout rose bushes that he bought on sale for less than $6 a piece.  After agonizing over where to plant them, I thought why not kill two birds with one stone and lose the hated flowering almonds while adding some color to the front yard.  The first thing we did was rip out the bushes.  We wrapped a chain around the bottom of each bush and connected the other end to hubby's truck, which loosened them up a lot for us.  We dug and pulled the rest of the way out.  They were pretty mature and some of those roots were  tough to pull out.  We started late in the day, and were still working past dark.  

Of course this project was done on a budget.  We bought everything at Home Depot and spent a total of about $50.





Next we sunk the little rose bushes into the ground and gave them a good soaking before we called it a night.  The next day, we finished off with landscaping fabric, edging and black mulch.  We also freshened up the rock border on the patio side with some nice clean white granite chips, which cost less than $4 a bag.  We used three bags in this area.  We are so pleased with the result, and are loving sitting out on the patio with a glass of wine watching the sun set over the lagoon in the evening.

The last piece of the puzzle will be finishing off the edge with something decorative.  I'm thinking stacked slate.  What do you think?