How we spent our weekend

We spent this past weekend completely re-doing our front garden. We are really taking a chance this year by ripping out some of our "evergreen shrubs" and replacing them with perennial flowers. I worry once winter comes the front of our house will be extremely bare, but I am sure we can remedy that once it happens.

About 2 years ago Brandon and I purchased 7 azaleas. We were so excited because we purchased the Encore variety, meaning they would bloom TWICE a year, spring and fall. We bought white, red and one random purple. Not only have the azaleas not bloomed TWICE, but aside from the purple one, they haven't bloomed ONCE. So basically they are just green plants in the front of our house....taking up space.

This is our before picture. In this picture you can see our azaleas.


*We also relocated a gorgeous Lilac and plan to have the holly removed this week*

Brandon did most of the digging and pulling, I was just supervising. Once the azaleas were out and the purple one (our only bloomer) relocated, we decided to put topsoil over the entire garden. Brandon unload the topsoil and wheelbarrowed (I realize this probably is not a word) it over to the garden, while I raked it into it's proper place.



Saturday afternoon Brandon and I headed over to Stanley's Greenhouse (my absolute favorite place to be during the summer). This is (in my mind) by far the best greenhouse in Knoxville and if you are in this area and never stopped by Stanley's....you are truly missing out. We bought as much as we could and filled in some spots by buying other items at Home Depot. Sunday morning, early, we laid all the items in their respective spots....


*at this point I started to question what we had gotten ourselves into...

After joining some friends for a delicious brunch, we came and got right to work. Here are some pictures of our final product....







It was a lot of hard work (Brandon did the majority of the heavy lifting and digging and the hard stuff), but we are very excited about the final product. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we made an okay decision by pulling out some evergreens. Now....we just wait. And recover....I am exhausted!!!

Spring has Sprung......

My gardens are full of green.....sprouting and mounding from perennials ready to pop! The weather is warming and trees that have been nothing but sticks all winter are starting to grow tiny leaves. Spring trees are in full bloom already in Knoxville. My sweet husband even had to mow our lawn today.

We love Spring in the Bice house, as I am sure most people do! Our gardens go from neglected to weekend priority number one! Just thinking about cleaning out our largest garden somewhat overwhelms me, but I know it's a task Brandon and I will have to complete sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Spring is also a runner's paradise! The weather is perfect for a nice long run. Cool to start, but comfortable by the end. Since our egg retrieval and transfer, I have yet to be cleared to run. I think it's part of the OHSS and the prolonged bloating and general hugeness of my ovaries. I have been told I can walk....for 30 minutes at a time, but only as long as I can carry on a normal conversation without getting winded. Sweet Noah and I took a nice long walk this morning (don't tell, but it was a little over 30 minutes)! It was nice to feel somewhat active! I am ready to come off injured reserves and get back in the game! But, you know what they say.....good things come to those who wait! :)