Garden Center Haul | Shopping Shrubs for Our Front Porch Makeover

In this episode of our front porch makeover series, we’re heading to Stowe’s Nursery to shop for Proven Winners Color Choice shrubs that will transform our front landscape. Follow along as we share tips for selecting the right plants, what we look for when choosing shrubs for structure and seasonal beauty, and how these selections fit into our overall design plan. If you’re planning a fall garden renovation or looking for inspiration on how to shop smart for your next landscaping project, this video will give you fresh ideas and practical guidance to help you succeed.

Visit Stowe’s Nursery in Gastonia, NC https://www.stowesnursery.com/

Hello friends and welcome to Garden Creekside. 
Today Jerry and I are on a little bit of a planning mission for the redesign of our front 
yard area. So we want you to come along with us and we’re going to kind of show you how 
we are planning out this project. We have uh our friend Brock. We’re going to see him in 
a minute. He is our site one representative. He has been just an invaluable resource for us 
when we did the terrace garden last year and now this year doing the front porch front yard uh 
redesign. So he and Jerry are here talking the project over and talking about drainage that 
we have to deal with here at the driveway. So we’re going to uh just kind of talk this 
through and then Jerry and I are headed to um a local nursery that is in u in our area. 
Sweet friends of ours. They have a fantastic wholesale nursery. So, you’re going to go with 
us to another nursery uh and we’re going to go ahead and pick up some plants. They have some of 
the plants available that we are going to put in uh this new design area. So, we’ve been in contact 
with them. They’ve got some of those shrubs. So, we’re going to go grab them and you’re going 
to come along the ride with us on that. So, let’s see. Uh where are we? Okay. What we’re 
talking about today is again we’re planning. I know if you’ve been following this project, I had 
told you that what we’re going to be doing, the next step would be working on the drainage issue. 
Um, and we’ll we’ll talk about all this in just a second. The reason we’re not working on drainage 
right now is because it has literally been raining for almost two weeks solid or more. We have gotten 
uh I have emptied my rain gauge twice and they both have topped out over seven inches. So, when 
I say we have water, we have had a lot of water. We don’t want to be really digging right 
now because it’s just so wet. Not really worried about tearing things up because I mean 
we’re going to be tearing things up anyway, but uh more for our sake and just to let it drain out 
just a little bit because of course we do have red clay and if you’ve ever dealt with sticky, mucky, 
goopy red clay, not a lot of fun to work with. So, uh Jerry and like I said, Jerry and Brock around 
the front, we’ll get there in a second. But one of the main drainage issues that we have to deal 
with is here. um along the driveway because this area has changed dramatically since we built the 
house uh 20 years ago. They graded it, you know, say 21 years ago when they were building it. But 
this area um is where the water kind of hangs out when we get those big gully washers. We had one 
the other day. I was able to take some footage and you can see where the water is just hanging 
out here. So Brock came over uh to help us kind of just talk through the process. We do have 
a French drain in this area right here. Uh, and there are two catch basins in there, but 
probably not enough drainage. And then the grading is going to be the biggest thing because there is 
a little bit of a hump here. We’ve got a drainage um catch basin right here. And then the next issue 
is from this catch basin all the way down. There’s another hump there. And so this is where the water 
kind of hangs out. So what we’re talking about is with Brock is to create we have to regrade this 
and have a slight swell and then of course all of the pipe underneath it either go to a 6 in or an 
8 in slick pipe to get this water out of here. So it’s going to this is where we’re going to tear 
a ton of stuff up to get things um so that that water flows. Not that we are concerned. It’s not 
that we want to have constant like no water when we have these guller wash gully washers, but we 
want it to not hang out for hours after after the um the rain has come. And then of course there is 
another catch basin right here. Now this one once as long as the gravel is not on top of it, then it 
drains super super fast. But we’re thinking about taking all this water is going to have to go cut 
through the yard and then dump out on the other side of the dillies. So that is what we are um 
trying to contemplate because we are going to tear this up like big time. It’s going to be a major 
like excavation redesign of you know getting that grade correct. And we only want to do this one 
more time. We’ve done it once before in a couple years ago. That was before we put in the terrace 
garden. Um and then obviously y’all things just change. Life happens. Gravel gets moved. You don’t 
even kind of think about it. So, uh, you know, there’s constant maintenance on these things. That 
is owning a house and there’s constant maintenance and this is part of it. So, we want to make sure 
and try to get this as perfect as possible this first time. So, now what we’re doing is um we’ve 
got, like I said, Brock is here. He’s our site one rep. And so, he is great. Um, we’re talking about 
also uh putting in once all of it’s said and done, putting in some new uh gravel that’s like 
top dressed with some decorative gravel. So, he’s going to be able to bring us some samples 
of gravel uh next week. And then, of course, we’re going to go ahead and get the um sidewalk. 
