My goal has always been to have a beautiful yard so when you pull up to it you love the view and when you are in the backyard it is relaxing and beautiful. Most years I find that there is either not enough money or time to do what I want to do to it. This year I've decided that this goal must be higher on my list since I work out of my house and see it every day. Here's my short list of what must be done to reach the final goal:
-Plant flowers and shrubs
-Add more weed barrier and mulch
-Maintain a mowing, fertilizing and watering regime on the grass areas
-Replace some of the deck boards and stain
-Maintain the weeding of the flower beds
So far this year I have fertilized the grass twice and kept up with the mowing and watering. Watering is tough because it is all by hand (no automatic sprinklers). This will probably take two years to get to where I want it and then just require the maintenance.
We've planted a lot of flowers in the last couple weeks with many more to plant. This weekend I planted about half of the vegetable garden. I'm really looking forward to the garden this year since we doubled it's size this year! Pictures will be coming soon.
We're thinking of using synthetic lumber for the deck and replacing all the decking in the next two months. We'll see if we have the money to finish this Spring or if it will have to wait for Fall.
I mowed my yard for the first time this year with our brand new lawn mower. We have a small grass area in our yard so this year we bought a push "reel" style mower. No more gas and oil to deal with and pulling to start it is a thing of the past. The reel mower is no more work to push than my old mower and it seemed to do a much better job of cutting the grass. Plus the mower takes up a lot less room in our garage. If you have a small yard, I highly recommend one. Plus it's great exercise!
So the Spring has begun and I'm starting to see the fruits of my labors from last year. During the winter I shortened the chain link fence of the dog run by 8 feet thus adding another 8' x 8' plot of garden, doubling the existing size. I also transplanted my rhubarb from elsewhere in my yard to the garden area and it is already starting to grow this spring as well as the strawberries I planted last year.
Late last fall I extended a couple of my flower beds out and used the sod I removed to fix some bare patches. It seems to be taking rather nicely!
The areas I laid down weed barrier and remulched have reduced my weeding by at least half. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend so I am planning on laying some more weed barrier and getting some more mulch.
The big plan this year is to replace the existing deck with a deck built with Trex-like material so no need to stain again. Right now that is scheduled for a May project. Hope to post a lot of pictures as the work begins.
Here's where the yard is now. Still need to get mulch, a bunch of plants and keep up on it!
A few weeks ago I tore out six trees that were either overcrowding the yard or dying so this weekend I removed all the branches and fertilized all the new plants that I planted the last couple weeks. Also cleaned the pond filter which was long overdue (and disgusting). Hoping to get mulch and new landscape fabric down in the next 30 days as well as maintain the weeding and watering.
This weekend we planted about six new shrubs and about 10 new perennials. We also added four pots with annuals to the front yard to add color. It's really starting to look good but a ways to go.
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