Planting in the Front Yard

 In April I started researching what grows well in B.  I've learned that we're pretty limited with what grows.  I bought some plants and bushes from our local nursery but most of them from J&J's.  They have such a massive selection.  I've really enjoyed picking out things.  I bought a lot of plants that I love and then just put it together.  We'll see how it turns out once everything starts blooming.

 Luckily when I was researching, I learned that hydrangeas like B.  I put several hydrangeas in the front. (Three along the front porch infant of the laundry room area and then one in front of Bridger's window)  I'm crossing my fingers they'll be happy in our yard because I love hydrangeas.

Tanner was a good helper.  I would put the plants in the back of his truck and then he would drive them around to the side of the front yard.  

 I really wanted to get the plants in before it got to hot.  So I had the majority planted by the middle of May.  Matt got the drip system all hooked up to the plants.

After researching a lot of pine trees, I decided that I wanted to put some columnar Norway spruce trees out front.  I wanted one on each side of the garage side to even it out and give year long color.  Then I put one down on the far left side of the house.  They're supposed to stay narrow (about 6 feet wide) and get 20-25 feet tall.  It's hard to imagine how things are going to look in 10-30 years.  Hopefully I'll left lots of room for it to grow.  

One of the days that Bridger was mowing the lawn, I looked out and saw this.  Tanner was following right behind Bridger.  It was so cute!  Our grass has come in really well since we laid the sod last fall.  I still love looking out and seeing grass!

Jen told me about a small tree farm that normally only sells wholesale.  But once a year, they sell to the public.  Jen happened to see their add on Facebook and told me about it one morning.  After our bike ride, Matt and I went over to look at the trees.  They were limited in what they had left but we were still able to pick out six beautiful trees.  The trees are used to our crappy soil so hopefully they'll make it!  We bought two ash trees and a Hackberry tree to put back by the swing set corner.  We bought a golden maple.  The tree whisperer said that it's the only maple that grows in Bothwell so we'll see if it can survive.  Then we bought a flowering  prairie tree and a choke cherry tree to put in our island out front.  Matt had to bring them home in two different loads.  Once we got the trees home, we realized how big they were!!  They were too big for us to move them.  So we called our sweet friends the Evans and asked for their help. They were so kind and said "absolutely!"

The next week, Mike came over with his skid-steer and dug the holes and then moved the trees into the holes.  It was impressive how slick it was with his machine.  Of course right as they started, a big thunderstorm broke and poured on them.  It made everything so muddy to work in!

But Tanner was happy as can be playing in the rain puddles.  He was soaked so after it stopped raining, he took his shirt off and kept playing in the rain.  I love his rain boots with  his rolled up shorts.