Landscaping 101 - The Befores

When we first saw our house, one of the things we loved most was the backyard.

Well, more like the potential backyard. It's huge, fenced in, and has some giant old trees . . . but that's kind of where the positives end. I don't think it's ever been really cared for, so we knew we would have some work to do. A LOT of work. That we know will take years and years to do. It's full of weeds (including these awful goat head things that have needle-like pokers on them, stick in your shoes, and then come off in the house . . . and then you step on them in the middle of the night when you're trying to find the bathroom and you scream in pain and wake up the whole house at 3 am. Anyways -). There's no grass, and the yard is full of random crap like bottle caps and legos and other garbage. The trees all have dead limbs that need some attention, the parking area is uneven and just dirt, the porch is crooked, the stairs are broken, the concrete path is falling apart . . . I could go on.

But we're getting started tomorrow! Luckily, one of our good friends does landscaping work, so he hooked us up with a crew that will be doing most of the heavy duty stuff that we are going to do this year. As much as I love a DIY project, laying sod, hauling mulch from Home Depot, and repairing an old sprinkler system is not how I want to spend my spare time. So we are going to have the bones of the yard done for us, which will free us up to do more fun things . . . like plant veggies in my NEW garden boxes when they are done!!

When we bought the house, we assumed there was no landscaping of any sort. But lo and behold, look what we found in the ground: 

Sprinkler heads! We have a sprinkler system already! I don't think the previous owners even knew it was there, because I am sure it would have been mentioned in the listing. Most of the heads are buried in dirt right now, but this is going to save us a TON of money - installing a new sprinkler system is way out of our budget. So, bonus for us! It needs repairing, so that's the first thing they are going to do. 

Here are the other plans for this summer:

• Trimming two trees. Notice how the branches are all tangled with the power lines? Not good. And we will be removing Flappy, the beloved grocery bag who has taken up residence in the tree at the back of the yard. 

• Installing sod, with a mulch border around the fence. This was our biggest priority - we really wanted to make sure to have a yard to play in by the time Lea is big enough to walk. So that had to come this year.

•  Tearing out this mess of a walkway, and putting in something else - either cement or flagstone

•  Turning these two areas past the fence into a garden! We are building four garden boxes - two in partial shade, two in full sun. I cannot WAIT to get some veggies in the ground! This is also where a composter will go eventually.

• Nothing's quite as welcoming as a creepy, doorless, graffiti-covered shed in your back yard. This sucker is going to get some TLC - a new door and some paint, perhaps?

• Like my makeshift laundry lines? Super classy. We will be putting in legit laundry poles in this area.

• Here is Hadley, looking sad that she has to lay in dirt and rubble. I can't wait to watch her rolling around in the grass! 

Stay tuned for more updates as progress is made!