Since moving into the new house two months ago, we’ve have created an inside environment that is a warm, friendly reflection of our family. We’ve made peace with the brass fixtures and ugly faux tiling for now. Even the forest green and mauve master bathroom gets a pass. As soon as the money tree blooms, we’ll tackle the tacky.
The outside of the house is another story. We haven’t even let the boys play in the backyard because it was overgrown with thorny weeds, inhabited by ant colonies and speckled with rebar. It was going to take major blood, sweat and tears to get the yard in playable shape, and we finally dragged our lazy butts outside this weekend to start the process.
This is how the backyard looked when we bought the property. The pool had been removed. What remained was the decking, sand, cement trim, and a myriad of sick roses bushes and weeds.
{Before}
We’re leaving the deck (it will eventually be refinished) but removed all the debris and weeds from the sand area. We plan to create a semi-circle of seating against the deck, lay down pavers and install a fire pit.
{After}
Along the back of the house were shrubs and monkey grass that had been overtaken by thorny weeds and other ground cover.
{Before}
I spent back-to-back afternoons with an ax hacking away at the mess. It looks much cleaner now and ready to be properly landscaped.
{After}
It doesn’t look like a huge difference, but when you see the pile of debris it is much more satisfying. Even the boys helped.
The result of our efforts is a cleaner, safer space that is ready for proper planting. When I think of how much closer we are to creating the backyard of our dreams, the muscle soreness and fatigue doesn’t feel so bad.