Young House Love

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Planting A River Birch Tree

No? Me either. But it’s coming. Slowly but surely. After tackling the area to the right of the porch, next on the ol’ to-do list was:

  1. the area to the left of the porch
  2. the side lot next to our house (a giant valley full of moist soil that we want to naturalize into a pretty forest)

But before we get to the planting bed next to the porch, we wanted to share this gorgeous sight courtesy of the side lot:

Grassesbefore

Just kidding. Unless by gorgeous we mean just-one-reason-we-hang-our-heads-in-shame-when-neighbors-walk-by. Those are old clumps of grasses that we were told to cut back each March so it’ll grow in nice and fresh and clean this year. Early April is the new March, right? We were a little late…

But we finally got ‘er done. And now the wild and crazy side lot next to our house looks like this:

Grassesafter

But let’s back up and view our little leaf garden from the street, shall we? This is an area that we’d love to naturalize with a charming little “orchard” of pretty trees and ground cover and grasses and anything else that’ll make it feel sort of woodsy and sweet (and not like a place we have to mow or weed or rake). You can see what the cut back grasses look like now (there are four blue arrows pointing to them) so hopefully when they spring up and fill in (they get about 4-5 feet tall) it’ll feel more woodsy on that side. And see the thing I circled on the left? That’s a new tree.

Grasses1

Yup, the first step to naturalizing our ridiculously unattractive side yard is to add trees that will thrive down in this moist valley of our property. Thankfully the certified landscape designer we had over (more on that here) recommended a slew of trees that would do well, one of which was the River Birch. So when we saw them on sale at Home Depot for $19, we grabbed one (using a $5 off coupon that we got for being in their gardening club – which is free, so just sign up to get random coupons).

Grasses2

We followed the planting directions on the label and crossed our fingers that this guy would be the first step to woodsing-up the side lot full of weeds, leaves, and various other odds and ends (not to scare anyone, but we did find a pretty respectably sized snake down here once).

Grasses3

But that guy was nowhere to be found this time around. So let’s skip over to the garden bed to the left of the front porch. It definitely wasn’t looking so hot covered in leaves, missing some shrubs, and sporting more of that ubiquitous liriope:

Garden1

So we raked out the leaves…

Garden2

And dug out the liriope…

Garden3

… and planted this otto luyken laurel, which we mentioned here.

Garden4

We learned that middle bush wasn’t doing too well from the certified landscape expert  – so we dug it up and transplanted it to the more “wild” part of our side yard that we’re trying to naturalize so it’s out of the spotlight. This is John’s tired face:

Garden5

Then we had a nice bare-ish bed to work with:

Garden6

Here it is from the other side. This area is a lot larger than the bed on the right side of the porch. It’s about 20 feet long and the depth ranges from 7 to 11 feet.

Garden7

We opted to go with a group of plants that we chose for the garden on the right of the porch for balance and because we knew they’d work in partial shade (this side of the house gets the same amount of light). So in came the same purple flowering plants called Garden Variagated Dead Nettle that we added to the other side of the garden (they’re the mounding variety as opposed to the spreading kind, and they only get 6-8″ wide and tall, so they shouldn’t overwhelm our little garden). We also added three more Dwarf Pieris Japonica Variagated shrubs like we used on the other side, (they only grow to be 2 feet tall by 2 feet wide). They’re covered in little white flowers in the spring and are pretty leafy shrubs for the rest of the time. They also work in part shade and we planted these guys around our first house’s perimeter and they did great.

Garden8

Why did we get three of each type? Well, lots of landscaping experts recommend odd numbers over even ones, and clustering a few similar plants together can give them more presence.

Garden9

So we grabbed three of each, spaced them according to the directions on the tag (and in a way that we thought would look balanced once they reach their mature size), and then it was time to dig.

Garden10

We just follow the recommendations on the tag for each one when it comes to how big of a hole to dig and what sort of nutrients or soil we add to the hole while planting them.

Garden11

A few hours later, we had this going on.

