When Ace Hardware asked me to venture outside of my comfort zone, I was more than a little bit nervous. I mean, they call it a comfort zone for a reason.
So with crazy abandon, I chose to tackle the front yard. It’s a jungle out there. Literally. Our shrubs and bushes have grown to gargantuan proportions!
Most likely because we haven’t pruned or trimmed them in years.
You know, there is a reason we live in the city, after all. Small lots. Neither Mike nor I are very skilled at lawn and yard care. But, I stepped out of our comfort zone (dragging Mike along with me, of course) and picked up a sickle …
{Mike doing his grim reaper impression}
.. err, I mean Corona® Fiberglass Tree Pruner. And a Black & Decker 18″ Hedge Trimmer. And Mike and I got to work.
It was slow going at first. And maybe a little scary? I mean, did you see the blade on that sickle (err, tree pruner)? And Mike’s never reaped (err, pruned) with one of these before …
And it may have taken me a little bit to get a handle on the hedge trimmer.
Mike may or may not have had to jump out of the way at one point …
I’ll admit, as we were trimming and pruning and reaping, I was skeptical about the “after” pictures. I was pretty sure this was going to be the most underwhelming before and after post in the history of before and after posts.
But in the end, we successfully tackled the yard. I trimmed the lilac bush …
And Mike took care of whatever overgrown bush that is next to our front steps …
Yes, I’m quite the gardener, aren’t I? I don’t even know what plants I have in my yard. And Mike’s just as bad. He thought my fledgling hydrangea was a weed and wacked it off with the hedge trimmer! Ha!
I have to admit, there are some pretty dramatic before and afters going on around in my front yard now!
Best of all, we are happy to report that we trimmed, pruned, and reaped without incident. All fingers, toes, and limbs are still attached.
And now Ace Hardware wants you to go out of your comfort zone …
Just kidding! They do, however, want to give one of you a $100 gift card! Just enter here …
Good luck!
P.S. All this yard work was tackled under the very watchful eye of our supervising beagle. You can see the concern and (dare I say?) skepticism in his eyes too …
This post was written as part of my partnership with Ace Hardware as a member of the Ace Blogger Panel. However, any and all opinions are my own.
I am also a novice to yard work, but must prepare my yard for winter. I would love to plant bulbs this fall in preparation for a beautiful spring!
I need to do what you did. I spend so much time crafting, the outside gets neglected.
I love yard work…if you lived closer to me I would come over and help. You reaped well.
I would use it to buy a trimmer because I have trees that are overgrown.
i would use it for household tools for my tool box.
I would love to buy a bunch of bulbs to plant. We built this house two and a half years ago and in my mind I had thousands of projects done by now and all my neighbors were secretly a little bit jealous. Let us just say that reality has been heartless.
I would start with flowers and bulbs and go from there…
I would get some paint for my bedroom.
Your yard looks great. I love the sickel/tree trimer. We could use one of those since we have tall trees and bushes like the one by your porch. My hubby has to get on a ladder to trim and the tree trimer would be a great thing to have. Thanks for the chances.
Kris
We moved into our “old” new house a few months ago and have yet to tackle the yard. This would be a big help in getting started on the front yard!! Thanks for the giveaway!
I use it towards a new lawn mower!
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
I would use for stain and paint.
I would buy paint for our family room.
This is so funny- my hubby came home with a trimmer from Ace yesterday but it has a chainsaw on the end. This seems hazardous to me. LOL You guys did beautiful work with your new tools from Ace. I’m thrilled that you guys have no report of injury!
I’d buy paint!
I have a tree that actually belongs next door but they never do any thing with it. It’s growing over my roof and leaves a mess in my yard. Would love to get something to trim it down!
Great giveaway! I have some bushes right in the front that look like your befores! We need to get some trimming supplies, too! Thanks for the great giveaway!
🙂 me
Are you kidding. Just had my neighbor come over and trim two large bushes that were growing over my deck. He brought over his hedge shears and did a wonderful job, I was not liking the idea of me using my rose clippers on the bushes Ace hardware to the rescue!