This will be um paved and so with like cobblestone pavers. And so, all of the products that we’re 
going to be using, both the um the pavers and then we’re using a raised edge block, all of 
those products are going to be bellguard. So, we will we use Bellgard for all of We’ve used 
Bellgard for all of our projects. So, both the terrace garden and the patio. Bellgard is what 
we use. Does a great job. High quality stuff and it has the colors and then the different options 
that we want. So, we’re going to go for I’ll I’ll put the information on there for you. And y’all, 
if you know us and you’ve been projects with us, sometimes these things change. So, we’ll say, 
“Oh, well, we’re going to do this.” And then we think about it, look at it, and we’re like, “Okay, 
we’re going to switch.” So, at the end of the day, I will tell you, uh, when the project’s 
complete, exactly what we used. What we’re going to do today is, like I said, we’re going 
to go over to Friends Nursery because remember, all of this grass is going to be gone. So, this is 
going to be a complete flower bed here. And then, uh, we’ll measure out. And we’re thinking that 
cuz we’ll have a flower bed that goes from the driveway, follows the curve of the sidewalk and 
then goes around the house. Um that is going to be a bed as well. Probably going to come out 4 
feet maybe that we’re going to come out here and then wrap around. So we are looking at doing the 
uh new gen boxwoods are going to go in the back. We are big fans of boxwoods. We love boxwoods. 
So, some people don’t like them. We happen to love them. So, that’s what we’re going to do. 
We’re going to do new gems. And then all along the curve that I just showed you, we’re going to 
go with the Perfecto Mundo pink carpet Aelia. So, it is going to be um only on the front side. We’re 
not going to use the Perfecto Mundo here. Uh we’re going to use them all along the front. Come around 
and then even probably um we’re looking at we’re going to wrap around because this bed is going to 
be extended as well. You can kind of see um the shadows are working. Here we go. Um so this bed is 
going to be extended as well. So then we’re going to kind of curve it and then we’ll tie it back in 
around the back. So here the pink carpets will go all the way really kind of here to the back. So 
you’ll have a consistent line all the way across. And then where the uh beonas are, that’s where 
we’re going to do a fill it in in mass with the fire light tidbit hydrangea. So today we’re going 
over to Stows to get the tidbits and hopefully the pink carpets. Hopefully he has enough for us that 
we are going to grab those. But big huge thanks to Brock for coming out. He’s always a great 
sounding board to talk these things through. Um so that is what we are doing today. And uh yeah, 
so we’re going to finish up talking with him and then we are going to go ahead and head over and go 
to the nursery and pick up some plants. All right, my friends. So, we uh made it to Stow’s nursery. 
So, Stow’s nursery is in Gastonia, just on the outskirts. They’re kind of like us. They’re still 
out in the country, but they are uh yeah, on the other side of the county from us. Man, it has 
been a couple years since Jerry and I have been here. And oh my goodness, y’all. If you’re in the 
area, come by Stoves. They have got fantastic a huge inventory of shrubs. They’ve got perennials. 
They have all sorts of things here. Uh so Bennett uh is loading up with Jerry. So they have got 
the fire light tidbits that they are loading up, but they primarily they do a lot of uh work with 
like landscapers. So they’ve got tons of different plants. Um like you can see they’ve got dlies 
right here. They’ve got gardinas, they’ve got uh chameleas, they’ve got all sorts of things in 
here that we’ll we’ll share with you, but we got uh the fire light tidbits that are looking 
fantastic. We’re going to get 15 of them so that way we can um use them both in the bed around 
the Hartzman and then also down by um throughout the beds in the front to have a couple of them 
just spaced through there. But man, I’m gonna I’ll show you some more footage of of them, but 
they have got I mean, just do an amazing job. And uh fun fact, so the boxwoods that we actually took 
out of the front, they came from Stows. So Stows has been here, gosh, I’d have to ask Bennett 
how long they’ve been here, but they have been here for a long time. And Bennett is the son of 
Jeff and Leanne. He is a Clemson grad and so has come back to run the business. And so he is just 
doing an amazing job. Um just to kind of give you an idea. So right here they’ve got some ukaras in 
here. They’ve got hostas. They have so they have things in like one gallons and then of course they 
have three gallon stuff as well. But just I mean a beautiful product here and we were uh talking 
with Bennett and so they too uh deal with a lot of water issues. So they have a beautiful, like 
I said, out here in the country, but this area for them floods as well. So it’ll come down and 
flood. And then this last greenhouse down here, well not greenhouse, the hoop house, um that area 
will flood. He said it doesn’t really like wash, but it comes up and um stands and then it will uh 
take soil out of the pots and all sorts of things. So, they’re working on a solution so that um 
they’re not having to one lose plants and or you know having to replace the soil a bunch. But 
just so cool. Like I said, we haven’t been here in years. And um man, they are just they are knocking 
it out of the ballpark. Just doing an amazing job. They also have uh trees. So big trees. Whether 
you want like the evergreens, you want dog woods, you want ornamentals, they’ve got everything 
here. So, um, yeah, I’ll show you some more footage as we go through, but what a great gym 
for Gaston County. I love it. Love it when we see, uh, fellow nursery men just knocking it out. And 
they have got some really cool stuff as far as, um, branded and non-branded stuff. They’ve got 
some of the new introductions on some things. Uh, yeah. So, we’ll take a look up here. I see some 
Sorry, squirrel. This is like kid in a candy store around here. I was like looking at things and 
Jerry’s like, “We don’t need that.” I’m like, “I can use it at the house. Heck yeah. This is a 
dangerous place for me to be right now.” Um, so they have got I see some like rows of Sharon down 
here that looks like the um the blue chiffon. They have got a touch of gold holl from Southern Living 
right here. They’ve got uh who is this? This is a cutie. Oh, the Forever Goldie. Got those. 