Garden12

Once again since these photos aren’t an aerial view, it’s hard to see how much space there is between everything and the house and between each other (but it’s 3-4 feet in all instances). That spacing allows for plenty of filling in without worrying that our little garden bed will be a crowded mess in a few years.

Garden13

They might not seem like much, but we’re in love with these shrubs. I know that sounds like an overstatement, but just like we mentioned here we really learned our lesson about buying cheap placeholder stuff instead of holding out for things we really love and placing them thoughtfully so they all thrive and look good for years to come.

Garden14

From left to right in this pic above, you can see our otto luyken laurel (more on that here), our Garden Variagated Dead Nettle, and our Dwarf Pieris Japonica Variagated. We love that they all get covered in tiny blooms in the spring (and the nettle will continue flowering into the summer). So of course there’s more of this larger bed to tackle beyond this area in front of the house, but our arms are happy to take a little breather. We did polish things off with some mulch to keep moisture in and weeds out. So it looks nice and finished… to a point (and then the mulch stops and there are no plants, haha – we’ll get there).

Garden15

So here’s a reminder of what that area looked like before about six hours of raking, clearing, planning, digging, and mulching:

Garden1

And here’s that area mostly completed (we’ll polish off that smaller zone on the far left once our arms recover and we come up with the right plants to get ‘er done):

Garden16

Oh and just for fun, here’s what it should look like when things grow in, thanks to the magic of photoshop. This should be everything’s full size:

Garden17

We think it looks nice and clean without dwarfing our one-story house (larger bushes and trees can make a ranch look really squat by growing up near the windows, crowding things, and basically cutting the facade in half). So we’re psyched to have checked off a few to-dos on our huge list (mentioned here) but still have a bunch of outdoor endeavors before we can say this house has curb appeal without rolling our eyes ironically. And I’d share a pic from the curb, but we’re actually starting a few other projects near the path and the mailbox and around the yard, which make things look a little worse before they get better so a wide shot right now wouldn’t look so hot. So stay tuned for those details in a future Petersiks Vs. Wild post.

In the meantime, what are you planting? Are there a million outdoor projects in process at your house without much completion going on yet? Sometimes I feel so scattered, but it helps to remember that we’re inching towards something that’s going to make a huge difference from the curb. Just have a few other zones to attend to before things all start coming together…

Psst- We’ve become a Hunger Games household. More on that over on Young House Life.

Comments

  2. Sherri @ House & Home{stead} says

    We have about a million outdoor and indoor projects going on right now. Repainting just about every room, finishing our basement, a million little things and oh, yeah, outdoors. We have 11 raised garden beds in our backyard that all need some TLC, plant seeds (we’re a little late too) and so much more. I think you just inspired a “to-do” list post for my blog! :-)

    Reply

  3. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    I had no idea that Home Depot had a gardening club! I definitely need to sign up for that!

    The yard is coming along great! It’s always annoying that this part of the home isn’t an instant gratification at the end of all that hard work. Soon, though! We’re going to be planting some herbs in the garden soon, but there is still a lot of work to be done to prep the beds back there!

    Reply

  5. Kara says

    Lookin’ good!

    I put in the same “Dwarf Pieris Japonica” shrubs in my front bed last spring, except they came labeled “Japanese Sarabande.” I was in love with the tiny white bell-like flowers. But I think I planted them in a spot with too much sun, or the summer was just too dry, because they looked like they were dying by August. They didn’t look much better in March, so I decided to prune them back and hope for the best — and it worked! I’ve asked the Internet about pruning them routinely, (like am I supposed to do it every fall like mums or peonies?) and I don’t get much. But it seemed absolutely necessary to mine. They haven’t flowered yet this year though. So we’ll see. Keep me posted on how yours do!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So interesting! Thanks for the tip! Maybe it helps in sunny spots? Ours were unpruned for a few years at our first house and seemed to do pretty well. I’m a low maintenance momma so I might have just forgot but they kept flowering! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  6. Lindsey d. says

    I’m tackling my exterior as well — of course, I need a few more free weekends to do it (it’s festival season in Louisiana!). I spent a weekend clearing bamboo (hate that stuff) and creating a new bed where a terrible chain link fence used to be. Some dwarf azaleas and few herbs are still alive (!) and now I’m moving my attention to the front beds.

