When we purchased this property, we were a little overwhelmed. There was little to no landscaping and especially in the back yard that crept right up to the back of the house thick with brush and saplings. It was very overwhelming. We received some quotes from landscaping companies of $15,000+ to do just small sections of the property. We were looking at close to $200,000 to do what we wanted on the full acre of land. I knew that if I wanted this place like the sanctuary of a backyard I grew up with in Ohio, I was going to have to get a little dirty in the process. Luckily, I was cool with that. We wanted to uncover some of the big trees in the back. (We have since lost three massive trees in the back – it’s been a horrible heartbreaking experience to which I will write about in subsequent posts.) Those two massive trees in the photo were completely hidden by thick brush and lots of understory trees. So, the first thing that happened that really set off my love of landscaping was when we had a Bobcat track loader come in to clear more of the land in the backyard to expand our existing grass area and expose the large oak trees. There were some peaks of big rocks sticking up and when the operator started pulling these massive, gorgeous rocks up and roughing up the dirt in the tree line, I realized, we have A TON of rock back there! That was initially extremely exciting to learn and there has been an ongoing rock hunt on this property ever since. I have landscaped every single existing bed with natural limestone and it’s been such an incredible experience and the BEST workout you could ever imagine.  McKeegan (my flower farmhand and workhorse who I could have done none of this without) and I have literally pulled every single rock out of the ground to landscape the whole property. One day my husband was giving me some trouble about all the time I spend outside and that I’m going to hurt my back like he did – when I was pulling the rock for the 220′ long bed on the south side of the property, so I called the local rock warehouse and asked them to estimate the limestone for 460′ (this ONE bed is long and the rock runs up both sides. The bed is about 10′ wide.) They wanted $6700 for the rock ALONE. That was the last time my husband complained about me pulling rocks. I started rounding all the beds out and was loving the look I was getting. I then learned about the second best thing that started my love affair with landscaping and that was the Lowe’s Manager Rack. Located in every single Lowe’s (that I’ve come across) is this incredible rack of somewhat sad or overgrown plants, shrubs and trees. It has literally been a game changer. I was able to buy plants and try to keep them alive, learn about watering patterns, pruning, fertilizing etc. I lost some, some thrived…if they died…it was okay, it was only $1-10. It was the perfect way to master my craft. I have picked up so many cool things from that rack. I highly recommend you check your local Lowe’s from April through end of October as that rack is always full of plants looking for good homes. Unless it’s a plant I REALLY want, I don’t ever pay full price. I always check in with both places weekly to see what’s on sale. I was never afraid to ask for a discount if I was going to buy 5 or more of the same plant full priced – I was so happily surprised when both places (Lowe’s and Home Depot) offered me 30-50% off when I would do this. Don’t get me wrong, I love to shop at the smaller privately owned nurseries too, but sometimes their pricing is just way out of control. It really depends on what we’re looking for but I try to have an edge on knowing what’s on sale, what I want where and then buying it when it’s marked down. The free rock and the discounted plants have turned this place around for a fraction of the cost.