Decluttering: Tips for Removing Excess
Any casual viewing of Storage Wars or Hoarders reveals that many of us have an issue with clutter. Decluttering can be an effective way to remove excess from our lives. Removing the excess just may help clear our minds and bring peace. Below are a few of my decluttering tips for removing excess.
A bedroom shows off its beauty when kept clean through decluttering. 1. Designate zones in your house.
A Bowl Full of Lemons really helped me designate specific areas or “zones” of my home. Having listed and designated spaces in your home allows you to tackle one area at a time for decluttering. Sometimes getting rid of all clutter feels overwhelming. Focusing only on one zone feels more manageable.
In addition to decluttering one zone at a time, Go Clean Co. taught me to work an area from left to right. I have 18 zones in my home (front porch, hallways, living room, kid 1 room, kitchen, half bath, commons area, pantry, primary bedroom, primary bathroom, kid 2 room, kid 3 room, dining room, back porch, stairwell, laundry, kids’ bathroom, and garage). As I go through a zone to declutter, I can work in that space from left to right, pulling all items out to see if they are still needed or wanted.
Go Clean Co is an educational follow. 2. Kon Mari it.
If you have never heard of the Kon Mari method, check this article out. I am not gonna lie, for me, tackling the entire Kon Mari method is overwhelming; however, I have taken her advice of touching an item and seeing how your spirit responds as a guide for eliminating clutter. At first, that advice may seem odd but give it a try. When you are decluttering a space, handle each item. Your body has some type of response whether it is negative, meh, or a joyful response. Keep only what sparks joy.
As your pile of decluttered items grows, determine if you will throw them away or donate them. I place my donated items in large bags with handles in order to set them in my car to drop off at my charity of choice.
3. Create a challenge for yourself.
I have created a challenge for myself (I first learned of it from Instagram) on decluttering that I have been working on for six months! The challenge was only supposed to last for one month – ha! For each day of the month, get rid of the corresponding number of items. For example, on day 1, you get rid of 1 item and on day 31, you get rid of 31 items. When you have gone through days 1-31, a total of 497 items will be eliminated from your home. I am currently on day 30 and have 7 of the 30 needed items to throw out. This has definitely been a challenge for me! I thought it would be much easier than it has been but I can tell a big difference in my home when there are close to 500 items of clutter no longer clogging up my home!
For other tips or insight into keeping your home clean, you can read a related previous post here. Have fun decluttering!
How to Travel on a Budget: 3 Tips I Use
What makes travel so grand? Is it the new location? A different culture? Or just the possibility of getting away from the day to day stress. Read on to discover how to travel on a budget.
Photo by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com Tip #1: Create a budget.
When planning a trip, sit down with yourself or your significant other and determine how much money can be spent on your trip. Give yourself some time to consider: transportation, hotels, clothing, food, etc. Be sure to include how many people are traveling with you. You might learn what a ticket cost for one person but then you will need to multiply that cost by how many are in your travel party.
As I will state later in the post, research will be a big help to your planning. I found this article during my recent research for our upcoming trip to Greece. I love that the author gave a variety of budget levels for traveling to Greece. Once you have created your budget number, now it’s time to list out all your wants.
I love to travel! You can find other tips and advice I have given on a previous post, here.
Tip #2: List your wants.
While considering your travel budget, make a list of all your top wants in a trip. What is the most important to you? Great food or a great hotel? Which would you prefer to do more of: lounge in your hotel or be out and about with the locals? Write your travel priorities in 1, 2, 3 format and allocate the most funds to your top priority.
For me, I want my family to have as many experiences as they can while on a trip. As far as money goes, I am willing to eat cheaper or reserve a standard hotel room if it means we can rent a sailboat and tour an island or if we can take an old fashioned train ride up the mountainside. For others, having a grandeose suite is the hilight of their trip. Only you can determine which part of a trip is the most important to you and therefore, deserves the greatest allotment of your budget.
Greece is our travel destination for the summer and I cannot wait! After you have listed your wants, now begins the research. Research allows you to match your wants with your budget.
Tip #3: Research, research, research.
With the world wide web at our fingertips, you have ample oportunities to research any travel destination. Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and blogs offer a plethera of ideas for where to stay, what to do, and what to eat. Depend on the real life experiences bloggers or friends and family share with you regarding your desired travel destination. Please do not rely on only one person’s review. Spend time reading or viewing several reviews of a restaurant, resort, or travel experience.
