Our home was in need of a landscaping makeover.

I am excited to be partnering with Southern Living Plants once again this spring.  My landscaping has undergone a beautiful makeover with several of their gorgeous varieties of plants. Last year, I partnered with them on a container garden on my back patio.

To see all the details, click HERE.

This year, we stayed in the front yard.  Our house is almost twenty years old and most of the landscaping is original to the house.  It is time to start replacing and updating. We had barberry bushes all around our home, and we hate their sharp thorns.  We spent a lot of time last summer digging the thorns out of our hands and feet.

(The photo is courtesy of my 5-year-old daughter.)

The prickly bushes were replaced with the following plants from the Southern Living Plant Collection:

1. Yewtopia Plum Yew

I love shrubs in landscaping so there is something green when winter comes.  The Yewtopia Plum Yew is compact and resistant to deer, disease, pests, and drought.

2. Purple Diamond Compact Loropetalum

The Purple Diamond Compact Loropetalum has beautiful deep, rich purple foliage that holds its color all season.  It also has pink flowers which appear in spring and sometimes summer. I planted mine in containers, but I will move these to the ground this fall.  They can grow 4-5 feet tall and wide.

3. Dear Dolores Hydrangea

I absolutely love hydrangeas, and the Dear Dolores Hydrangea is gorgeous.  It blooms in spring and reblooms from summer to fall. Blue blooms occur in acidic soils or pink blooms occur in alkaline soils like mine.

4. Encore Azalea Autumn Belle

I have never tried azaleas, so I am excited to try the Encore Azalea Autumn Belle.  This variety is fast growing upright with light green foliage and bi-colored ruffled flowers.

The landscaping makeover has made such a difference in my home’s appearance.

Here’s a before shot of the front side of my home:

And an after

My lilies have overtaken the yetopias for now, but when the cold weather sets in, my yetopia will stay green.

Here’s a before of the front landscaping (to the left of the entry):

And an after:

And the before of the front (to the right of the entry):

And here’s how it looks now:

By replacing the barberry bushes, with the hydrangeas, azaleas, and loropetalums, we will enjoy pretty blooms throughout spring and summer.

Thanks, Southern Living Plants for making my home a prettier place!

Go create something!

Are you new to my blog? Go HERE to see my home tour and HERE to shop for items I use in our home. Find me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest   *This post contains affiliate links and is a sponsored post by Southern Living Plant Collection. I take pride in reviewing only products that fit my brand and will be beneficial to my readers. And while this post is sponsored, all the opinions are my own. Here’s a little behind the scenes action of my and my assistant photographer: