It's Gardening Season!

It's been very busy around here lately! Hunny is starting a new job in a week and his old job paid him out for his last two weeks so he's been at home! It's kinda like he has had a two week vacation! It's been so nice spending all this time together! We really haven't had any time off together since we got married in October. Everyday he has had off has been because of something like an appointment or a major holiday. We've been able to start to landscaping and getting the vegetable garden put together!

We first tackled the front lawn. The previous owners had planted a hodgepodge of plants in front of the porch...it didn't make sense and looked horrible...like the two DEAD rose bushes...they were dead before we even moved in...

We had already removed the dead rose bushes when I remembered to take pictures. It's just a mess of weird bushes, overgrown ground covering plants and a vine that I'm pretty sure was a weed that they gave a trellis to! I haven't taken an after picture because I'm waiting to finish it. We planted a lilac bush on either side and I need to decide on what else to plant there...I'm leaning towards gladiolus and dahlias...we'll see! We still need to take out the holly bushes on either side of the sidewalk...they are pretty big and I'm not looking forward to it! Our sidewalk needs to be replaced, bad, but that'll have to wait until next year...I'll update once I finish the front lawn.

 I also started some of my flowers, tomatoes, peppers and broccoli indoors! So far, just about everything has started to sprout!

 My lilacs, that are now planted in the front lawn, and my little rhubarb plant that I need to find a home for...

 Hunny and I decided to just buy a couple raised bed kits instead of making our own from scratch. We picked these up from Home Depot. They were super easy to put together.

 I put a layer of paper bags under each bed to kill the grass and weeds...it will decompose and feed the soil.

 First finished bed kit.

Finish product! We still need to build a raised bed for my strawberries and we are going to till up a strip of ground for sweet corn, sunflowers and pumpkins!

 I cleared out the retaining wall in the alley, too. It was the same mess as the front lawn, only the rose bush is alive and well! Of course I didn't take a picture of the before, because I forgot...We are planning on transplanting another rose bush from the backyard to this flower bed and I'm going to plant Hollyhocks, Foxgloves, Lupines, and Bells of Ireland back there as well as the Irises I planted back there the other day!

We also hand tilled up these to areas for flower beds! I can't wait to plant these bad boys!
I kinda remembered to do before and after on these! :)

I'm so happy it is Gardening Season and I hope you all enjoy reading about my adventures and looking at my pictures! More to come soon!