    In another case of “why’d they do that”, the previous owners planted azaleas in front of the old shrubs instead of removing them first. So that’s the next step, along with some serious weeding and mulching! Fun times….

    Reply

  7. Sheryn says

    My parents always put plastic down over the dirt and under the mulch to protect from weeds. I don’t have a house yet so I don’t know if that was a weird thing or is an outdated thing to do. Did you consider it?

    Plants look lovely!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We have found that if we clear a garden bed first (get rid of weeds) before planting and then simply mulch it we don’t have many weeds. And the ones that do pop up can be pulled out easily since they don’t root very well in mulch.

      xo,
      s

    • denise says

      A more environmentally friendly and inexpensive option is to put down old newspapers between the dirt and mulch layer. It’s a great way to recycle the newspapers and it allows water to easily get through but doesn’t allow the weeds to implant. The newspaper gradually decomposes and adds to the dirt layer at which point you can just put down fresh papers.

  8. Kate says

    We’re in the process of re-landscpaing too, but we’ve opted to hire someone to come in and take out old stumps and do general clean up before we plant. We found someone to do it, but I was having a hard time scheduling a time with them.

    We came home from my birthday dinner last night to find a crew of guys working on the yard! They’re not done yet but made awesome progress in only a couple of hours. It was seriously the best birthday present ever, haha.

    Reply

  9. Allyn says

    That’s exhausting, but looking good! Can’t wait to see it fill out in a few years.
    Every time I see the word liriope it throws me for a loop until I remember it’s monkey grass. Your word sounds cooler.

    Reply

  11. Megan says

    It looks so nice! It looks clean and crisp…I love pulling out the junk from gardens…it almost feels like I have more room to breathe. We just bought a bunch of shrubs for our garden so we dont have to maintain it as much. I’m not a gardener, I would much rather decorate and mess around with taking care of the inside! My hubby and I are thinking about starting a blog about our home…much like yours. We bought it last year foreclosed, and it had been vandalized…what a MESS! Thinking about writing about our adventures as first time home owners, not knowing what they are doing…but somehow making it our home. :) Thanks for the inspiration…you guys are doing great!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, start a blog! Haha, well no pressure, but it is an awesome way to choronacle the love you can put into an old beat up home! We love having this little online diary to look back on!

      xo,
      s

  14. LisaP says

    Did you lay a “liner” down to prevent weeds in your beds? If we just put mulch down the weeds come through it.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We don’t do liners since we’ve had experience with weeds just germinating in the mulch on top of them (heck, weeds will grow on our cobbstone patio- haha) so we don’t mind just mulching which seems to cut down on a ton of weeds (if you clear your garden bed first when you plant of course) and then only have a handfull of weeds a season that pop in but they’re so easy to pull since they’re loosely rooted in the fluffy mulch.

      xo,
      s

    • sallie says

      liners can be fine but it’s best to just put down a good layer of mulch. the mulch breaks down and makes the soil happy! liners prevent all that good, organic material from reaching the plants AND weeds will find a way to just grow on top of the liners. i’ve found that if we put a nice, thick layer of mulch we have very little weed issues.

  15. Marianne says

    I can feel the curb appeal!! I think it looks awesome and you guys are making me crazy jealous out there in your shorts, working in your gardens… I can’t wait to get outside!!

    Reply

  18. Meg says

    The improvements to the exterior are so fun! And Home Depot has coupons?! Thanks for your constant tips and heads up on deals.

