landscape my backyard

Finally, we have grass!!!!!!!!!!!

There’s still a LONG way to go in the backyard, but this weekend we spent several hours in the cold, misty rain installing 140 rolls of green, green sod.

The dogs just don’t know what to do with this green stuff!

While the most expensive projects are still in front of us, we have made a considerable dent, and at least have cut down on weeds in about 1/3 of the yard.

Still to come: a pergola, an outdoor kitchen, an outdoor living area, an Asian garden with a waterfall, a hummingbird garden, a hot tub, a cactus garden, a “cutting garden”, and lots of stone, rock and boulders.

YAY FOR GRASS!!!!!!!!!!

Last summer, a big wind storm finally took the rotting fence down. With the help of our wonderful neighbors, we got the new fence up. Here’s DH working on pulling what remains of the old fence down.

So, I thought I’d post some before photos. This is the yard pretty much as we bought the house. The only thing we’ve actually done in this photo is cut down the cottonwood tree as it was sick and dying anyway.

As you can see, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

The house was a repo and the bank that we bought it from did nothing to upkeep it. Everything died. Everything.

Well, the sprinkling system is in the ground for the lawn. After several weeks of after work trench digging, it’s in the ground, it’s hooked up to the timer and it’s ready to go.

We are working on tilling the surface area that the lawn will go on now. I hope to have sod down within the next three weeks.

YAY!!!!

There is still a matter of several gardens, rock, stone pathways, the outdoor living space floor, pergola and kitchen.

One step, and paycheck, at a time.

I have lots of trees that go along the fence.

I have a big dirt pile to landscape with and there are flowers growing in it! Beautiful yellow flowers. :)

did this – hard work … this gardening thing …..

have started this major job .. not an easy task ….. mulched front garden and took out weeds etc ….... planted some shrubs and canna lilies at back of fence … pruned rose bushes and added fertiliser …. is looking neat & tidy for moment …... will start at back next week-end …......

After going round and round with a few different gardeners/landscapers (and being shocked by the prices)... as well as being inspired by the great pools/jacuzzi we enjoyed on vacation in Hawaii, we decided to put in a custom pool. We started on April 15th, and after a few delays, it should be done sometime in July. It’s been a long expensive process, but at the end of the day, it will go a long way in letting us enjoy the full potential of our home.

Here’s a picture of the progress so far…

The gardener did not show up as scheduled yesterday to do the work and his cell phone has been “disconnected.” We put a stop payment on the (relatively small) check we gave him. Interesting, because he’s talked to us several times, and has done work in the development.

It goes to show you that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Made some progress here (and yes, a year has gone by with nothing but dirty in the back yard). Rather than getting a pool, we’ve decided to put in the back sprinkler system, put some slabs of concrete down, put grass down in the immediate backyard, and put either wood chips or rocks on the sides of the house.

A gardener gave us a rough estimate yesterday and is willing to do the work step by step….so I decided to take him up on his offer. It minimizes my risk (by paying him over time), and gets us a functional backyard in the span of a couple of months. We’ll get some outdoor furniture, and be ready for the Spring BBQ season!

My wife and a were scoping out “backyard sails” for some cool shading, but I think a couple of large umbrellas will be sufficient for this season.