After a very hot October, it’s finally feeling like fall! And we were waiting for the temperature to drop some to do a lil fall planting.

Back in May when Pegs was here, we did a lot of planting by our newly installed fence.  We added 5 autumn ferns below the tree thinking they’d get a good mixture of sun and shade, but they kinda got rocked by sun… so I transplanted them to the side yard between 2 pine trees where they would get more shade and be happier.  They have already sprung back to life and are loving their new location.

You can also start to see our prep for a next spring project: defining the beds and planning where we will let the grass grow (and add some sod) to the side yard! We’ve waited to tackle that side last and are almost there.  Now we have some defined beds though so when we lay our fall pine straw, you’ll really be able to see where the grass will carry around from the front to the back.

To the right of the ferns, we planted 5 more autumn sangria azaleas!  We continued from the 4 I planted earlier this year (I promise they’re still alive, just had a lil excessive fertilizer incident), matching the color so eventually there will be 1 big area of color under the Japanese maple when they bloom.

Mom had the suggestion to move the pots from the deck to the front porch and to take down the hanging baskets since the water dripping down was causing our railing to turn green and be dirty.

I kept the dianthus in the pots that I added in the spring, and moved the cork screw rush from the hanging baskets.  Then I got some pansies and more creeping jenny for color.  The pots looked great with our Halloween front porch decor and pumpkins!

The biggest addition was literally a tree!  We saved space for something big in the corner of the fence and found an emerald colonnade holly at Abide a While.  I grew up on Colonnade, so it seemed like the perfect evergreen item to plant there!  I also transplanted the rosemary bushes from my pots to the ground to the left of the rose bushes we moved this spring because they had gotten so big.

Sometimes it seems like we have so much to do, but looking back at where our yard was, even this spring, makes me realize how much work we have put into it already!  The grass in the back filled in really well this summer which was a great surprise because we expected to have to lay sod back there too – but not anymore!

We’ve enjoyed slowly tackling the yard a project at a time over the last year and a half and seeing the progress!  It’s safe to say our yard is in better shape than the inside of our house, but we’re following the same strategy in there as well.