    Reply

  19. Heidi S. says

    Love the choice of the River Birch, the leaves are nice and small and the bark is really beautiful (and it is a native). We have 4 in our backyard. They grow quite quickly and don’t mind “wet feet”. Typically they will get suckers at the bottom. So you will have to decide if you want more of a multi-truck look or not (it looks like you have 2 main trunks right now). My personal preference is typically 3 main trunks (since the bark is so pretty). The key is that a couple of times a year you want to see what is suckering at the bottom and decide which ones you want to keep and train as trunks and which ones you want to cut back to the ground. If you leave too many suckers at the bottom, the plant will use more of its energy for this as opposed to growing the main trunks. Since they grow quite quickly I did a fair amount of trimming to avoid overlapping branches and encourage the multi-trunks. Now that mine are bigger (and have been in the ground for about 4 years) I don’t have to do very much trimming (just the suckers and a few lower branches as I start to limb it up once a year).

    Here is a link to the planting bed showing the trees growing over several years (and they are even bigger now):

    http://www.statelykitsch.com/the-making-of-a-planting-bed-the-backyard-side-bed/

    Reply

  20. Lisa says

    Go grab a another one of those river birch trees and fill in your valley now! They grow and fill out so fast, you will be happy you did them now instead of waiting! I planted one in our front yard near the road and it is taller than our two story house after just a few years. I just added one in the back yard two summers ago and it is well on its way to that size too. They are great trees…easy to trim when the limbs get too heavy and pretty much maintenance free. I only trim ours because we need to see the road to pull out of the driveway. I planted some hostas underneath and it makes me smile every time I come home. :)

    Another option is to check on Craigslist or FreeCycle for some saplings or cuttings from fast growing tree/bushes. My mom gave us a small (maybe 5 foot high) pussy willow and within two years it is now over 15 feet tall and very full…and gorgeous…and I am sure I don’t need to tell you how awesome pussy willow clippings would look in your house with all the shades of gray you have going on.

    Oh, and I would venture to guess that garden clubs in Richmond likely host some plant swap meets…you dig up plants in your yard, take them to a location and swap plants with other gardeners. You could probably get rid of your lirope and some of the other bushes you might not want any more…plus, bring home some cool new plants that you don’t have to pay for other than the labor! :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Love all of those ideas! Thanks Lisa! Now that I know how fast your river birch trees have grown I’m dying to grab a few more! Only one will fit in our car each trip, but maybe we can make a few trips back and forth to get a few more home!

      xo,
      s

    • Lisa says

      They do get pretty wide, so as long as you plant them apart based on what the tags say, you should be good to go and you should get beautiful trees in no time. They will definitely love that area of your yard. Oh, and I saw someone posting about trimming off the suckers at the bottom…that is true in the first few years. However, you can do it whenever. I trim mine when it comes to my mind, not based on any kind of schedule! I have trimmed it in the heat of August and the cool of March…all good! :)

      Also – I highly recommend a leaf blower if you don’t have one! It has changed my life! I don’t sweep anything outside any more and no raking leaves! We have an open property too, so I don’t bag any leaves…just blow them out in the yard and let nature do its thing. I just bought the cheap one at Lowes that has the battery…works awesome and I don’t know how I lived without it!

    • Heidi P. says

      I’m sure a neighbor would let you borrow a truck! I’ve done that before – had to get a 12′ plank home to replace one on the back porch. Anywho, you guys inspired me and I’ve been digging up daylilies galore. Their roots have worked their way into the cement hole thingy for one fence post and are damaging the whole fence! They gozta go.

      Also, have you heard of the blog Come On, Ilene! (comeonilene.com)? Or the company Paper Source? Ilene loves bikes and Paper Source has a new line of cute bike stuff out. Since you guys/John like bikes, thought I’d pass that along.

  21. The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh says

    That looks great! It looks much better and its only going to get better with age. (Like all of us, right? HA!)

    We’re waiting until we get back from vacation next month to do anything so we can devote our full attention to really digging in (figuratively and literally). I’m cringing thinking about the patio stones that need scrubbed and moved around a bit to put the ones that have surface cracks to the back corner that’ll be covered by the outdoor rug. Then we’re thinking of painting them because we just can’t justify replacing them. Fingers crossed! (Of course if you have any suggestions about concrete paint that doesn’t require etching, I’m all ears!)

