Gosh there is a lot to catch you all up on. Last week was Amazon Prime Days so that took up the last several weeks. We start prepping for that big event weeks ahead by planning and shooting content. In the midst of all of that, we got some landscaping around our driveway done and added a new sign to that area. I shared it over on social media but not here, so today is the day! Here is how that project turned out and the reason we did this.
When we were in the middle of planning our new build, the driveway plans were completely different. It was supposed to be in the middle of the woods and we were going to drive straight into our property. One of the guys we had working on the layout of the land suggest doing it like we did, which was to put it outside of the woods. And, then have it curve into the woods where our home would be built. Deb and I both loved that idea. The areas outside of the woods are the pond, the vegetable garden, the chicken coop, and the new barn. You guys may not know about that, but we recently had a barn built to store all the things. Once you turn inside of the woods, you see Deb’s workshop where we lived for over a year and a half, the fire pit, and our home.
As you probably know, we get a LOT of deliveries. When I say A LOT.. I mean we sometimes have 4 delivery trucks per day dropping off products for upcoming campaigns, etc. Amazon, UPS, and FedEx make daily deliveries here and sometimes twice. I’m not naming names, but some of them regularly took that curve into the woods short and ran through our grass. Ha! It was so bad last year that it turned into a huge mud pit constantly filled with water. Deb put up reflectors and bright orange cones up and down the driveway for the winter months, which helped a bit. But, as you know, reflectors and cones aren’t really our property’s aesthetic. Ha!
HUGE ROCKS – BOULDERS, if you will. Ha!
You may be thinking.. those big rocks will help but what about the plants in front of the rocks? Will they drive over those? Hopefully not, however, those plants are place holders. We are going to add a few bricks all along the driveway sometime in the future that will finish off the driveway. Kind of like the picture below. I took this from Pinterest so I don’t know whose picture it is and excuse the blurriness… but you get the picture.
Walker Jr Catmint, Little Lime Hydrangea, Royal Raindrop Crabapple Trees, Youngstown Juniper, Liriope Spicata
It looks so pretty at night as he added some landscaping lights to match the rest of our flower beds inside the woods.
Not only were the delivery drivers cutting that curve into the woods short, but they were barreling down our driveway. Ivy is going to be 12 years old this winter, so she isn’t as fast as she used to be. I have had nightmares of someone running her over from going way too fast in our driveway and not seeing her. She doesn’t get to stray off the porch much simply because of this. So, we decided to add a sign to this landscaped area of our driveway, as a little reminder.
I wanted a sign that was perfect for outside and one that we didn’t need to maintain every few years. This one is called a blade sign and is made of weather-resistant aluminum. You can design it however you want. It comes in a square or circle and you can get it with or without the bracket. We thought about making a bracket but again, it would have been out of wood and we wanted this to last. This one is double sided so if they didn’t see it coming in they will see it leaving. It looks professional which is also what we wanted.
Deb hung our SLOW Dog Crossing sign on a treated 4×4 post and added sleeve at the bottom and a cap at the top to dress it up a bit.
I just love how this area turned out. Deb and I have both noticed that people come into the woods a little slower hopefully watching for little Ivy girl. We love how this area tuned out and I feel like it made a huge difference in the issues we had previously. We have more outdoor projects coming over the next few weeks that I will be sharing on social media and here, as well.
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I love this landscaping project. What a great idea and the sign is perfect. Love the idea of the brick edging along the drive, too. Everything you do is so tasteful. Love it.
I love your landscape! Simple and well thought through. I am a landscape designer in Nebraska, and this is totally my style. Can I have the name of your landscape company? I would love to creep them.
Awesome job!!!
your garden and house are so lovely,i like it so much and good for Ivy that there is a slow bord,she is such a sweet girl, have a nice evening.
Absolutely lovely, it welcomes all who enter. A great job.
I saw the driveway lighting on your stories. Is your lighting wired or solar?
I told my husband that you two blow me away over and over. It’s hard for me to believe that you’ve only lived in your place for a year and a half. You two have achieved so much! You go girls! Everything you do turns out awesome!
Looks beautiful. Such a dream for you.
Amazon drivers are the slowest, most careful. Then ( around here) is ‘big brown’… who move quick but not reckless.
Then is the crazy drivers of ‘FastEx’ who barrel down our dirt road going 70 mph…lol (Look out! Everyone take cover!!!)
No mystery as to who was cutting those corners the most! Glad you put in some ‘speed bumps’ (aka boulders) and a nice sign.