Project Curb Appeal .... the continuing saga

There is a little area by the front porch steps that I like to call the step garden. Because, well, it is near the steps. Brilliant, no? I've left it pretty much alone since we moved in, other than a bit of weeding, because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it yet. However, as the rest of Project Curb Appeal is carried out, this little flower bed was looking sadder and sadder. Right before Culoare Zi I decided that the time had come to transform this patch of dirt into something prettier.

Here's what it looked like the day I started:

I know, it's awful. The hose was there because we were working on the steps, and the mailbox was in the middle of the bed so that the mailman could get to the box while we had the stairs blocked off. The mulch was waiting for me to put it to good use, and the boards are left over from working on the stairs. You can see more of those hideous red landscaping rocks the owners put in (thanks guys!) and a few other miscellaneous nasties.

About an hour later, after some serious work with a shovel, a garbage can and a relocation of some items, I had a clean slate to work with.

I took a few moments to work out the placement of the plants, and then dug their little holes. Eventually I want to put some daylilies in this bed, and a few other plants for more color variety. But for now, I like how it turned out.

My sister in law gave me the salvia plants (in the back) that will have tall purple spikes next year. She gave me the little hosta as well. It is a little leggy this year as it was struggling to get to the light around some tall lilies, but it should come in nice and thick next year too. The mums were from Lowes, and I love the sunny colors of the flowers. There are two more clematis plants behind the salvia that will hopefully grow up over the tree to the left. The only annuals I added were some yellow marigolds and these daisy like flowers whose name I can't recall now. The finishing touch was more of the pine bark nuggets that we put around the bushes in front.

I went with a mix of annuals and perennials that die back in the winter as this is one of the spots where snow accumulates in a major way throughout the winter. A shrub or small tree would just get mangled by the snow, and we can't have that, right?

So what do you think? A nice transformation?

You can read about the whole plan for Project Curb Appeal here, and the other projects we've done so far on it here and here.

I'm linking this post up to Fertilizer Friday over at Tootsie Time. Check out all of the other great gardens!