Front Yard Landscaping

Pathetic.  That's what our front yard looked like for about the last couple of years.  It wasn't due to a lack of trying.  Believe me, we certainly tried...twice.  There wasn't much landscaping in the front yard to begin with when we moved in almost three years ago.  There were two beds right in front of the house with some puny shrubs.  Our first spring in the house, I added a bunch of plants to the front beds, along with a section of plants and bulbs under a tree, and plenty of mulch.  While the beds started off decent looking, it was hideous by the end of the summer.  The dreaded Bermuda Grass had taken over everything, choking out the shrubs and flowers and leaving a nasty overgrown-weed look.

Last spring, we tried to remedy the situation by pulling ALL the mulch out, laying down high-grade weed-block and putting new mulch over the top.  It looked nice for a few months, then the nightmare returned... Bermuda grass EVERYWHERE.  Let it be known, Bermuda grass easily grows in/on top of/through mulch, so while our efforts did help kill the Bermuda grass that was under the weed-block, Bermuda grass outside the bed easily crept in and spread like wildfire throughout the mulch.

We realized it was time to call in the professionals.  Jon's co-worker, Mark, does landscaping part-time, so he was able to help us re-do our front yard landscaping so that it will last.

BEFORE

AFTER

Such a big difference!  Mark took out all the old mulch and weed-block, cut out all the Bermuda grass, removed the metal barrier on the front left side of the house and replaced it with limestone, had a guy come out and mortar the limestone beds, added soil, put down new weed-block, added drought-tolerant and deer-resistant plants, and added river stone as the new and improved "mulch."  I'm really happy with the look.  I just can't wait for the plants to grow and fill out the space.  I will probably end up adding more plants to fill out the space more.  But, in general, I'm so happy with it that it makes me want to add additional beds to the front yard and continue removing the nasty Bermuda grass.  One step at a time.

Plants in the front yard landscaping now include:
-Autumn Sage (salvia greggii)
-Black and Blue Salvia (salvia guaranitica)
-Texas Sage (leucophyllum frutescens)
-Mexican Bush (salvia leucatha)
-Lantana (lantana camaras)
-Bicolor Iris (dietes bicolor)
-Oleanders (nerium oleander)
-Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
-Spineless Prickly Pear (opuntia ellisiana)
-Gaura (gaura lindheimeri)
-Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora)
-Rock Rose (Cistaceae)
-Vitex (vitex agnus-castus)
-Cotoneaster (cotoneaster glaucophyllus)