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Before and After Terraced Garden

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com

This has been a great spring for getting the landscape and gardens redone, at least for me. It’s been cooler, and I like that for working outside… hot weather fatigues me!

We bought our house a year and half ago, and immediately started renovating both levels inside and the outside of it as well. The wait for landscaping has felt long, so it’s been fun for me to finally be able to put my energy and attention into the gardens and landscape.

I already posted about the circular garden before and after in this post. I showed you the simple act of transplanting Stella d’Oro Daylilies here. This post is where I explained how and why to create a brick edging.

Today, it’s the before and after terraced garden I’ll be showing you.

You can see the existing terracing on the front right of this picture taken the late winter before we actually bought the house:

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
The spring before we bought house.

I didn’t even want to think of the landscape until the messy renovation of the house was done. We built a porch, painted the whole house, replaced windows and doors, re-roofed and had gutters installed to list a few things that would have wrecked any landscape attempts prior to their completion.

Here is the house this spring before I started the landscape, but after all the reno work on the house was done:

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
House after reno, before landscape!

On the front of the house, the ground sloped down to the terraced part.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Gas meter and downspout issues.

I didn’t love having grass on the house side of the sidewalk, but still contemplated removing it out of concern that I would be getting the garden chores too big to maintain. I’m great at creating beautiful garden designs, (emphasis on BIG) but really don’t want to create an overload of heavy maintenance for myself… in the spring gardening can feel more fun than in the heat of summer!

I also didn’t love the gas meter there! Oh and the gutter downspout water just pouring into the landscape would need to be addressed too.

After milling it over for weeks as I waited for the frost and snow to melt, I decided removing the grass and extending the landscape all the way to the sidewalk was the best choice.

When it was finally time to start, we rented a sod cutter, (you can see this post from our last house when we rented a sod cutter for the fence we installed there… there is even a short video I made of my husband cutting the sod with it 🙂 ).

After the sod was gone, I shoveled the dirt from the lower part and moved it up to the upper part of the slope. This was evening out the slope to create 2 flat levels instead.  The 2 levels became an extended terraced area, instead of how it was just one long slope down to the terracing as before. Adding this new terraced area would accomplish a few things for the garden design and function.

First, it gave the garden structure and added a more defined area for just the section directly in front of the house. There, in front of the house, I planned to do a symmetrical planting, but the rest going down to the other terracing would be different.

Second, it introduced and highlighted the flagstone rock, which is more attractive than the concrete rock of the existing lower terraced garden. In doing the flagstone here, it sort of fools the eye to think there is more of it than there really is.

Third, it allowed me to terrace next to the top two steps of the sidewalk that were a tripping hazard. Because those two steps are separated from the main stairs and previously just had grass slopes on each side of them, those last two steps are unexpected as you’re walking and were hard to notice if you’re not just staring down at the sidewalk, thus the tripping hazard. My thought was that adding a wider flagstone terrace right at each step makes the steps more noticeable.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Removed sod and created a terraced slope.

This was the first flagstone wall my husband and I had built, so we kind of figured it out as we went along.

I’ve read tips on building rock walls, have certainly noticed many in real life, have even seen my dad build them when I was a kid. The basic concept of constructing it is pretty simple.

The two main points were 1. Start with a level base. 2. Avoid seams in between rocks matching the seams on the level above or below, to give it more strength.

I cut into the slope to create a level base as my husband brought over a bunch of rocks. We’d pick which to lay where. He did all the heavy lifting for that project. That’s the hard part… I wouldn’t have been able to move the rocks by myself, so it was good teamwork. I moved the dirt, he moved the rocks.

There still is a sloped part sort of between the back and front terraced part so we just worked the rocks and ground to blend them together.

I love the look of it!

I’m so happy with how it turned out. All the rocks were on the property too, so that was great! Hard work, but no extra investment.

We also used the flagstone to create a gentle run-off for the gutter downspout:

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Used rock to soften water from downspout.

This particular gutter downspout only carries the water from a small section of the roof so it’s not a huge issue of it being a downpour here.

This view from the front porch looking toward the terraced garden shows the sod removed and the flagstone terracing addition:

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
After sod removed and area terraced viewed from the porch.

Next we placed the ornaments and statuary. Again, we had all these pieces from past gardens. We’ve been patiently storing them waiting to use them somewhere. It was fun to go shopping in my own storage area to discover something that would work great here and there. (What I’m not finding a home for in these gardens, I’m selling or donating! Clearing stuff out of storage.)

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Started adding garden accessories and statuary

Once I got the brick edging in, I could start planting, (I have each plant with a shopping link here and all together at the end of this post for you to shop from).

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Next brick edging then planting.

I’m a patient gardener and prefer to buy smaller plants. They’re easier for me to maneuver and plant because they’re smaller, but also they’re so much less expensive. In a year or two they are as big and better established as putting in the larger more expensive sized plants.

Against the house there were hostas, ferns and astilbe that I left. I think a little soft chaos is perfect for this cottage garden, and they’ll help camouflage the odd basement window and gas meter until the Elderberry fill out.

