We bought a house that had been previously repo-ed. In 9 months of ownership, we've learned that there are some serious benefits and risks to that. One of them being the yard we inherited. It was no secret either. When we first looked at the house, this is the view we had (from that ugly freestanding balcony we replaced)
We were drawn to the yard because it was huge and a lot of possibilities. But we also knew it would be a lot of work. Though how much work we may have underestimated slightly! We had a month once we had the keys to the house until we moved in. We spent that time cleaning, painting and fixing little things. My brother-in-law Eric came over on Pioneer Day and weed whacked almost the enter yard with Mark. Every little step has helped our yard transform into more of an acceptable looking lawn.
Now don't get me wrong, we know that the green stuff we mow twice a month is NOT grass. Or very little of it is at least. But for now, it works. In the next 2 years we'd like to do grass and put in a small patio off of the stairs by the deck. But this first year has been concentrated on just clearing and planning. We have found a lot of fun (and gross) things in clearing. An entire trampoline (minus the net), broken lawn chairs, a swing set, 2 dog houses, endless balls, sticks, trash, sticks, random dishes (from dogs I'd hope!) and more sticks. While our yard has a long way to go and will still have much more of a transformation in the years to come, here's our current progress:
Thanks to another mild winter, we worked on clearing the dog run that had weeds as high as your waist. We've cleared a ton of branches, 2 dog houses, and a smaller chain link fence out of it. We're working on getting rid of these railroad ties.
Eventually we'd like to have 1-2 family type dogs. We don't want to keep them in this dog run regularly, but we plan on keeping it, adding some bushes against the fencing and making it a viable option for when we need them to stay out of the way (you know, for all the parties we'll have back here some day!)
Freshly mowed. You can see we haven't reached all the edges of the yard, but we are getting there! We inherited my dad's old mower and while it's been great for us, it's not a self-propelled one. So mowing takes a lot of energy!
This tree loses all of its' leaves in the fall. We didn't stay on top of raking in the fall so we've spent a few weeks now just raking up the dead leaves and filling our 2 yard cans to the brim with weeds and sticks. We never had to rake leaves as a kid. We had pine trees in our yard. Just 1 season of raking and I definitely got my fill in. It's not really as blissful as pictures make it seem. But it sure is gratifying when you can finally see the ground again!
It's a plus and a bonus that 4 houses back up and can see into our backyard. One of them has a little girl Mark teaches on Sunday. She's been sure to tell Mark how much better our yard looks each time it changes.
Our side yard area. We are working on clearing the rock area designed for an RV. 2 weeks ago when Mark took 2 days off of work we went crazy on yard projects. This was one of them. We took some of the rocks from the front yard, laid down a tarp and then put rocks on top. In theory this will keep the area closest to the AC unit clear of weeds. We also found a bigger rock as you can see that had a painted smiley face on it. We had to keep it!
This was a 2 week project. First weekend we put up the brick wall. This past weekend we got a ton of dirt and some plants. Someone had to pick short plants thus requiring 8 additional bags of dirt so they could be seen over the planter wall..sorry husband! We may need to fill it in more and get additional plants. I'm not sure how much coverage these plants will eventually have. We also need 1-2 more shrubs on the side.
You may not be able to tell, but I think this is quite an improvement from where we started. The red bushes below got way too overgrown and were super prickly- not ideal for a neighborhood with little ones exploring! Now I just need to get my chairs wiped down so they are usable again!
Long term plans for the yard(s)?
Remove front yard stump- likely next year
Replant grass in front yard
Get rid of front yard rocks and weeds and plant grass/pathway for barrels.
Replant grass in backyard
Patio built
Add in fire pit likely on east side
Play area for Jack. Possibly a (stable) jungle gym
Fruit tree or 2
Small shrubs against the fences in some areas
Small garden with forgiving vegetables near large tree.
One step at a time right?
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