Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Back Porch Facelift and Garden

I'm getting a little sick of winter and with a major snowstorm coming tomorrow, I'm longing to be outside. I thought this would be a good opportunity to show off my quick makeover of the back porch and garden. Here's a reminder of what the outside of the house looked like when I bought it. There was a handicapped ramp that came off the back deck with a sidewalk that ran across the entire side yard to the front door.
The handicapped ramp was the first thing to get ripped off. Under that was a concrete patio so that and the entire sidewalk to the front door was jackhammered into bits and hauled away. I also ripped out the stairs that came down from upstairs deck and replaced all of the railings with something more appropriate.
I also put in a curved walk to the back door, brought in several inches of new topsoil and painted everything to match the siding. I also painted the foundation a sandstone color. You can see in the photo below I'm starting my new cottage garden.

Next I ripped out all of the chain link fence and had a new cedar picket fence and arbor installed at the new walkway.
On the front, I removed the wrought iron on the front stoop and just put some cedar posts and a new railing in its place. Instead of enclosing the entire front yard in fence I left it open to leave room to the porch.
Here's the fence after a coat of primer as my fledgling garden is starting to grow.
And here's my garden in August last year. This has been a real joy to create from the sad brown wood and concrete and chain link that were here before. Not only do the neighbors approve but I started to attract hummingbirds as well.
And here's a closeup of a portion of the garden. As any gardener will tell you, a garden is work in progress but I'm pretty pleased with what I've created in such a short time.
This makes me much happier than shoveling snow.



7 comments:

  1. Hi Steve, I absolutely love what you've done with this space. This transformation should be in a magazine! Aren't you so excited for spring!!! Trina

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  2. Oh my gosh, what a HUGE improvement. I love the walkway and fencing. All the plants look beautiful too. Geez, I love gardening!

    ~janet

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  3. What a wonderful job you've done transforming a bleak yard into a beautiful flower-filled setting.

    In my mind, the flowers are the stars of the show. And the white picket fence and the curving walk of red brick pavers both play strong supporting roles.

    After looking at these story-book pictures of your garden several times over several days, I've just book-marked this posting.

    The pictures are a great antidote to the winter landscape outside my windows.

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  4. Thank you for the beautiful comments. Transforming this space was very rewarding for me and I'm glad that other people can enjoy and respond to it!

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  5. I am in awe of your garden. So beautifull! You've done a wonderful job on your home!

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  6. its amazing . i was impress , just putting a little additional , wind spinners are perfectly match the landscape.

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