Once you have completed your research, create a travel ititnerary that list where you will go each day, where you will eat, and where you will stay. An itinerary can help reduce impulse spending and keeps your entire travel crew on track. For our trip to Wales, I used Rough Guides travel guide to Wales. Here is one for Greece. (As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission off any viable links. This is at no extra cost to you.) My travel guide book gave me an abundance of information and really was beneficial during my trip and I needed a quick reference to an area or a recommendation for food.
With careful study of reviews, I have utilized the following sites for hotels and overnight stays: Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com Google can offer great reviews on restaurants and experiences. Yelp is also another review site for restaurants; however, blog reviews of restaurants for overseas trips might be most beneficial.
For more tips on how to travel on a budget, check out this link.
How to Start a Daily Quiet Time
Craving a word from the Lord? Or simply wanting moments to center yourself? Let me share with you how to start a daily quiet time.
1. Designate a purpose.
This blog post is for individuals who feel a strong desire to center themselves and align their ideals with God in a daily manner . Practical tips for establishing this time will be given. From the inception of my blog, I would say my target audience would be women whose main role is the chief executive operators of their home. You can learn more about me and what my passion is here. As the chief excecutive operator of your home, quiet time can enhance the productivity of your home. When initiating a quiet time, designate your purpose for creating a time alone. Do you want to grow closer to God? Need a time to quiet the noise of the world and discover what drives you? Determining your purpose will motivate your plan.
2. Choose a platform
What do I mean by a platform? Any avenue to assist as a conduit of your time alone is considered a platform. A variety of platforms can assist with creating a quiet time: devotional book, Bible, or podcast. Here is a top selling Bible on Amazon. The beauty of study Bibles is you learn about the culture of the time of each particular scripture as well as context clues and background information. One platform I used this past year was a podcast, The Bible Recap. This podcast revealed so many aspects of the Bible that I simply did not know (and I have read through the Bible before). This podcast helped me to deepen my understanding of the Bible and God’s message. The appropriate platform can give you knowledge and knowledge is power.
Women’s NIV Study Bible. As an Amazon Associate, I am eligible for commission on any viable links. 3. Pick a consistent time.
Picking a consistent time is a habit I have been crafting for DECADES. I am in no way a morning person and for a L O N G time did my quiet time at night. In 2023, my first challenge for the year was to do a daily quiet time first thing in the morning. As a night owl, a little bit of preparation had to take place in order for this challenge to be a success. Getting sufficient sleep, purchasing a journal, keeping my devotional materials near my bed, making sure my coffee supplies are stocked and ready to go are necessary preparations for me to be successful.
4. Give yourself grace.
In my opinion, as long as you are making an effort to have a quiet time, the exact time of day it happens is not of top importance. Now, three decades into this habit and I can definitely see the benefits of starting the day out in quiet time. For me, a cup of coffee is tantemount to being able to pull of any successful moments of quiet reflection. Am I successful each day? No, but giving myself the grace to let go of my shortcomings and start again as soon as I can has been helpful.
Whatever your purpose for starting your own quiet time, I hope you have much success in your endeavor. My desire is for these tips to help motivate and guide you. Share with me in the comments any tips or tricks that have been beneficial to your own quiet time journey.
5 Daily Habits for Healthy Eating
Eating healthy may seem overwhelming or like an insurmountable tasks; however, establishing healthy eating habits creates positive outcomes in your life. With the implementation of 5 daily habits for healthy eating, you will see an improvement in your overall health.
1. Take a multivitamin.
Multivitamins provide nutrients that your body might be lacking. For me, Vitamin D and C are two vitamins that I need more of in my body. When I take a daily multivitamin, my energy levels noticably improve. Of course, the addition of raw fruits and vegetables will also increase the nutrients available to your body. While the increase in energy levels is wonderful, I will caution against taking any vitamins on an empty stomach. Please eat a full meal before taking vitamins in order to reduce the possibility of nausea and always consult your doctor before taking any new vitamin or supplement.
2. Drink water.
Sure this habit is a no brainer but if you are like me and not a huge fan of water, you might want to get creative in how to get your water intake higher. Setting a goal for how many ounces you will drink per day, using a pretty water bottle, or adding a no sugar sweetener to your water might be ways to make drinking water daily an easy habit. Since reducing sugar in my diet, I find that I am reaching more for water and allowing myself one Coke Zero per day.
There is a drink that Trim Healthy Mama created called “Good Girl Moonshine” and it has water, apple cider vinegar, ground ginger, and stevia in it. I’ve made it with a flavored tea to give it extra punch. This drink is a healthy sipper and also helps with weight loss – the apple cider vinegar can help to invigorate your metabolism.
