Patio Glow-up – Lighting & Landscaping

Sometimes I beat myself up in the summer when there isn’t any real progress on our home renovation. But when the weather is beautiful and we’re spending all our time working on the exterior of our house and its curb appeal, it feels natural to also want to take care of our patio area and landscaping where we love to relax when the day’s work is done!

Of course this area has already come so far in the last couple years. Can you believe this is what it looked like before we added the kitchen addition and the patio?!

We feel so blessed to have this patio area now, and love to hang out here as a family… grilling out, blowing bubbles, roasting marshmallows, even making ice cream!

Earlier this spring we added strands of solar patio lighting, and that made a huge difference to the vibe. But we really needed to do a big clean-up and get the garden beds in shape, weeded, redefined, etc. It’s crazy how fast things get out of control!

Our Patio Landscaping Efforts

Bed Redefiner

To start, we did some family weeding. Then Nick got to work redefining the garden beds with our STIHL FB 131 Bed Redefiner. It’s amazing what a beautiful crisp edge it provides! Remember when we did the front garden?!

We added some fresh mulch which always makes such a visual impact. And it’s so affordable that it’s totally worth doing every other year… if not every year!

Look at this gorgeous crisp edge and fresh mulch on this row of boxwoods!

Weed Whacker

We cleaned up some shaggy edges here and there with STIHL’s FS 56 RC-E String Trimmer. It’s easy to keep weeds at bay with this bad boy, and we love how easy it is to start with its Easy2Start technology. It runs so clean and smooth and efficient!

I didn’t photograph this part, but after using the string trimmer to hit the weeds growing out o the patio cracks, I put some white vinegar in a turkey baster and squeezed a line of the liquid along these cracks to keep those weeds from coming back. It’s such a simple but effective way to keep crack weeds at bay without chemicals!

Patio Lighting Efforts

While Nick was blowing off the dirt, grass clippings, and dead weeds from the patio with our Leaf Blower, I opened up some new lighting to make our patio even more dreamy!

Solar Stake Lighting

These come in a pack of 4, and just stake right into the ground… easy peasy!

I’m in awe of how a few hours of time can make such an impact on a space. Simple tweaks add up, wouldn’t you say?!

A not-so-simple tweak is that we splurged on a smokeless firepit. It’s so pretty! And it’s so nice not having to worry about smoke in your face while you’re trying to enjoy conversation around the fire.

We love how this patio area has evolved and come into its own. So inviting and dreamy!

And look at this night time glow-up!

And here’s a link for the Solar String Lights too!

Who wants to come hang out on our patio sometime soon?!

~Bethany

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Be sure to check out our other outdoor/landscaping projects and tutorials from over the years! This one is my personal favorite!