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Hey All My name is Cory and I am a 29 year old guy residing in Atlanta. I recently purchased my first home about 4-5 month ago. I posted on the web forum back in November-ish because I needed a little help deciding on a new front door. Thank to all of your help, the door choice turned out great! Since spring is around the corner, it's time to get the yard in order. The house was a foreclosure so it sat neglected for a little while. I am pretty anal, so I am striving for the nicest house on the block BUT I would rather do it myself rather than pay a landscaper to come in and charge me an arm and a leg. I already have Scott's lawn service set up to come and do their thing for the grass just so I don't have to worry about fertilizing, etc. Plus they kind of got me with a good deal on aeration/seeding. All that I need is to figure out how to make the outside presentable  I appreciate any help and suggestions    | |||
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Hi Cory. Welcome aboard again. First, do some pressure washing to remove the red on the house. Is that caused by the clay or from the sprinkler water? Either way, clean it up first. Then, look for some sort of bedding along the end of the house to help eliminate that problem in the future. What are the shrubs in front? They look a bit unruly but I don't know if its the proper time to prune them. I'd suggest that you take a ride through neighborhoods that you like and see what kind of plants are used. Also, spend quality time at some local nurserys (not the big box) until you get a feel for what you want. Also, if you don't have it already, get yourself the Southern Living Garden Book and the Southern Living Landscape Book. They contain a wealth of information that you'll refer to continually. Hopefully, others will be along shortly with more suggestions. Good luck. www.floridafarmgirlsworld.blogspot.com Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain. | |||
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Cory, FFG is right about getting the clay pressure washed off the house. You should be able to rent a pressure washer if you don't have one...but they are certainly handy to have. I use ours several times a year. And as FFG said...then put down some mulch of some kind all along the foundation to keep the water from spattering more clay up onto it. Lowes has several books available with all kinds of landscaping ideas. I'd suggest just taking a look at some of them. As for nurseries...they may be good up in Atlanta, but down here in SW Ga. my Lowes has more knowledgable folks than our local nursery. But there is a great one in Tallahassee. So don't limit yourself, and look around at what is available before you decide what you want...also remember a couple of things....how much work do you want to put into keeping your "beds" in shape and ALWAYS allow room for growth when you plant. Another thing...make sure you know what should be planted in full sun & full/partial shade and decide accordingly. If you don't want a lot of work, I'd suggest going with perennials rather than many annuals. "The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion | |||
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Your house looks great! You can take a look at my yard, it was done by Sprinklerman Cove Landscape... Hope you get some ideas... | ||||
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Very nice! This gives me a couple ideas. Thanks! | ||||
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Hi Cory and congratulations on your home! Have you discovered HGTV's Garden from the main page? There are numerous ideas there. Hope this helps. PS. Power washers are fabulous. It may be something to consider in the future. | |||
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If you use a pressure washer be very careful you do not want to ruin the paint or siding .I would put river rock gardens around the foundation it will settle all that staining and help with water drainage and run off .Make sure your gutters are run far away from your foundation also .I ran underground pipes for my gutters and two of them go to a rain garden and 2 of them go to an underground storage tanks so I can use that water to water my gardens .I was lucky as I had all this done as I was building the house .I had electric put close by and just drop a pump into the tank and water my plants and grass and even add fertilizer to the tank .I can see your gutter downspouts and it looks like the drain right where they come out .Not good at all for your foundation .I love the color of the house and shutters very nice and congrats on your new home | ||||
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Wow it sounds like you have a really nice set up there! For the pressure washer, I planning to get one this weekend. I have a 10% home depot coupon burning a hole in my pocket I'm not too fond of river rock, but thank you for the suggestion. I am more partial to pine straw, which is in abundance here in GA. The downspouts - yes, I plan on connecting those plastic extension things to channel the water 3-4 feet away from the foundation. I spent quite a bit of time messing around with some pictures in Word, but I think I have come up with a plan. I am going to attach it here for you all to look at and comment on. The reason I made it in Word is so that I could just forward it on to the HOA in a neat little package. Here is the google docs link https://docs.google.com/file/d...TU0/edit?usp=sharingThis message has been edited. Last edited by: greenc51, | ||||
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I just noticed that if you view it in the google docs window, it will mess up the fortmatting a little. It would be best to just download it if you all would like | ||||
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Congrats on your house. I agree with the suggestion to drive around for ideas. That's what DH and I did when we moved into a new build a few years ago. We'd drive around neighborhoods with houses of similar style and snap photos with our phone. Good luck! | |||
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Thank you. I submitted the plan that I made in Word to my HOA. Just waiting for their ok. On a side note, would you all have any suggestions on what I can do to my lawn? Do I need to add a bunch of top soil or something...at least to some areas? Gypsum? Lime? Spread seed around? Water? I do have an aeration/overseeding scheduled with Scotts, but ughh! Who knows when they will come out...I am eager to get going with this terrible lawn. | ||||
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Contact your local county extension office and pick up the materials to have a soil test done. They have no interest in selling you anything. The test is cheap and will tell you what your soil needs. I'd have the soil test done BEFORE any aeration and overseeding is done. No need to waste money on unnecessary stuff. The extension office also should have some very good information on turf (grass), trees, shrubs and flowers that will thrive there. We use pine straw too, but we have beds next to the house only on the front. It should help with the spattering of clay soil, but if the sprinkler water has iron in it, it'll still stain. Of course, the heads might need to be adjusted so that they don't hit the house. It'll take a long time to get things the way you want them, so be patient. www.floridafarmgirlsworld.blogspot.com Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain. | |||
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