Homeowner reveals before-and-after photos of unbelievable yard transformation: 'The shaded area has been a challenge'

A proud Northern Virginia homeowner took to r/gardening to show the internet the massive change in their front lawn after just over a year of effort.

They shared photos in a Reddit post showing the transformation from March 2022 to July 2023 and added, "Did it all myself!"

The image contains two photos, the top one labeled "before" and the bottom labeled "after." The "before" picture shows a brick house with a front path through its wide lawn and a tree to one side. The grass is patchy and struggling, with many dead, yellow areas.

In the "after" photo, that grass has been completely eclipsed by flourishing bushes and multicolored flowers.

"I plotted out on graph paper a rough shape of the garden I wanted, and then estimated how far the beech tree on the left of the photo would extend out to shade the garden," the original poster explained in a comment. "I planted full sun perennials everywhere that wasn't shaded. That's really what you're seeing mostly in this photo."

The original poster also made changes that weren't visible in their photo. "Admittedly, the shaded area has been a challenge, not only because of the shade, but any plants have to compete with the roots of the beech," they wrote. "Shallow rooted plants and some shade-tolerant plants have been successful. Plants like mountain mint, Joe Pye weed, ironweed, some goldenrods, and Pennsylvania sedge have been successful."

The original poster's choice of plants is important. They leaned heavily on native plants for their region — species that originated in the local area and have adapted to thrive in the natural conditions there. Planting native species allows you to create a low-maintenance, low-water garden, making it a cheap and easy option.

Plus, the local flowers attract pollinators, which are good for gardens and the environment as a whole, and are fun to watch.

If you want to rewild your yard for similar results, check out this starter's guide.

What's the hardest thing about taking care of your yard? Mowing the lawn 🏡 Controlling weeds 🌿 Keeping pests at bay 🐿️ I don't have a yard 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Commenters loved the lush garden the original poster created. "Looks incredible," said one commenter.

"The English garden style 'hedge' adds some really nice curb appeal and creates a nice barrier between your lawn and the public way," said another user. "I like it."

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