Landscaping

Along with the siding and roof, something else that needs to be done before winter is the landscaping.  Since it is fall, now is a good time to get good deals on plants.  Most places don't want to keep their plants all winter so they put them on sale.  Big box stores like Lowes and Home Depot liquidate everything except their house plants.  The trick is to know what kind of plant you need, sun/shade, etc, and then shop around.  You're going to have to be flexible though because stores aren't going to be getting any more stock delivered.  Also, if you find something you like but it hasn't been marked down very much you can risk waiting to see if it will be marked down more.  If it doesn't get sold it could be marked down more and more, I've seen plants as much as 90% off, but you also risk losing it if you wait too long.

This house has basically no landscaping.  There is one large bush by the garage and 2 trees in the front yard, but that's about it.  There are some planting beds up close to the house in the front, but they are too small and there is nothing living in them.

The flower beds are to the left and just in front of the porch.  You can't even see them.

To build a flower bed or planter you need some way of defining it from the rest of the yard.  I considered using the bricks you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot but I wasn't really impressed with them.  Then I stumbled upon some pallets of limestone rocks at Habitat for Humanity's Restore.
  If you haven't ever been to Habitat for Humanity's Restore you're missing out.  Everything there has been donated.  It's like a thrift store of building materials.  Anyway, I bought one pallet of limestone rocks and used them as my border between the bed and they rest of the yard.  I arranged them in a flowing curve, better looking than straight, unless you live in a very modern house, and even had some rocks left over.  As for plants, I needed something tall by the porch to break up the mass of brick.  I settled on a Weeping Norway Spruce that I found for 1/2 price at Home Depot.  I also picked up 3 Stonecrop or Sedum plants, 3 Spirea bushes, and 6 Meadow Sage plants for 1/2 price at Home Depot.  At Lowes I found 2 Cotoneasters, a Star Juniper, 3 Burning Bushes, a Dwarf Alberta Spruce, and 3 False Cypress bushes all for at least 50% off.  Some were 60% and 75% off.  One plant I did splurge on was a Tiger Eyes Sumac that I got at a garden center.  It was 50% off but was also more expensive to begin with.  I bought it because it's an interesting plant with good color and is very drought tolerant.  Which is good because this house doesn't have a sprinkler system.  Here's what it looks like now.

There are still some low spots up next to the foundation that need some fill dirt.  I will get those filled in soon and then add a layer of mulch.  It's important that the ground slopes away from your house on all sides so your basement doesn't leak.