3. Plan ahead.
This habit is CRUCIAL to my success. Creating a meal plan the weekend before the next week helps me keep on track for healthy eating. Designating specific times to create meals and snacks saves me from becoming too hungry and eating anything in sight. With the proper preparation, I already know what my next meal or snack will be. I have sat down with my own schedule and written in meals and snacks; however, I believe you could use a calendar as well.
Part of my planning includes researching various healthy eating sites via Pinterest and Instagram for meal and snack inspiration. My favorite is when I can find a Trim Healthy Mama weekly meal plan and pull meal ideas from it. In 2022, I set a goal of providing 365 different meals for my family. This task definitely required planning ahead! You can read all about it here.
I recently discovered The Peachie Spoon on Instagram and love the variety of recipes she has that help stabilize blood sugar levels. 4. Eat every 3 hours.
Trim Healthy Mama is the eating plan that I am most closely adhering to and one of its pillars of success is the habit of eating every 3 hours. This time frame allows your body to process the food from the previous meal without overloading its systems.
When I create my meal plan, I write out the times I will be having my meals and snacks. Typically I have a meal at: 6:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. My 6:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and my 6:00 p.m. times are for meals and the other times are for snacks. The key to success is pairing either fats with protein or carbohydrates with protein but NO MIXING fats, carbs, and protein. I highly recommend the Trim Healthy Mama book. The sisters that wrote the book spent years in research on ways to provide the best nutrition to your body.
As an Amazon Associate, I may be eligible to earn commission on viable links. 5. Celebrate the wins.
Making healthier choices is hard. Celebrating each little win is a great habit to establish daily. Do you feel more energized? That’s a win. Did you lose half a pound? Consider that a win. Are you able to think more clearly? Another win. Celebrate your ability to grow and change for the better. This is a habit to incorporate in every aspect of life!
By implementing these 5 daily habits for healthy eating: take a multivitamin, drink water, plan ahead, eat every 3 hours, and celebrate the wins, you are sure to feel the positive results in your body!
2024: What’s Hot, What’s Not
It’s the first week of a new year and so far, I am off to a great start. I’m already tackling one of my two goals: write 52 blog posts. This should be interesting considering last year’s blog posts topped out around 11. Read along as I outline what’s hot and what’s not in the world of creating New Year’s goals.
What’s Hot
Before I jump into the key features of what makes a goal “hot”, maybe I should share my second goal for the year: run a 5k. In revealing my second goal, I’m highlighting the first point of what’s hot: a simplified focus. In looking at an entire beautiful year of possibilities, determine a simplified focus for something (or things) you would like to accomplish. Having just two goals: writing 52 blog posts and running a 5k provide PLENTY of opportunities for me to hammer out some success in these areas.
Another hot item for 2024: a positive mindset. The older I become, the more aware I am of the power of a positive mindset. If I only had my power of observation as a resource than I can still readily provide examples of wonderful progression towards success from individuals with a positive mindset. Those that are willing to see the positive in each situation also seem to possess the ability to encourage others to see the positive outcome possibilities.
And lastly on my what’s hot list is inspiration. Being able to draw inspiration from others is a definite motivator when tackling your own goals. I’ve included one of my absolute favorite inspiration accounts on Instagram in the image below. For another of my all time favorite inspiration accounts, check Lauren out here.
A Bowl Full of Lemons is one account that consistently provides me with inspiration to tackle my goals. What’s Not
Too many goals is NOT a hot item to have in the new year. Admittedly, I fell victim to this last year. My idea was to target a different challenge each month and allow them to build on each other over the course of the year. In theory, I would arrive at the end of the year with 12 habits in my life. While I am still incorporating the habit I started with in January 2023 (daily devotional time), the other 11 challenges are spotty habits at best. Setting too many goals is too much for obvious reasons.
Another not hot feature is unreasonable timelines. In 2024, build in abundant time to hit your goals. For example, my goal for the entire year is to run a 5k not run a 5k every other month. A 5k is not a great distance but I want to do this well and feel like it is going to take months for me to build up the ability to run the entire 3.2 miles. And while 52 blog posts roughly translates into one blog post a week, the beauty of this goal is, I can write as many blog posts as I want in a week and schedule them to publish whenever I desire.
