Friday, February 3, 2012

Much Better

Hello everyone! 

Today was another pretty day, although windy.  Despite the wind, my husband agreed to begin putting fresh pine straw out.  Yay!  We were so behind in putting it out.  It was quite sad looking.  I helped him with a huge smile on my face too.  Ha!



We put out 35 bales, but still need SO much more! 



We were only able to get the areas close to the house today.



We will continue until it gets finished.  Tomorrow, if the weather permits, we are going to prune our crepe myrtles too.  That needs to be done before we put straw in that bed.


You can see where we ran out of straw here on the side of our house too.  We plan on getting our house repainted this year.  I think I'm going to go with a slightly darker color.  I want all of the porch trim to really pop!

My husband pressure washed the stone steps that lead to the front door too. I'll have to get a picture of that for you next time.  It's amazing how much better they look now!

Hope you all are having nice weather to enjoy the outdoors too.

Have a great weekend!

~ Kelly ~


25 comments:

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

I know it feels good to get that done. It always takes so many bales. They don't go far at all.

Anonymous said...

It looks wonderful Kelly. We use bark mulch around our shrubs etc. I love the look of the pine straw.

Deserae said...

I had never heard of using pine straw for flower beds until I started reading your sister's blog.... I just love the way it looks!!! It was windy,cold, and rainy here today. We needed the rain so badly though that I don't mind it one bit!
~Des

Unknown said...

I had not heard of the pine straw until I saw it on Kim's blog too. You certainly have lots of work with all those gardens. Around here we use pine or cedar mulch, usually in natural, red or black. The pine straw looks pretty.

Debra@CommonGround said...

Love the look of pine straw and used it when we lived in Marietta, but up here, further north, it's only river rock or pea gravel. much harder to freshen up. your place looks wonderful!

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

Looking good Kelly. I think a darker color would look great. What color are you thinking?

Tarin said...

Love your blog and the pine straw looks great! What type of border are y'all using in that first picture...looks so pretty!

Christine @ Stonehouse Living said...

Hi Kelly,
I can't believe how green everything is at your place. Compared to all of bare trees!
The pine straw looks fabulous...
Lots of work, no doubt! But so worth it.
Enjoy your day tomorrow!
All the Best,
Christine

Amy Chalmers said...

Ya we don't have pine straw here in New England. We use mulch and then in the winter there is supposed to be snow cover...I hope all the bulbs I planted will be ok. The snow is an insulator, probably like the pine straw. Of course the pine straw makes things look pretty . Do you keep it year round? Do flowers pop out of the ground through it? Like daffodils and whatever...I wondered what color you were thinking too...so scary picking out HOUSE colors on the exterior!

Debbiedoos said...

I wait until March to do ours. I don't know why, but I do. It looks awesome. I love the look of fresh pine needles. Funny I had never seen the look until I moved to the Carolinas. They certainly do not use it in Florida or Buffalo!

ℳartina @ Northern Nesting said...

I love the look of pine straw but you don't see it here in the northeast. Your front looks great!

Ramblings of a Southern Girl ~ Rhonda G said...

Looks great! Love the look of fresh pinestraw!

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Everything looks amazing. Gorgeous home. Hugs, Marty

Babs said...

Lookin' good Kelly! We're no where near ready to put out the pine straw. We still have some pruning to do out front on the knock out roses and removing the dead lantana. I hope we get to do a bit more pruning tomorrow.
Have a great weekend,
Babs

Anonymous said...

Everything looks wonderful! Your home is so beautiful. Now you said 35 bales and you need more? Wow! You must have a very large lot or just lots of planting beds! :)
Be a sweetie,
shelia ;)

Linda said...

Pine straw is something new to me!

"The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul!"

I know you are feeling GOOD about getting that done!

Happy Friday Night!

Bliss said...

Spring is still a couple months off for me. Just enough time to learn more about Pine Straw. Here we use mulch of wood chips. How often do you have to re do the pine straw? Every year? I like the look of it, I'll have to google it.

~Bliss~
(Oh, YES to darker so your porch pops!)

Anita Diaz said...

It looks great Kelly! I'm so jealous too! We cannot get to that until maybe April. We always need around 50-60 bales, and that's only for the sections near the woods. We use mulch around the house and that usually take a about a dump truck full, so we can only do it once a year. Luckily, we are in the woods so people don't drive by our house, lol. Looks great and I bet a darker color will look great with the white trim! We are wanting to do the same stone work you have, but have not gotten there yet.

Pondside said...

I remember when Kim posted about this last year, and how amazed I was. We don't have that stuff up here. We use cedar chips. Your place is looking so 'well-dressed'!

Cheri said...

Your house looks lovely. Oh and the idea of the bed pillows...awesome.

Vintage Home said...

wow I love that look...pine straw! We don't do that here on the west coast! Does it stay on all year?
Your home is so pretty!

Ann from On Sutton Place said...

I love pine straw but it's not available up north. I asked a few years ago at my garden center. They said I would have to buy a whole truckload! Needless to say I opted for mulch. :o) Looks wonderful.

thistlewoodfarm said...

I am so ready to get outside in our flower beds and start with Spring! We are putting in a garden with raised beds!

blessings,
karianne

Barb @ The Everyday Home said...

I have no earthly idea where you live, but all I know is it is in the South. We do love our beloved pine straw as a cover don't me? :)

We have lived all over the world, and its definitely a Southern thing. In fact, most people either love or hate it. I LOVE it. We generally have about FIFTY bales delivered. Oh my! We are getting ready to take out about 400 overgrown, way past their prime azealeas (no I am not kidding, there may be more!) and replace with pantings and you got it....Pine straw! :)

A very scary thing happened here a few years ago locally, and now I am always so careful when opening a bale. A man bought several bales from Lowe's (they had been shipped in from FL according to the paper), and when he cut open a bale and grabbed a handful, a baby rattler bit him. aaaaagh! Now I am super careful.

I love your home. Very Southern and beautiful. Blessings, Barb

Tanna said...

Wow, Kelly! Y'all were really after it with all that straw! Look great and I think the darker shade of paint will be exciting to see!! Hope you have a wonderful afternoon! blessings ~ Tanna