We spent a long, sweaty afternoon digging up the sad little garden bed to the right of the front porch. It wasn’t a dramatic “before and after by the end of the post” transformation — it’s one of those projects that will take years and plenty of follow-up — but focusing on a single area made the work feel manageable. Last year we limbed up the magnolia, transplanted and removed many bushes, and painted the front door, so this felt like the next sensible step.

On the right half of the bed there was what looked like a rectangular brick patio that prevented us from planting anything. For balance, curb appeal, and basic usefulness, that needed to go.

$herdog grabbed a shovel and started prying the bricks up. They weren’t mortared in, so it was just a matter of digging one out and freeing the next. It wasn’t fast or easy — I probably carried a hundred bricks to make a tidy pile beside the carport — but clearing that area felt good. We’ll either reuse the bricks elsewhere or list them on Craigslist; we haven’t decided yet.

While that was happening, John dug up the liriope along the porch edge and Clara happily supervised with her cohort of neighborhood worms. She doesn’t have imaginary friends — she genuinely loves real worms, crouching to watch them wiggle and chatting to them as if they were old pals. Whenever we uncovered a worm, we’d gently put it in front of her so she could inspect it. (Yes, we wore gloves.)

The liriope turned out to be a beast: a dense, sod-like mat of tangled roots that came up in a long strip. At one point we also found what we thought was a huge worm but turned out to be a tiny garden snake. It was small and harmless, but John’s face definitely captured the moment.

After about four hours we had the entire 13-by-7-foot zone stripped and ready for planting. Photos make it look smaller than it felt — I’m only 5’2″ so I couldn’t get an aerial shot — but in reality the bed offers a decent planting area.

We searched several nurseries and Home Depot to find plants that would thrive in part shade and complement the Otto Luyken laurels we planted elsewhere in the bed. Instead of repeating a single species, we fell for two different plants: a feathery dwarf maple and a compact white-flowering shrub. We usually group multiples of the same plant, but these two felt right for the space.

The maple is a Virdis laceleaf — a dwarf, weeping variety that will only reach about six feet tall, making it suitable for a narrow bed near a house. We planted it roughly four feet from the house, giving it room to grow without crowding the foundation. The middle shrub is a Dwarf Pieris japonica (variegated), which matures around two feet high and two feet wide and produces white blossoms in spring. Both do well in part shade, and both came with a one-year warranty, which gives us confidence in their success.

We followed two simple planting rules: first, choose plants you truly love instead of settling for temporary placeholders; second, make sure the plants are appropriate for the spot and planted with proper spacing and sun exposure. Early in our gardening experience we sometimes bought the cheapest option or the instant fix, and it often led to disappointment: plants that died or had to be dug up and replaced. Learning to wait for the right plants paid off when we redid the front yard at our previous house.

To fill the foreground while the main plants establish, we considered annuals but opted for inexpensive perennials called variegated dead nettle. These spread only 6–8 inches and come back year after year, thriving in part shade and providing purple flowers in spring and summer. They’re easy to move later if the larger plants grow in and crowd the bed.

We planted everything according to the tags’ instructions — spacing, hole size, root loosening, soil amendments, and watering recommendations — and topped the bed with mulch to retain moisture and suppress weeds. Once planted and mulched, the bed already felt transformed: still youthful and not fully grown in, but far more attractive and intentional than before.

All told, the project took roughly seven hours spread across a couple of days, sometimes with Clara nearby and sometimes while she napped. The result is a neat, thoughtfully planted bed that should fill in over time and provide decades of low-maintenance enjoyment. One practical tip we follow is to place plants a bit farther from the roof overhang: this prevents roots from interfering with the foundation, reduces runoff issues, and keeps plants from being permanently shaded by an awning.

Next up is the garden bed on the other side of the porch, and we’re also beginning planning for a big deck project (we’ve called Miss Utility to check for underground hazards and will get a permit). Alongside finishing the bathroom and other lingering projects, spring has us hopping from task to task. We spent the weekend with family, including seeing Clara’s six-month-old cousin, and it felt like the perfect mix of family time and DIY progress. We’ll keep you posted as the beds fill in and the yard continues to evolve.