For my final what’s not hot about New Year’s goals is: a negative outlook. As I age, I am learning to avoid this whenever possible! I am finding a fascination with people who turn from the negative in order to focus on the positive and the results are amazing! There’s no room in your New Year’s goals for negativity.
Well, there you have it: what’s hot and what’s not when it comes to New Year’s goals. If you are curious about some of my past goals, you can read up on what I did in 2022 here.
Adding in Fall Decor
Temperatures are still sky high but fall is just around the corner – my favorite time of year! Now is the perfect time to start adding in fall decor. I feel like there are just some ideal ways to add in fall decor throughout your home.
Incorporate earthy tones.
Warm, earth tones are a must during the fall season. What says fall better than shades of brown, orange, yellow, and red? With earth tones still going strong on the home decor front, it only seems fitting to up their game in your fall decor. Think branches, faux stems, earthen ware pottery – all good pieces to add to any room.
Texture, texture, texture.
Incorporating cable knit blankets, woven baskets, feathers, faux floral stems – all items add a layer of texture to your space.
One of my favorite bloggers is Brittany at White and Woodgrain. Here is a post she shared on some fall styling.
Only use what speaks to you.
I’ll be real honest, lately I have really had to search for some fall inspiration. For some reason the over the top, in your face fall displays have left me feeling “blah”. I am looking for simple touches that will welcome in this new season. If you love over the top, big displays for each new season, go for it! Decorate your home with what speaks to you for in the end, you are the one who lives there!
For more decor tips, you can read a previous post I shared here.
The First Day of School
The first day of school is cause for much anticipation in the Helms House. Preparation for a new school year takes a little bit of time to accomplish. With a few procedures in place, you can have a great start to the school year.
List supply needs.
Depending on how many kids you have in your home, you may have multiple school supply lists. However many children you have, list out each school supply needed and start making purchases to mark off the list. Some school systems offer a pre-order of school supplies to be delivered directly to the school before the start of the year. With Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart +, you can order your school supplies to be delivered to your door. If you are like me, you can list out the items then determine which store has the cheapest selection.
Make a list of clothing items needed for the first day of school.
If your kids are like mine, clothing needs vary from year to year. Does your son need new jeans? Does your daughter need new shoes? Having a list of needed items allows you the opportunity to search for sale items in your area or online. I like consulting Brad’s Deals for some good finds.
Lay everything out the night before.
Once your school supplies are purchased, pack them all in backpacks and have the backpacks by the door. Go ahead and lay out what the first-day-of-school outfit will be. Take the time to pack lunches the night before. Doing as much as possible the night before will help the morning of school go more smoothly.
Plan something special
Once you have completed all the prep work of outfits and supplies, plan something special for the morning of the first day of school. In our house, we go to a special breakfast place as a treat to spend time together before school begins. We have to leave our house extra early for this treat but my kids love it. Don’t forget to account for a crazy amount of traffic on the first day. Play calming music on the way to school (we play worship music), choose to not “fuss” or lecture the kids during this car ride. Time for correction and guidance can wait until after school. Spend time talking with your kids and praying together.
I share the above principles time and time again because they have added such value to my life. You can read more about where I learned my back-to-school procedures here?
Breakfast at Hero Donuts.
What procedures did I leave out? When will your children return to school?
Tips for Planning Your Own Travel Itinerary
Summer is the perfect time for travel! With kids out of school, beautiful weather, and vacation days, travel sounds like a great idea. You can check out another favorite vacation spot of ours here. Feeling overwhelmed with the idea of planning your vacation? Here are some tips for planning your own travel itinerary.
Conwy Castle
Tip 1: Pole your partner or family on desired location
Ask your partner or family members what locations they would like to visit. I’ve even heard of some family members creating PowerPoints with the highlights of their desired destination! Getting input from your traveling party allows you to consider what locales will best meet everyone’s ideals.
Tip 2: Utilize Pinterest and Google
Once you have a location, spend quite a bit of time researching the locale. Pinterest and Google are big supports in researching information regarding vacation destinations and amenities. My personal favorite is Pinterest. You can check out my Wales/Ireland board here.
I did use Google for Google Flights and booked my airline tickets through this site. Google Flights also required travel insurance purchase for the airfare. This is beneficial in case of an emergency that would require you to cancel your trip. We did not get travel insurance for the rest of our trip because it was not all-inclusive. Our car rental and hotel stays had their own cancellation policies that provided the necessary “insurance” to protect our interests in the event of a need to cancel. Whether or not to purchase travel insurance is a decision only you can make – you know your personal situation best.
