Curb Appeal

I haven't done much to outside of the house.  I've never been one to do yard work.  I was made to do it as a kid by my parents and decided it wasn't something I wanted to do ever again as an adult.  Why force myself to sweat and overheat while doing any labor?  Well, we bought a house with a yard so I guess that means we have to do something.  Our neighbors have started sprucing up their yards so I figured I needed to keep up.  The outside is just as important as the inside.

The hubby from the start has kept up the lawn by mowing, trimming, and lining the edges.  Big props to him.  He likes being outside and getting dirty.  No thank you.  The flower beds in front of the house needed help though.  On the left is a bed of shrubs so we decided to keep them that way.  The right side has some green sprouty things, not sure of the name.  They were spaced enough to where we could put some flowers in between.  After several trips to buy flowers and leaving with nothing in hand, I decided enough playing around.  I needed to just do it already.  One day on a lunch break I headed to Home Depot and bought some flowers and a couple hanging baskets.

I got to work as soon as I got home.  I had talked myself into it all afternoon.  After a few hours of hard work and sweat here's what I ended up with.  I was impressed for my first time around.  You can see where I dug up tons of red clay and dumped it near the downspout.  There were lots of rocks under there too. 

They looked good for a couple weeks.  It's hard for me to remember to water them everyday.  The yellow marigolds and pink petunias started to look puny and shrivel up.  Some flowers just went away altogether.  Yep, I'm pretty sure I killed them.  It could have been a combination of under-watering and the scorching sun.  Who knows?

I had to do something about this.  So another trip to Home Depot.  This time for some larger flowers and mulch to cover all the red clay.

Better the second time I think.  I want to add some potted plants on either side of the front door and a couple chairs.  Doubt if I'll ever sit in them though.  I'm not really an outside person.  Is it weird that I like to be inside in the A/C instead of enjoying the warm hot weather?

Have you done anything to spruce up your curb appeal?