How to Create the Perfect Landscaping Look

After three years we finally completed our landscaping and achieved the more perfect look!

The Beginning

Landscaping was not part of our home building budget in 2018. It was something we wanted to do on our own without the expense calculated into our mortgage.

In the months after moving in and getting settled, landscaping was at the bottom of our “to-do” list. We knew we would get to it eventually but there wasn’t a sense of urgency. And, at the time, we had Prime, our oldest English mastiff, and we were worried he would damage the landscaping in some way.

Summer 2019

Fast forward to the summer of 2019 and I was ready. The lack of landscaping was beginning to bother me. We were that neighbor with the such drab look and the lack of a landscaping design made our house look unkept.

So, my husband had a lawn guy edge out some space, lay landscaping fabric, and fill it with black mulch.

One step closer. Or so we thought…

It was the beginning of something beautiful! All we needed to do was get the plants.

Unfortunately, we didn’t know what we wanted, even after doing some research, asking others who had done their own, and speaking to someone who knows about plants and flowers. Many of those we spoke with made landscaping suggestions about plants that were low maintenance and would look good with the color and texture of our home.

As time passed, we got another dog who liked to dig, the grass began to grow over the mulch, and all we could see were remnants of the landscaping fabric, peeking through the grass.

Our Feelings

We were back at square one with no flower beds — no landscaping.

Frustrated, we decided to just wait — again — until the summer of 2020. But then we were in a pandemic and we didn’t want anyone coming to our house, for obvious reasons. We were also still unsure of exactly what plants we wanted.

Fast forward to winter 2020 and our neighbor just finished building their home and their landscaping was simply beautiful! It “spoke” to my husband and I. We asked about his landscaper and immediately made contact and scheduled an appointment.

Planning Begins

Our first meeting was the last week of January 2021. He came to take measurements and get an idea of what we wanted. The picture below was our vision. It’s a replica of our house from our architect but without the columns we have on our home.

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.
Aristotle

The landscaper was thorough and explained to us the type of plants in the picture, which ones would be best for us since neither my husband nor I have a green thumb, and the level of required maintenance. I explained that I did not want the edging bricks or the swirly trees but I did want the color!

We even decided to get an irrigation system because we knew we would not have time to self water all the plants.

The pictures above and below only show the front but we also decided on plants/flowers for the side and a design element for the patio. He used the ideas in the picture and transformed it into what you see below. Instead of brown mulch, we have black mulch.

He was extremely busy and had us scheduled for the third week of February. To our surprise, Louisiana was hit with an unprecedented snow storm in February and our timeline was pushed back to mid March, then the end of March, then again the first week of April.

To make matters worse, because of the storm storm AND the pandemic, our plant order was taking longer than expected because of availability.

It’s Happening

The second full week in April and the process started.

Day 1 — Outlined the area using a water hose and spray paint and killed the grass. We could decide if we wanted it to be wider or curvier. They also needed to measure the distance between the house and where the actual flower bed would start. We don’t have gutters so we chose to add rocks to catch the water from the roof so it wouldn’t disturb the actual flowerbed.
Day 2 — Installed the irrigation system.
Day 3 — Dug out the dirt along the outline, edged the area for the rocks, laid down weed barrier landscaping fabric, poured crushed granite, and set the rocks.
Day 4 –Tilled the dirt and spread topsoil.
Day 5 –Planted two trees, flowers, added mulch and edging on the exterior.

During this process, we also added a walkway from the driveway to the patio and added some dirt, topsoil, and grass to establish an even level from the patio to the ground.

Although it took longer than anticipated for us to finally get our landscaping, I’m glad we waited. If we didn’t wait, we would not have considered getting an irrigation system or improving our patio. We were too focused on just getting our landscaping done and in our wait, it was done with perfection, by a professional and not just someone.

And, get this, our landscape designer has a degree in landscaping from a regional university!

Suggestions for getting your landscaping done

Look for your style house on Google or Pinterest to get some ideas of what it can possibly look like at your home.
Drive through some neighborhoods that you KNOW will have beautiful landscaping/curb appeal and take pictures.
If you are unsure about what plants and flowers to use, take those pictures to a professional landscaper, a flower and plant nursery, or go to Home Depot or Lowes to see if you can find them.
If you want to do your own landscaping, make sure you do some research about the type of flowers — perennials vs. annuals.
Think about the colors so nothing clashes with your house but instead stands out.
Consider if you want an irrigation system or would you rather water them. Think about if you have time to water them, consistently?