Update: Landscaping, 3 Months Later...

With all of the work we did on the house during our first four months of home ownership, we took a little bit of a break.  We both spent the better part of April and May recharging our batteries, sleeping, and paying attention to Charlie!  (The poor pooch had been nearly forgotten for a little while!  But he was an amazing boy and never took it personally.)

During our recharge time, Darrell planted some St. Augustine plugs into the lawn, repaired broken irrigation system heads, fixed our broken garage door opener, attempted to fix the leaky patio cover (work in progress, not fixed -- yet!), and took care of other miscellaneous house needs.

Part of our attention has been focused on establishing the landscaping.  That was accomplished through the full-scale repair of our irrigation system and dutiful watering of the plants.  When we bought the house, we knew we had an irrigation system in the ground, but knew it wasn't working properly.  Apparently none of the electric had ever been hooked up.  The system feeds off a well (fabulous, no water bill!), so the pump was working, but whoever installed it had wired the electric for it (and only it) straight off the breaker -- bad news.  And we learned that none of the zones were hooked up to electric.  Our fabulous handyman, Jerry, wired these guys up and realized that the pump, because it was working so hard to push the system that wasn't even connected electrically,  had nearly burned out.  We installed a new irrigation pump, and Jerry got the system started for the first time since the pipes were layed in the ground! From there, Darrell replaced sprinkler heads as needed, and boy--the plants are loving the water!  Look how much everything has grown in the first 3 months...

Here are some 3 month Before and After photos:

 Day of Planting                                                         3 Months Later

Note: From this angle it doesn't look totally different  -- but look at how lush the lawn is! It was practically bare dirt on the Day of Planting!

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Day of Planting                                                         3 Months Later

Note:  Here you can see the Cypress and Camellias look considerably more full!

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Day of Planting                                                         3 Months Later

Note:  Look at the African Irises in the front along the sidewalk, and the GRASS!  Wild how much these have grown in such a short period of time!

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  Day of Planting                                                         3 Months Later

Note:  Here is the big shocker... Look how big the Fire Bushes in the middle have gotten.  We're actually a tad concerned that we may have over planted with these. We had no idea how big these would get and relied on the nursery's staffer to point us in the right direction. We'll give it a few more months, but we may have to relocate these if they continue to grow much more!

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Look at all of the lovely light green new growth!  We're such proud plant parents!  Not only did we not kill them, they're growing big and strong!

We're super proud that our hard work is paying off so far!  Let me know if you have any tips for us!