    Reply

  22. Samma says

    Looking good! I bet little clippings from your new shrubs will be sweet in the house, too.
    BTW, might want to check both your local Big Lots and Restore for trees & plants. Our BigLots in Atlanta has several trees, potting soil, and inside, lots of great shrubs including freeze-friendly lilacs that would be awesome in your wooded space.

    Reply

  23. Lauren@FilingJointly says

    Looks great! These posts always make me so envious!

    I grew up with a dad that was a gardener/landscaper extraordinaire (like he had numerous gardens in our back yard, including one that we called the “salsa” garden because in it he only grew salsa ingredients)and I worked in the yard SO MUCH as a kid. I really miss it.

    In happier news, my husband and I are actually moving in May to a place with a 6’x6′ yard and a huge rooftop deck on which I am already planning to put raised vegetable beds. (We live in downtown Chicago, yards and gardens are hard to come by.)

    Reply

  25. Amy says

    I have dead nettle planted here, and if yours does anything like mine it will spread far beyond what you photo-shopped. Not too invasive, but it will spread nicely and get much wider than taller…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ours is the mounding type (as opposed to the spreading type) so we don’t believe it’ll spread much but we’ll have to see! Will keep you posted!

      xo,
      s

  28. Pam the Goatherd says

    We’ve had frost for the past week, topped off by a hard freeze last night, so there is no planting going on here just yet! We’re supposed to have another hard freeze tonight. I’m hoping our apple and peach trees and blueberry bushes all survive since they are blossoming beautifully right now! We’ve been running a propane heater in our small orchard and I covered the blueberry bushes yesterday afternoon in an effort to keep them from freezing. Fingers and toes are crossed that it worked. I’m not going to uncover the blueberries until tomorrow when the freeze danger has passed.

    Reply

  30. Suesan says

    I have a barren spot in the front of my house under some windows. The previous owners had chickens that roamed and ate all the plants. A friend let me come thin out her Black-Eyed Susan’s, some Bee Balm, some Blanket Flowers and some other flowers that she didn’t know the name of. I’ve added some Astilbe and Peonies and hoping the recent cold weather won’t kill it all make my blisters be in vain.

    Reply

  31. miriam says

    Wow, love what you’re doing to the yard! Plants and flowers make me so happy. Sadly, our entire outdoor space is a north-facing 6′ by 6′ concrete pad… not much hope there!

    We got our outdoors on by going to see the azaleas last weekend at the National Arboretum in Washington– so beautiful! They have one of the largest azalea collections in the US. We also checked out their herb garden, which has hilarious markers about which ailments the plants cured in ancient times. And it’s F-R-E-E… gotta love that.

    Reply

  33. angel p says

    Looks great!! We just ripped up part of our front flowerbeds this weekend and transplanted some of it. When we bought the house the builder put all the plants really close so that it would have nice curb appeal to sell. Of course, after 4 years they were all grown together and looked like a jungle. We pulled out about 8 large bushes and replaced with 4 smaller bushes that will actually grow in to be the correct size for that space. It was a lot of work but it already looks better.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love the low maintenance perk (and resale value) of unpainted brick, so we have been thinking about painting the siding and the trim and the shutters to work more with the colors in the brick (in person it has lots of gray undertones) – we’ll keep you posted!

      xo,
      s

    • Meg@ Green Motherhood says

      I was just going to ask about the paint swatches! Did y’all paint over them after you decided what color to go with? Or are they somewhere else? ( I thought they were on the porch, but I may be confused!)

  35. denise says

    Love, LOVE the river birch! You will be so happy with that choice of tree. I agree with the commenters above…run out and get at least 2 more. Plant them 8-10 feet apart and watch in amazement as this time next year they’ll be nearly completely filled in! In a very moist area, they make an excellent screen plant as well as being showy. They have the most beautiful leaves that flutter so lovely in the breeze.