I would use the Ace Gift Card towards a small storage shed.
I have some bushes that need hacked down out in my front yard too! I’d spend a gift card on paint though! Just moved in and I’d like to personalize this house a little!
There are a few things that we are doing around our place to fix it up. Paint is needed for the bathroom and then we need new cabinet handles and a few other things.
I would buy paint, too and a new hose. I really need a hose..but I want paint….
I remember being newly-divorced and having to be The Grim Reaper without advice or help after buying a really ugly and neglected fixer-upper. Those pruners are huge and cumbersome when you don’t know what the heck you’re doing and the first bush was pretty pathetic looking when I finished but I managed to get the hang of it!
Thanks Ace for the opportunity. I’d love to have a paint sprayer so my fingers are crossed!
I would use it to buy paint to paint our living room.
Thank you so much for offering such a wonderful giveaway. I would use the gift card to buy an air compressor.
I would use the give away to get some paint for front porch/back deck. Love photo of your hubs trying to look tough. Then your dog does have a funny look on his face, they do know how to let us know how they feel. Speaking of cutting back bushes hubs will be doing that soon also. One of our trees has branches that reach out into driveway so will need to trim those back this Fall.
We’re having some Fall stuff today, rain and chilly, not even 70. Hope our chickens are in their coop. Hubs put some corrugated metal over their coop area/run the other day, good thing or they’d have a mud mess in there. Need to put more straw in there to help them keep warm, getting chilly at night.
Happy week
I would give it to my sister who is expecting twins and needs to paint the nursery
I would use it paint the living room. We would love a different color this year.
I love their paint! I could put the gift card to great use!!!
I would first purchase the weed wacker thingy your hubby was using. It was so cool! 🙂 But in reality, ACE has so many cool things, especially with the holidays coming, I’m not sure what I would buy. Oh I know…I would invest in some milk or chalk paint. 🙂 Loved your post.
Your yard looks great! We are redoing our laundry room right now and this would come in handy for all the bits and pieces we need!
I would buy some paint
I was doing the same 2 weekends ago…we have a huge Grand Oak infront of our house so I was on the roof trimming all the branches that were hanging over. I’d use the Ace GC for paint to redo my son’s bedroom.
I would use the gift card to finish up some DIY projects that I have waiting to be completed!
I want to epoxy my garage floor.
Much needed supplies around the house
I’m not sure, but I know it would be yard related!
I would get some paint
I would get holiday decor!
I’d plan an amazing vegetable garden for next year. 🙂
I’d use it to repaint my bathroom.
Great job on your trimming experience.
I would use the gift card in purchasing me some new garden tools. I’m in need of a new rose trimmer big time.
Thank you for this opportunity
I’d probably spend it on gardening supplies in the Spring, like edging and plant food.
I would buy some gardening tools or shelving
I’ve never sickled before, either! He/you did a good job. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen the front of your house….or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention.
I would get materials to remodel our guest bathroom — paint, etc.
I was researching a way to clean my shingles and I found a product called wet and forget that is only sold in my area at Ace. I would use it for that.
I would paint and buy some christmas decoratjions
I have an apple tree that needs to be trimmed and the long-handled pruner you used would be perfect!
Oh wow…I would spend mine on a tree prunner like yours! That is so amazing! I have some bushes and trees that need to be pruned…I try to do the best I can…but that would work so well!!! Very cool!
I’d use it to buy items to help us organize our garage.
I would put it towards some garden supplies
I would buy cleaning supplies and storage containers
We need to refill our propane tank for our gas grill!
I would use it to get paint for our kitchen.
We have a big trip to the hardware store that needs to happen before it gets really cold. I’d probably get supplies for putting plastic over the windows, replacing all outdoor light bulbs and fixing a couple planks in our fence. Not exciting, but very necessary. 🙂
I would use the gift card towards some paint.