Lakehouse Flower Beds- Before

I'm just going to be right up front with y'all- there won't be much pretty here but I hope this inspires you where ever you are in the midst of your gardening. I wanted to document the progress of our flower beds for a couple of reasons. One, so I can visually see changes happening (and that way I don't lose hope in the midst, haha) and two, so that maybe you can be inspired for your own flower beds. 

Let's back up a bit. Where we currently live is what we refer to as our "Lakehouse" as we live next to a small lake. Our house has been such a blessing and has seen many updates over the years. As we plan ahead for moving homes in the future- we know that our home now will eventually be rented out. The flower beds have gone through many improvements and last year we decided to swap our beds over to river rock. The river rock flower beds are a lot more maintainable for renters and I thought the texture/color of the rocks would be great for the house.

 

 A little back story on this river rock... one day early last summer, I had ordered 18 ton of river rock to be delivered to our home. Do y'all know what 18 ton of rock AND dirt looks like? It looks like alotta work- that's what it looks like. This delivery wouldn't have been bad, however, the rocks were "unwashed", meaning they came mixed with heavy/thick clay dirt.

Last year after getting 18 ton of UNWASHED river rock dumped off... I was a bit discouraged at how much work this new flower bed idea would be. I would have to dig through the thick, clay dirt to pick out the rocks. Once picked out, we would then have to shovel the dirt away and then lay the new rocks. Aka: a TON of work.

Alas, here we are and this spring I'm diving right into this project so I can stop being uninspired while looking at our beds. So let's take a walk around the house.

 

 As you walk around our home to the left, these beds all need the weed barrier and rocks laid. Last season I had planted a handful of shade-loving perennials too which are starting to pop up again! 

I love the coloring and texture these rocks have. They'll be a beautiful interest against our creamy/yellow home.

 Since these top photos were taken, I've been digging (literally) into this project. Once I started going, I realized if I kept the rocks somewhat wet, it made it easier to dig into. 

As y'all can see- we have progress and the side bed is almost finished! It looks so great when they're laid! I would love to paint our brick skirting to match the grey/green shade on our screened porch. Once that peachy/nude color is gone on the brick skirting, I feel like it will feel much more mature. 

We're getting there slowly! I'll check back soon with another update! I just ordered more viburnum bushes for larger shrubs to fill some of the spaces in. Once these rocks are laid, more perennials will get planted and can fill in more! Things are getting more lush and green which excites me to get things done! 

Hugs, Alyssa