Laura pedalums. All the gorgeous Laura Pedalums. You ought to see. Oh my gosh, the butterfly bushes 
with all the butterflies down here. They are going nuts. Absolutely. Look at all those butterflies. 
They are loving life for sure right now. All the swallow tails are just going crazy. So, yep, yep, 
yep. You never know what’s in your own backyard until you go explore. So, we’ll explore some more 
here in a minute, y’all. Jerry may regret bringing me over here. Dear heavens. Okay, so we we brought 
the uh tidbits and we’re putting them in the truck and we pulled up uh right here at the kind of the 
parking area and I saw all the evergreens. Y’all, you know how much I love my thunderhead uh 
black Japanese pine. Look at these. Are these They’ve got them. And look at them. How stinking 
beautiful are they? Just gorgeous. So, okay. So, my people who are in the area and you want that 
thunderhead black Japanese pine, there you go. Love this plant. We have ours out in full sun. It 
does amazing. It is a great plant. It’s kind of a funky like Dr. Seuss because it’ll kind of go 
it’s wider than it is tall. Um when it candles, it is absolutely gorgeous. So, this is a good 
one. They have got some spirals. They’ve got some uh some little fun pompoms. They’ve 
got, let’s see, who is this? This is uh the blue atlas cedar. All sorts of great just 
cool plants. I mean, love, love, love. Super cute. Look how cutie patootie this is. Dwarf Colorado 
blue spr. This is the gaua glossa. Those they’ve got some sting arbor vites. All the pompoms. 
Just the gardinas, y’all. I’m telling you, this is definitely deadly for Jerry to bring me here. 
Um, but yeah. So, of course, like I said, um we will try to uh link any kind of information here 
from Stows, but tons of tons and tons of beautiful things. Going to head over here. Oh my goodness, 
they’ve got a gardinia. Bennett won’t mind, right? To die for. All right, so you know, you know when 
I tell you to go visit your local garden centers year round? Well, that’s what we’re doing, my 
friends. again. Jerry’s going to regret the day that he brought me out here, but here we go. So, 
they have the Perfecto Mundo, the uh pink carpet. So, that’s what we’re doing. And they, too, get 
their uh proven winter color choice shrubs from Spring Meadow, of course. So, they planted all 
of these in I think he said late May. So, just to kind of show you, look at those candy corns, the 
spyheas. Beautiful through here. So, they’ve got candy corns and of course then these little guys 
um are ones that they’re going to be potting up, right? So, I’m not sure what they are. Uh hard to 
tell. Oh, the tea olives. There you go. So, the sweet ass manus. So, they will be potting those 
up. So, they’ve got proven winner uh hydrangeas, they’ve got bows, they’ve got limelights, and 
then of course over here on this side um are their aelas. So, they’ve got encores. And then let 
me show you the pink carpets. So, we’re going with the pink carpets. I think we’re going to get 
somewhere around like 21, 23, somewhere around that that range. Um, so here you go. So, the pink 
carpets are right here. I think Jerry and Bennett might be coming back over here to come grab these. 
Um, but nice, beautiful shape to them. Nice. They look really good. Um, they haven’t really started 
their fall flush yet, so this is nice soft pink. but this whole section. So, we’re gonna we’re 
going to take a good bit of these guys out um and come home with us. But yeah, the um let me show 
you some of these hydrangeas. And they’re growing even though these are like panacles or arborescent 
which can do the full sun. They’re still kind of growing them underneath um some shade cloth 
because it is August in North Carolina after all. But look, beautiful hydrangeas. Um, they got some 
beautiful puffer fish right here. They have got uh Laura pedilums, some first editions. I’m not 
sure which ones those are. It’s hard to see from a distance. Um, but you can see like their trees. 
