(Almost) Free Landscaping Makeover

I'm really new to this whole "landscaping" stuff.  Our first place was a condo and our outdoor space was a 6 x 8 foot balcony.  The first four years in our current home was spent expanding and renovating the home on the inside, and tearing out the overgrown jungle on the outside. 

I've mentioned once or twice we are focusing time and money on our landscaping this summer.  This week I spent my time on our landscaping and I want to share a small before and after with you.  Here is the almost before:

...and after...

 The blue-green hostas in the first picture were given to me by my neighbor two years ago.  In the before shot, I've already split them and moved several to surround the tree trunk.  Honestly, these could stand to be split further, but I waited a little too long to get to it this year.  It was a battle to get these babies out of the ground.  (The hosta almost won.)  As I understand it - according to my neighbor who observed my struggle - I should have done this in the fall.  Maybe next time....  Until then, lots and lots of rain has helped the hostas re-establish their roots.

I allocated no budget to this section of the yard this year.  I was honestly just going to leave it but while I was at my moms last week, I noticed her green and white hostas were really full.  So I asked her if she planned to split them.  Being the mom that she is, she agreed to do so immediately.  :)  So, I added a second variety of hostas to this section to provide another shade of green and a white accent. 

I then decided I needed something for height.  As luck would have it, the same neighbor who gave me the blue-green hostas years ago asked me if I would like any ferns this year.  Um, me?  Would I like ferns?  Why yes!  So, she sent me into her yard carte blanche to take whatever I wanted.  Apparently ferns have a funny way of taking over and multiplying.  At least, I hope so:



They are a little shaky after the transplant, but they should soon have new growth.  I'm considering cutting them down to direct the energy to new growth.  Anyone know anything about this?  I'll read up a bit but in the mean time I'm enjoying what's there.  At the very least, they will come back nicely next summer:

Finally, I really needed some color so I lined the border with red Impatiens, which do very well in the shade.  They will look even better once they have a chance to fill in:

And there you have it.....my almost free makeover for the "shade" section of our yard.  I budgeted zero and spent $8 on the Impatiens.  Not so bad.....

Have you benefited from the generosity of others?

Linking at: Jennifer Rizzo / Be Inspired / Summer Spruce Up / Craftberrybush / Chic on a Shoestring / My Romantic Home / Inspire Me / It's Overflowing / / Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Home Stories A to Z