Tip 3: Create a Google Doc
As you formulate a draft of what you would like to see and do on vacation, create a Google Doc for your Itinerary. This format will be easy to edit and add to as you gain more knowledge of your accommodations and activities. For our recent trip to Wales, I added all of my Google Map links to the itinerary to assist with traveling from one location to the next. I also included all of my accommodation confirmation numbers and ticket purchase verification numbers. Our flight numbers were also typed into this itinerary and was easily accessible via Google Docs.
Newborough Beach
Tip 4: Don’t plan too much
Vacation should be just that – a vacation. I planned three activities at most for each day of our vacation with the understanding that we might not get to everything. I wanted enough options to keep us entertained but wanted the ability to opt out if we were feeling tired or overwhelmed.
Another factor to consider in your planning is the physical abilities of all of your travel party. You may have some highly active, physically fit members of your party as well as some members that struggle with stairs. Consider everyone’s activity levels when making your travel experience plans. For example, Wales had a variety of activity levels from a “Ziplining World” to train rides to see the local scenery. We crafted an itinerary that met our physical abilities.
Tip 5: Expect the unexpected
Know that no matter how much planning you do prior to your vacation, something can and will go wrong. Try to roll with the punches and appreciate each moment. For example, our vacation went beautifully until the last day. We had three legs of our flights. Our first leg of the flight from Dublin to London went as planned, the last two legs of the flight were delayed for 24 hours. We made it home and remembering all the fun we had on our vacation helped lesson the dissappointment of delayed flights.
Did I leave anything out? Do you have another tip in mind when creating your own travel itinerary?
Creating a Summer Schedule
While it is still spring, I like to spend time creating a summer schedule. My kids are 22 (our oldest lives on his own), 17, 15, and 11. Summer schedules have been a lifesaver to me during the summer months. I will share some of my strategies for enjoying the most out of summer break!
1. Add events to your calendar.
Looking at a three month calendar spread and adding all the events your family has in store for the summer will give you peace of mind. Having a visual calendar on display somewhere in your home is also a good idea. For my family, we place all of our events in our iPhone calendar so we can all access the event schedule.
2. Plan ahead.
Before moving to a suburb of Birmingham, the most planning ahead I would have to do would be if there was a sports camp I needed to get on the books. However, moving to a larger city with a larger demographic of two income families, planning ahead for summer is imperative. In our area, some summer camp registrations open in the December before summer break. For example, for summer 2023, some camp registrations opened December 2022. That is quite the planning ahead!
3. Make a list.
Make a list of how many children you have, what sports and activities each child is involved in, what camps and vacations you will be attending this summer. We love heading to the beach for summer vacation. 30A is one of your favorite destinations. You can read about what activities we enjoy at the beach here. Having everything listed out ensures you do not leave any events out when you go to plot them on your calendar.
4. Don’t forget the freebies!
Free events are AMAZING! Reference your local newspaper or happenings page to see what local events are free. A local mom’s group or page is an excellent source of event information. Birmingham Mommy and Rocket City Mom are two amazing sites filled with local events for the Birmingham and Huntsville areas respectively. Two organizations that I have used for years to supply my kiddos with free activities is the church and library. Vacation Bible School and children’s library programs are both FREE! Many volunteers and educators give their time to create remarkable events for our children to enjoy over the summer.
5. Create a weekly and daily schedule.
One of my biggest concerns over the summer months is keeping my kids off of their screens all day. To help with reducing screen time, I create a daily schedule for my kids. For example, each child gets a three ring binder at the beginning of the summer that is his/her Summer Binder. As a family, we decide what activities we enjoy best then create a weekly schedule. Our weekly schedule covers Monday through Friday. Saturdays and Sundays are left alone for weekend time. For example, we have: Make a Meal Monday, Theater Tuesday ($5 movies at AMC theaters), Wet Wednesday (pool day), Thinking Thursday (library day), and Family Friday (another pool day with family and friends – what can we say? We love the pool!) Here is a great example of a summer schedule that I was able to 1 find on Pinterest and utilized to help me craft my own.
Our daily schedule may look like: No more than three hours of screen time, complete responsibilities, play musical instrument, walk the dog, play outside for 30 minutes, read a book, do devotions. Giving a list of possible activities that can be done greatly reduces the “I’m bored!” comments. Factor in our weekly activities and we have a great summer!
Whatever your crew likes to do, my hope is that my tips for creating a summer schedule will benefit you!