So, those are Japanese maples in there. Um, lots lots of great things uh here at So Nursery. So, 
this is very exciting. Very very very very excited about this. But they are, like I said, primarily 
a wholesale nursery, but they are open to the public. So, anybody can come and shop and um yeah, 
just have a great time. Tell them Creek Side sent you. If you come over here, tell them that Jenny 
and Jerry said, “Hey.” And yeah, so we’ll see what else we can get in to here. Otherwise, we’ll see 
you back at the house. All righty, my friends. So, we made it home and um I told you I dangerous for 
me to go over there because dear heavens, I came home with a little unexpected uh purchase, but I’m 
so excited about this. It’s going to be fantastic. So, we got home and we got Jesus and Arberto and 
Jackson are here helping us unload. So, what we’re going to do is we’re going to we’re just kind of 
stashing them here by the uh the garden shed. And that way I can easily keep them watered. It’s got 
the hose link down there um and take care of them. They’re in my line of sight. So, that way we can 
add them to the landscape when it is time. But are you ready for my extra purchase? So excited 
about this. So, look at this cutie patootie. Yes, my friends. I couldn’t handle it. I had to do 
it. So this is that uh that dwarf Colorado blue spruce. She is going to be nice and petite about 
3 feet tall, 3 to 5t wide. It is a slow grower, but it is already like a really good size. This 
is probably maybe a fivegallon, 5 to seven gallon uh shrub, tree, whatever you want to call it. But 
the blue, I adore it. It is absolutely gorgeous. So, this little sweet baby is going to go um in, 
let me show you uh the general area over here um along the side of the um driveway in this bed. 
I was telling Jerry, I’m having a hard time kind of visualizing uh this bed being different because 
it’s always been like this. Like we’ve been in the house for 20 almost 21 years and it has always 
been this shape right here, but we’re losing all of this grass, right? So this whole thing is going 
to be a flower bed. Um and so I’m really thinking because it believe the hardiness zone on that is 
like 2 to eight. And so I’m thinking because like right now it’s like 2:30 in the afternoon. I think 
ultimately it’s going to end up somewhere right in this area because that way you kind of when 
you look at it we’ve got the um chameleia right here. This is white by the gate which is just 
going to get big which is wonderful especially now that we’re making this bed big so it can get 
as big as it wants. So you’ve got that nice dark evergreen there. Um then you’ve got the Aurelia 
sun king that is here. Uh it is a herbaceous perennial. So in the winter time it’s going to 
be completely gone, right? But in the summertime, imagine that beautiful blue evergreen right here. 
Then right here, this is the holly fern, which is another great dark green evergreen um fern. So 
it will always be here. And then of course we’ve got the hydrangeas and then tons of the hostas and 
everything. Obviously, all the hostas, all of this is up for re like moving around. Now that I have 
room, I can move things around. But I’m thinking that that blue spruce is going to go right in 
this area. And um I’m now envisioning perhaps maybe like Jerry came outside, like a dwarf 
Japanese maple, like a creeping like low Japanese maple. I was thinking maybe taking my fairy trail 
fresco that I was growing and taking them because I have to move them out, right? Taking them out, 
maybe putting them in this bed. I don’t know. The possibilities are endless. But I’m so excited 
to have a blue spruce. It’s hard for us to grow uh all the different beautiful colors of the the 
evergreens. And so to have that and do well here, be able to get plenty of good sun, but to get a 
break in the afternoon, it’ll be great. And then in the winter, it doesn’t matter because the cold 
winds, it’s hard to zone two. It’ll be fine here in an 88. So anyway, it is a lot of fun. Thanks 
Bennett for hosting us and uh showing us the nursery. Yes. Okay. There were Jerry said there 
were three more of those at the nursery. So my local people plus you had the Thunderheads y’all. 
There was just so much there. Gorgeous material. So if you were in the area, go see Stows. 
They will take care of you and help you. Um, but basically just kind of keep in mind their 
main focus is going to be like the shrubs and the trees. They have a handful of the perennials, 
right? They don’t have they don’t do annuals. So the trees and the shrubs is a great place to go 
and they are just super sweet, precious, precious family. So go to Stows, have fun. Tell them Jenny 
and Jerry sent you. Go buy somebody. Go, y’all. Three people, go buy those other uh blue spruces. 
That way we can be uh we can be quadruplets together. All right, y’all. Have a great day. 
We’ll see you in the next video. Bye, friends.