Backyard Makeover

Our backyard has undergone a major makeover in the last month.  When we initially sodded, we only did half of the backyard.  It's been a couple years now and we were ready to finish the job.  Another big project was to add landscaping along the fence.  We didn't want to look out at a fence, but would rather see green leaves and pretty flowers.

Here are some before pictures, taken the day before we started.

First, we came up with a landscaping plan with our favorite plants and I drew it up in CAD.

We rented a skid steer on March 9th to dig up the weeds and prep the ground for sod.  We had to go back after to fine grade with a rake.  We also used it to help move the fire wood and brick stacks.  This made for more room in the yard.

Then, we got help from Adam's Aunt Virginia & Uncle Allen to get the plants at wholesale prices.  This was a huge money saver - thank you!!  The plants arrived March 19th and we spent the next week planting and mulching.

 Adam and I planted the 100+ plants over the next week.  We got a trailer full of mulch and put that in place.

 We got four pallets of sod on March 26th.  Adam's Dad and brother helped lay the sod quickly.

Here's our yard as of this morning.  The sun is just rising, so the lighting isn't the best.

Now, we still need about two more pallets of sod, which should happen on Monday.  Then, we'll be all done.  We left a path for the trailer to add more mulch.  We'll fill this in and then throw seed in the very back corner.

I love how it turned out, makes me want to have a picnic!

Back to the Future: May

Here is what our house looks like now.

Here is what my garden looks like as of May 15th. We have gotten about 30 cherry/pear tomatoes, 10 strawberries, 5 pea pods, and 7 squash from it so far. I have tasted everything and it’s all very yummy. I have banana peppers and bell peppers growing – but no watermelons yet. This has been a fun experiment and I’m glad we tried it out.

Here is a close up of my straight neck squash growing.

A sampling of one day’s bounty

We discovered that the trees behind our fence are actually part of a tree farm. For the past week they have been clearing them away, to replace them with young pine trees. We’re sad to lose our trees, but Adam talked them into leaving us a 25 foot buffer, so it won’t be completely bare. All of this activity has brought some wildlife into our back yard. Here is a hawk perched on top of our mostly dead oak tree. We have also seen squirrels in our yard for the first time.

Here’s a ‘before’ picture of our backyard trees. (Note: we plan on replacing the mostly dead oak tree with a red maple very shortly.)

Here’s what it looks like now. A bit thinner, but not too bad. The ironic thing is that they only clear the land every 75 – 100 years. So, I guess we don’t have to worry about this ever happening again in our lifetime.

Adam fixed my cloudy headlights on my car. Here is the before picture – they’ve been cleaned and taped off, but that’s it.

And here is the after – looks like new! I’m so glad he fixed this, it’s a huge improvement.

Adam and I did some landscaping this past weekend. We planted four Jasmine plants along our fence. I look forward to them taking over and smelling the yummy flowers next spring.

We replaced four loropetalum plants that had died in the front yard. We had the ruby variety before, but the plum variety does much better in full sun. Notice they have a more purple leaf.

Our gardenia bushes looked almost dead after the winter – here’s a before picture.

But, they got a second wind – look at it now! I doubt it will bloom this year, but I’m just happy it’s coming back so well.

My boss gave me a Japanese Plum tree (aka Loquat tree) that sprang up from a tree in his yard. So, we planted it in the back.

Here are some other plants. From right to left: Jeff & Sarah gave us green onions and a sweet potato plant, two orange trees, I found a volunteer oak tree and two maple trees in our yard and transplanted them to pots.

Our butterfly garden plants are doing wonderful – l love all the color.

We bought this sample stone that we are thinking of using for our walkway from the driveway to the front porch.

May 14th was the one year mark since losing our daughter, Hannah Abigail. We commemorated the day by planting some pretty flowers around her memory stone. It was sweet to remember her in this way.

House Projects: April

April 15th I expanded my garden. I moved some heirloom tomato plants out a row on the far left and added two rows to the right – summer squash and watermelon. You can see the seedlings of my split peas and straight neck squash coming up nicely. The tomatoes are also growing strong.

We put up a bird house on the fence that specifically attracts blue birds. My grandfather, Pepaw, made it for me . . . and it works! Here’s a male blue bird that’s building a nest in our birdhouse.

And here is a female blue bird going into the bird house. It’s been a lot of fun to watch them!

Adam got a used cabinet from his hospital remodel (that was going to the dumpster) and installed it in our Laundry Room. The shelf area was used for a microwave in a break room – but it works great for our needs!

Adam and his dad finished installing baseboard in the hall and linen closet. I still need to caulk it.

They also started the baseboards in the garage. We’re getting there!

I finished caulking the trim and did a second coat of paint in the Jack and Jill bath. Adam installed the toilet accessories (towel bars and tp dispenser).

Adam and I painted a second coat in the Dining Room, Foyer and Office. It was a crazy weekend of baseboards and painting – but, we finished and it looks great!

I was inspired to hang pictures, etc on our walls after painting. Here is the hallway.

I hung some pictures and a mirror in the guest room.

Adam got me a new picture and we hung it over the snuggle chair in the living room.

My Mom, sister and niece came up to visit us and go to the zoo. We got a fun surprise by two Canadian geese wondering into the front yard. We fed them bread – here is Laura Jo is excited feed the birds.

Garden 101: March

I planted my first garden on March 22nd. The left row is tomatoes, then strawberries and peppers, then a row of split peas and a row of squash.

Our grass and plants are waking up after the cold weather. There are even flowers on the knock out rose bushes and leaves on the elm.

I repainted the frame of this picture and hung it up in our bathroom. Pictures on the walls make a house much more like a home!

My sister gave me her old vanity chair for my little nook. It’s the perfect size, but needed a facelift. Here’s the after picture - I painted the frame satin nickel to match our hardware and recovered the seat to match the paint. It looks brand new!

We saw this really weird yellow stuff near one of our plants . . . thanks to google, we learned it’s a harmless fungus lovingly called ‘dog vomit’. Lovely. So, I scooped it into the trash and it hasn’t come back yet.

A week after Adam’s knee surgery, he was already getting around pretty well. Here was where he rested and kept his knee propped up.