Things are moving…slowly on the house renovations. Turns out, it takes awhile just to get bids back! So, because I don’t have TOO many updates for you, just a little one below, I thought I’d cheer myself up with some garden inspiration. Much like the facade, the garden is VERY low on the priority level, but because I’m so desperate for good news, I thought I’d share my overall vision for the landscaping. And my vision is yes, amazing and yes, expensive. Hahahah. That’s the thing about vision, it’s always better through inspiration photos!
Let’s go!
Home renovation update
Before we jump into gardening inspo, I wanted to start off with a little house renovation update. There was one wall in the basement that was…how do we say…naked when we closed. It looked like this.
Every contractor who saw it said that they had never seen anything like it. Frankly, it made me a little nervous hearing things like that.
Earthquake proof and everything proof foundation walls
TURNS OUT! The people who built it got in touch with me on Instagram and have provided a lot of insight. It’s so thrilling. They said that it’s called pollysteel–steel framing with styrofoam. It’s earthquake proof, termite proof, fire proof, and provides better insulation. VERY cool, right? I’m hoping to learn more about the house from them. They’ve already shared a few really touching stories.
I had some drywall experts come on over and they finished it up beautifully.
Ta dah!
Up, that’s the only update. Kind of boring, but I’m all about the baby steps right now.
Landscaping
Ok, now to garden inspiration…The landscaping is mostly super boring town right now. Only lawn but some beautiful sycamore trees. Sycamores remind me of my grandparents home in Los Angeles so I do feel like it’s coming full circle and I’m super stoked about them.
We’ll probably do some different entrance path at some point, again, low on the priority list.
Side yard
And here’s the side yard.
And the other side yard. It’s very slopey so I’ll need your input on what to do here to make it more interesting and garden-y.
Here’s a better view of the side yard . Just grass. And I know a lot of people LOVE grass squares, but honestly, they give me a major case of the snoozies. It’s kind of a swear word to me when someone says “oh, and there’s a big open lawn, you’ll love it”. The amount of flowers you could plant! (dear pun intended).
And how weird is this. Two times I’ve come to the house and the same deer has been in this exact spot munching away. I missed a couple of opportunities on Instastories for this pun and I can’t ruin it again so…it was a major case of deer-ja vu. Hardy har har.
Please diagnosis this tree
Bonus points to whoever can tell me what’s wrong with the side tree. Also, I think I have tryphobia because this picture gives me the chills up and down my spine.
The backyard
The back of the house is long and narrow. There’s a deck coming out from the kitchen with some fir trees. I believe, but need to verify the boundary lines. I was told it’s that telephone post to the right of the shed, which is not ours. I think there’s room to be creative here, but we’ll have to figure out what that is.
Ok, that’s what we have to work with. Now what do we do? This is the fun part…the dreaming! Every phase needs a dream because you need to feel excited about something, right?!
Side yard inspo
Here’s what I’m thinking: put that side green grass square to work by making a more formal symmetrical path with a beautiful gravel and hedges and flowers. These inspiration photos are to illustrate the idea of the paths and types of hedges.
You following?
A place for walking and exploring, beautiful flowers, foot paths, a place to sit and relax. A spot for manicured topiaries contrasted with more wild shrubs.
Front yard
I haven’t flushed out the front yard yet, but I know there’s one thing on the agenda and that’s hydrangeas. There’s ONE type of hyrdangea that grows here in Utah. All the others don’t survive the desert heat. My sister has a neighbor where they are thriving. See? 
They only come in that one color and I don’t know the name yet, but they’re so lush. And this house is north facing, as it ours, so I’m feeling like it would be a good plan for the front of the house.
As for the backyard, I don’t have any idea yet…but I’m open to suggestions. Side yard too.
In the mean time, in my mind I’m sitting in the south of France in my side yard and I’m feeling PRETTY good.
Favorite gardeners to follow on Instagram
If you’re needing a big dose of garden inspiration, I ADORE following Danish garden expert, Claus Dalby on Instagram. He’s SO informative and his grounds are out.of.this.world. He gives constant live tours (“livesending” he calls it and he begins every video with “hallo hallo”. I live for it.) We might need to bring a little (a lot!) of Denmark into this project. It’s only right 😉
Also, Monty Don has gotten me through COVID so do yourselves a favor and go watch all of his documentaries ASAP.
Would love your input, especially about sloping side yard and back yard!
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