Just kidding. It’s not a secret. But it is quite big!!! It’s just it hasn’t been a pretty process so I haven’t shared it with you guys. You see, when we moved in we knew the landscaping here on the farm had to go. It was pretty, don’t get me wrong, but it was a lot. It was basically more than an acre all added together of plants on plants on trees on plants. Basically to keep up with it it would have taken a few hours a day of weeding & maintaining & that just wasn’t in our life plans right now. It all started with taking 10 dead pine trees down on the property to taking out all of our landscaping. Quite the jump, but quite frankly it needed to happen. It’s been such a long process [we started the end of August] & finally this week a fellow local farm, Wild Wood Family Farms, has come out to finish the job for us. This week they ripped out the rest of the foliage and trees around the house & brought in new dirt to get ready for planting & laying grass seed. Here is a glimpse of the before…
The goal is to go super minimal after taking out all of this landscaping that our house was hiding behind. Hydrangeas, boxwoods, & some ground cover. That’s it. They are eliminating a bunch of the flower beds & making all the remaining flower beds smaller. All of the landscaping has been removed from around the house [Some areas I haven’t shown yet, but will when the project is over] They also removed about 20-30 massive rocks out of the landscaping. Here is what it looks like now with everything removed before they plant all the new pretty things. Basically our house got a massive haircut & here is a tiny glimpse of what it looks like today…
It’s looking pretty naked around here huh? It’s not pretty right now, but I know this is the process that we need to take to get what we want. I am so ready for a fresh start! I’m ready to not have to worry about so much upkeep & ready to look at beautiful landscaping. By next spring this house of ours [at least the landscape] should be looking good. This is just one of those big things we have been working on lately to make this farmhouse & the farm our very own. If you guys have any landscape questions leave them in the comments below and I will answer them for you guys in the next landscape post after everything gets planted.
Speaking of our house getting a haircut, I got one too! I never ever take the time to get a haircut so this has to be documented. By the way if you are in Grand Rapids you have to check out @HairBySophiaMuse she worked her magic on me today & I feel like a whole new woman. If you guys saw my post yesterday on being burned out [HERE] you know a hair cut and some me time was probably in order.. & it worked. So the house got a new look, I got a new look, & here is tiny glimpse at one of the messy things going on here at White Cottage Farm. One day it will all be pretty, but we are trying to enjoy the mess while it’s here. I’ll be back soon with how it looks like with some more progress. I can’t wait to get some curb appeal up in here! Thank you guys so much for stopping by the blog today & for enjoying every season of life with us. You guys are the best cheerleaders & what keeps me motivated most days… thank you!! xx
Hair is gorgeous and landscaping project is going to be gorgeous when all planted and so exciting to watch unfold xxx
Liz, I’m a 54 year old fan. Forgive me if I’m overstepping, but if I could give my younger self some advice, and you too, it would be to relax, enjoy the ride, and give yourself credit for the magnificent things you are accomplishing. You are a dynamo, Kiddo; smart, kind, and talented. Give yourself a giant pat on the back and know we all feel “less than” at times. I assure you, you are “more than,” and all will be well! Proud of you!
WOW! I can’t get over how much bigger the house looks with all the landscaping gone. It’s going to look great when you get it the way you want it.
Love the hair!
It looks amazing! Where did you get your darling jeans ?
Beautiful country farmhouse with a lovely lady to attend the grounds!
Can’t wait to see what you do the landscape…we did partial landscape to out home we built 10 yrs ago but i still need to landscape right in front of the house. we still need a sidewalk too..my husband was going to put one in on vac but other things came up and it did not get done…we got the material to make ship lap walls in sun rm..not pine boards but plywood to be cut down,,,glad he has tools to do so,,we are going less expensive.. hope it will look good.. we already had floors that needs go down and ceiling car siding that went up 10 yrs ago,,i just can’t decide if to stain ceiling like our fam rm ceiling is or paint white or white wash,,or both, lol,,,, we went at stand still when husband wanted to start at bottom with ship lap and i wanted him start at top so narrow board be at bottom,,,i think i will let him win on this since it will be easier to start at bottom since he will do this without anyone helping hold boards,,lol..he always does good with all the projects,,i know your yard will look as great as the inside of your house,,,i can get some tips too!! we have porch with steps in center so ive been trying to figure out what to use,,maybe some sore of dwarf pine, some sort shrubs mixed with other things,,,i know how you feel about not wanting to work in yard a lot…we have some flowers in containers but my husband ended up watering more then i do. lol…but i hope we add more curb appeal soon. we did not put our front steps in few yrs ago, which i am glad finally did that..we go through garage but front sure needed curb appeal of steps. really enjoy your pics and posts!
ps….love your hair style too….
Where is your cardigan from?! LOVE IT!!! and your new do!!!
That is a huuuuge change, but getting rid of all of that gives you a clear view to ideas! Love it! I can tell you I
have changed the front of our house since we moved in some years ago, it’s now OUR look and not so dated
anymore. Lots of Hugs!
I am so happy you took some “me” time, was worried about you, love your hair!
Looking amazing!
Love that you feel all spruced up! Looking ADORBS!
Finding the happy place between minimal yard work and getting to go out, cut some greenery and some hydrangeas….pure bliss!
Be blessed!
I do hope some of those mature plants got new homes.
So many people would have jumped at the chance to take those perennials off your hands! I hope you didn’t just trash them. I loved all your pretty flower beds. Would having someone come once a week to maintain them have cost more than ripping everything out, having boulders hauled and buying and planting all new plants? Or even just paring down and replacing some high maintaince plants with low maintaince ones? I don’t mean to overstep, just surprised.