First Impressions Matter! Creating a Manicured Front Yard.

When we found our home, it was a typical Chicago Winter. There were a few feet of snow on the ground and freezing temperatures. The front yard seemed bland with limited plants. We quickly learned that it was anything but bland. In fact, when Spring arrived, all the sudden we had an overgrown (literally, it was growing over the fence onto the sidewalk) mess! The front yard was filled with ground cover, plants, ivy, and a ton of weeds!

We decided to tackle the project ourselves. How hard could it really be to remove the overgrown plants and create a clean front yard? Well after the first weekend of crawling around pulling out all the ground cover, finding spiders, getting bug bites, all while discovering the labyrinth of roots feeding the madness, I can officially say it is a lot of work! I thought we could pull everything on Saturday and plant on Sunday. We quickly pivoted to a new plan. We decided to pull everything on the first weekend, then plant on the second weekend. At the end of the first weekend, we had made really good progress.

As we finished the first weekend, we realized that we needed expert advice on what to plant based on our location and square footage. We went to the Farmers Market, Garden Center on Elston Ave. in Chicago and they were fabulous! They helped us understand how to best use the space based on the estimated size of the full-grown plants. This is really important when planning. New plants look so small, and you don’t realize how big they will get. Without their help I would have overplanted! They also helped us understand which plants needed more sunlight and should be planted closer to the sidewalk where there is more sun throughout the day.

In the end we decided on having a mix of evergreens and deciduous plants, which are plants that completely lose their foliage in the winter. This was important to us as we live in Chicago and its nice when winter comes to still have a little green in your front yard. Plus, they are perfect for Christmas lights! Once we planted we added mulch as a finishing touch to make the plants really pop.

Now every time we walk up to the house our yard makes us so proud. It is welcoming and sets the tone for what the house will look like after the renovation. We are excited to see the plants grow!