Tips for developing your landscape and garden
There are a variety of tips for developing your landscape and garden. Allow me to share a few tips that I incorporate in my landscape and garden.
1. Create a list of what you enjoy.
Taking your environment into consideration, create a list of plants, flowers, trees, and shrubs you enjoy. If planting your garden, what vegetables do you and your family like to eat? When thinking of landscaping, what flowers and shrubs make you smile time and time again? What plants and shrubs match the look of your home?
2. Design a map of your yard.
Designing a map of your yard allows you to craft a layout for where you want your landscape design and garden to reside. Making a map gives you a visual for what space you have available to utilize. For example, drawing out my front yard and backyard gave me a view of what actual areas were available for landscape and/or garden organisms.
We purchased our current home in December of 2021 and it is a total remodel. You can catch up on some of our progress by reading an older post here. In relationship to landscape and gardening, I have determined where I want flower beds and where I want my raised garden beds. Once you have a map design, get to work!
3. Use hardscapes in your landscape.
Hardscapes are a new concept for me. Hardscapes are hard landscape materials that are in the environment structures of the landscape and/or garden. For example, a wooden trellis to hold cucumber vines. I had my husband construct a wooden A-frame structure and will use it in allowing my climbing vegetables a space to move up and down the wooden frame.
Wooden raised bed can be a hardscape. Choosing to connect beds with chicken wire, pvc pipe, metal caging all are examples of hardscaping. Garden decor such as metal design incorporated throughout a garden is hardscaping I believe.
Love the hardscape features that have been designed in this space. 4. Use what you have on hand.
Our current home is old. Our house was built in 1939. I share this because canvasing our small property has produced a wealth of landscaping materials. When we purchased our home, the previous owner left behind a variety of planters and garden decorations. Some items I have culled due to differing taste while others I have kept because I can use them in our flower beds and garden.
Behind our garage, we have found OLD brick which I feel makes the perfect flower bed border. Our backyard contains two gigantic pine trees which produce a large amount of pine straw. I love using pine straw as mulch in flowerbeds.
The previous home owner placed pea gravel throughout the entire backyard. While moving this gravel out of the yard has been a headache, I am making lemons out of lemonade and redistributing this gravel as border to my raised garden beds.
For my garden, I keep whatever seeds I do not use each year in my freezer. Some people say this will not work; however, the only seeds I have had issue with so far are bell pepper seeds. I feel like keeping my bell pepper seeds in the freezer is not the issue. I think I need to prep my bell pepper seeds using a different method. Living in the city provides the perfect opportunity to container garden. Have a planter or container? Plop a squash or zucchinni plant in it. Have just a small raised bed? Google square foot gardening and see how many vegetables you can grow in a small space. Companion planting is a wonderful subject to research. This subject allows you to see what plants grow best near each other.
5. Determine what materials you need to purchase.
Once you have taken inventory of what materials you have on hand, create a list of what you need to purchase. Don’t have any vegetable seeds? Start listing the vegetables you enjoy eating. While I love the idea of a big massive garden, I have to be honest with myself – what am I going to actually eat? What meals do I like to cook using these specific herbs and vegetables. I love seeing herb gardens but if I am honest, I’m not a big fan of mint or dill. Why place items in my garden that I am not going to use? I purchase my seeds either at a local grocery store (herbs) and a local Feed & Seed store (vegetables).
Do you need border material or mulch? Do you need containers? How many plants or shrubs do you need in your space? Make certain that you have a firm understanding of how wide and tall your plants will grow and allow for adequate spacing before you plant. In our flowerbeds we used: Dwarf Holly bushes, Peonies, Gardenias, Rose bushes, and Tea Olive trees. List your big ticket items first and go from there. It is okay to build your garden over time. Creating a successful garden is something that I have been working on for years and I am still learning! This home is the first one in several years that I am taking the time to create a landscape design and garden space I can use and enjoy.
6. Enjoy the journey.
Enjoy the process of creating a lovely landscape design and garden. Life is a progression. You do not have to achieve perfection this side of Heaven. Practice makes skills. Every time I am out in my flowerbeds or garden, I am learning a little more about my home.
Technology is amazing. Researching information via Google or Pinterest or Instagram or YouTube provides a wealth of information that you may use in your outdoor spaces.
I would love to hear from you. I am hopeful that these were helpful tips for your landscape and garden. What tips did you find helpful? Do you have tips that I left out but you feel are important to share? Let me know in the comments and happy gardening!
While I am not at Toni’s level, I absolutely love following along on her garden journey and learning from her.
