DIY Landscaping and Beverage Tub Planter

On Friday I woke up and drank a huge cup of coffee with some French Vanilla Creamer,
and then I thought...I need to finish landscaping the backyard patio!

If I were a good little blogger, I would have done a before picture, but I was on a roll and my hands were covered in dirt so the camera stayed inside where it was safe and clean until I was finished.

Basically I cut to size and then put down a weed block mat, and then covered it with mulch.  I wish it had been as easy as it just sounded!

I still have some plants to add...but its getting there.

  

I had finished the other side a few days earlier.  As you can see, it was a much easier project due to the lack of the huge Oak Tree, and it was a smaller area.

So here are a few of the roadblocks I unexpectedly ran into (because like with everything I start, I thought that this job would be a piece of cake):

*I had to weed the whole area because it was covered with a little forest of Live Oaks that all had interconnecting roots that didn't like to be pulled up

*Mosquitoes

*I had to move the rocks, which was easy until I had to deal with the swarms of ants and other bugs of various grossness running about underneath

*Mosquitoes

*When I was pinning down the weed bock mat with the giant staples, most of them hit some form of tree trunk or rock 

*My Mango, Dax, and Barkley (we're dogsitting Barkley) decided it would be fun to play "Doggy Tag" and then  even more fun to make me it as I chased them around to get them inside

*Midway through the project the sprinkler system went off and soaked me

*More Mosquitoes

Wah...Wah...Wah

What I'm trying to say is: the next time I see a Landscaper I am going to shake their hand and thank them for their hard work in beautifying yards...IT IS NOT EASY!

After that, I took my $14 Target "Beverage Tub" (which I immediately saw and thought "What a cute planter!") and planted some plants on the other side of the patio.  I chose a brightly colored Caladium, Some Sweet Potato Vine, and some Ivy.

I'm quite in love with it!

So even though it was time consuming, sweat inducing, and I am covered in bug bites, I love how everything turned out.
Like with everything in life, the hard work paid off, and was well worth it in the end!

HAPPY SATURDAY EVERYONE!!!