    Reply

  36. Liz says

    I’m a Certified Nursery and Landscape Professional, and I wholeheartedly agree with your decision to not put weed fabric down. One of the purposes of mulch is to prevent weeds – I think people don’t realize that it’s not just to look pretty. Proper mulching also protects plant roots and contains water to meet the plants’ growing needs. The reason people may still see weeds when mulching is that they may not be mulching properly. Mulch should be 2-4 inches deep. Before I knew better, I’d put weed fabric down and then put an inch or so of mulch on top of the fabric (just enough to look good from the street)….and I’d get weeds! I was trying to save money on the mulch, but skipping the weed fabric and springing for extra mulch is the right decision both for my time and wallet.

    Reply

  38. Leslie says

    Great job with all of your outside work! I just wanted to comment quick and make sure your tree wasn’t planted too deeply. I work for an organization in Iowa called Trees Forever and it is quite easy to plant a tree too deeply. If that is done, the tree might suffocate and not live as long as it should. I couldn’t quite tell from the picture (today’s or the maple from yesterday), but it didn’t look like the root flare (where the trunk gets wider and meets the roots) was showing above the ground.

    If you go here: http://www.treesforever.org/Content/Learn/Trees/Selection-and-Planting.aspx and scroll to the bottom, there is a Tree Owners Manual. On about page 9, there is information about how deeply to plant a tree.

    Don’t want to be nit-picky; just want to make sure you get your money’s worth with your tree! Oh, and don’t forget to remove the tag. If it’s not removed, the tree will start to grow around it and girdle the tree! :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much for the tip Leslie! We did just learn about that root flare thing, and thankfully the maple is all good (there was a little mulch hiding it so we just dusted it back). Will have to treck down into the side yard to make sure we see the river birch flare!

      xo,
      s

  40. Jordan@the2seasons says

    Wow you two it looks so much better. Don’t you love how the mulch really gives a great finished look. We are still in the process of pulling up ivy in our front yard. However we did build or my husband built raised planters for the side of our house to start some veggies. It is our post today so feel free to check it out. Can’t wait to keep watching your progress.

    Reply

  41. Nicole says

    Bawww…a to-do list? It’s literally a never ending list. I finally picked up some grass seed and read a post that you had written awhile back about watering it for 15 minutes every day but up here in MinnEEEsOOOta, we have had 20 degree weather latly so I don’t think we should plant the seed yet. Do you know anything about planting grass seed and weather dropping to the teens? We are supposed to get a bunch of rain this weekend and it will be in the 50’s so i would like to get it planted so it’s less water we need to use from our faucet. Any suggestions?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, I have always heard that heat can burn grass seed (making it not root) but cold just sort of slows it down (it hibernates until it’s warm enough to germinate). Fifty degree weather is ideal, so if you’ll get that with rain it might be good. Just be careful since too much rain can wash the seed away (or into weird places like a path if the water leads over to that).

      xo,
      s

  45. KathyG says

    Landscaping is sweaty work, but it’s such a payoff! Nice.

    It’s lately been obvious to me how much the original homeowners loved this home… the gutter system, the brick paths, all the plantings, even the fancy toilet. ha.

    I love houses, love to look at them, and work on them. I love all the changes you make, and I think that must be why you say the original homeowners appreciate what you are doing. Because you are loving this home too, just in a different style.

    Reply

  47. Melissa says

    Have you considered using more native species, like the River Birch, as you go along? They tend to be very low maitnenance since they’re well-suited to the local climate. Lots of great options to improve wildlife habitat (ecology geek shining through…) in a residential area!

    Reply

  49. Emmie says

    Looking good guys!! We too are in the midst of a total relandscaping of the front of our house. We just moved into our 1937 colonial last summer and have a to do list as long as the Wall of China! The yard is a top priority as it was completely overgrown and a bit messy. Just yesterday a crew dug out every single thing and planting begins this weekend. Kinda scary how “naked” our house looks at the moment but I’m so excited for the new and improved landscaping :)

    Reply

  50. Kent says

    Is the title of this post supposed to be sung to the tune of “Can you feel the love tonight” by Elton John? If not, well, I did and now I can’t stop.

    Reply

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