SimpleDecoratingTips.com Before and After Terraced Garden
False Forget-me-Not and Black Lace Elderberry plants

About 4 feet from the house I put in a row of 4 Black Lace Elderberry. They can take some shade so I think they’ll be okay here. Elderberry will produce edible berries, for us and/or the birds after they flower in lovely clumps of little pink flowers. They will get tall and wide, so will eventually cover the bottom of the house.

simpledecoratingtips.com before and after terraced garden
Black Lace Elderberry

In front of the dark lacy leaved Elderberry, I planted a scalloped row of False Forget-me-Not. (scalloped: as in the planting formation wasn’t straight across the front of the Elderberry, but ‘swooped’ around the front of each one).

simpledecoratingtips.com before and after terraced garden
False Forget-me-Not

They have these pretty little blue flowers that do look like Forget-me-Nots, but aren’t… I think the light green and white round leaves contrast the Elderberry nicely and will be a pretty highlight in the shade.

Bergenia flank the walkway up to the front door.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Bergenia flanking walk to front porch

I love Bergenia! It’s a very hardy perennial, up to zone 3. In the early spring it sends up a flower with deep pink stems.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Bergenia up close.

Eventually those large round evergreen cabbage leaves will fill in this walkway planting area nicely.

I planted a summer long blooming Huldine Clematis inside the tall arbor.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Lady’s Mantle planted.

Around the arbor and along the top of the terraced garden I put in Lady’s Mantle another great perennial. When there is water or dew on the leaves, it almost looks like it has a silver lining under it. They send up ferny flowers of chartreuse.

I was fortunate the prior owner filled the terraced beds with bulbs of tulips, lilies and perennials. Last fall I added a few other varieties, like Giant Globe Allium. I wasn’t sure if they would have survived the wicked winter we had or not, I was thrilled this spring when they popped up. I’m excited to see those bloom.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Planted Boxwood along border.

The boxwood border I planted leads up to the potted boxwood that is flanking the walk to the front door, (the boxwood in the urns are faux boxwood. I’ve had them for several years and they’re still going strong! The boxwood I planted are live plants and hardy in our cold Midwestern zone 4 winters.

The iron fence panels, leftovers from our last house’s front yard fence project, add interest to the terraced garden.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Each step has a solar light.

Last, I added the front solor lights. (here is where you can get some of these solar LED lights too) They are seeded glass, and I love the way they look lit at night. I placed one at the edge of each step, including the last two steps that are placed a bit further away from the rest.

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Rock and solar light help highlight last step.

I took this picture last week with the front flowering crab tree in full bloom:

Before and After Terraced Garden simpledecoratingtips.com
Terraced garden after.

I love the happy cottage garden feel of front yard.

The flowers are looking so pretty, first one group flowers and then another variety picks up blooming as those start to fade, keeping a lovely happy blooming spring landscape.

There is still the other side of the front garden to show you before I take you around to the back gardens.

Plants I used in this area:

  • Black Lace Elderberry
  • Boxwood

Here are more gardening and landscaping projects:

Vintage-Seahorse-Birdbath-Re-Do
Dry Stack Stone Planter
DIY Compost Bins
Potting Shed
Backyard Boat Pond
DIY Simple Deer Proofing
raised bed container gardening title
before  after front garden landscaping
How to Prune a Peegee Hydrangea
before  after circular garden
before and after front terraced garden
we had to cut down 13 trees
1-in the garden with water walls and cloches
Ingenious Tips to DIY this Planter
Turtles and Window Boxes
install this arbor and fence in one day
DIY Brick Edging
Transplanting Stella D'Oro Daylilies
spring-planter-arrangement
Garden & Landscape Inspiration
moving-a-screened-gazebo-onto-the-property
2 pergolas  garden update
Humidity Tray for Orchids
Creative-Planters
Window-Boxes-inside-a-2nd-story-porch
rooftop-garden
Creating-an-Oasis-with-a-Water-Fountain
snug-harbor-farm
Tips on Forcing Bulbs Indoors
The-Story-of-a-Blue-Jay-Title-Page
The-Beauty-of-Fences1
What-is-this?
How I re-did these Concrete Lions
Before and After Landscape and a DIY Pergola
DIY Window Well Installation
Growing Grass in a Vintage Scale
DIY Hanging Terrarium
Kid's Craft DIY Miniature Fairy Garden

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and Instagram! I appreciate you reading along.

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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I’m Liz, the author, and I’m so glad you’re here!

My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!
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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I'm Liz, the author, and I'm so glad you're here! My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!


Disclosure Policy: According to FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that some of the content of this blog may be a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

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Sharing is great! Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest and Flipboard and Houzz and YouTube the more the merrier! I appreciate you stopping by. But please remember that all photos, images, text and content are owned by SimpleDecoratingTips.com. So anything you share, please be sure it always links back to my original post it came from. Please do not remove watermarks, crop or edit anything without written permission from me first.

Disclosure Policy: According to the FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials and shopping links. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Disclosure Policy According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. My truthful opinion will be what I state, no matter if I'm getting paid or not. Accuracy and truth are the priority for me on this blog's information, no matter if it's about a product or anything else. Not every product or service or store etc. may be mentioned in each and every post as an affiliate. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post.

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