Lots of stuff happening at home. Well, not LOTS, but busy stuff. Lots of busy and back-breaking stuff. Can I use that as my excuse for not blogging as much?
Just as a point of reference, this is how this section of the yard used to look:
I think I posted earlier pictures of the whole concrete demolition party. That was fun. Not sad that's over. And now we have a lot more useable/plantable space. Ahh......
After much discussion and self-doubting, etc. we, or I should say The Man, gave me a directive to 'get it done'. We've been to a number of block, landscaping, nursery yards. It gets old after a while, trust me. Especially when the kids are in the car being not so cute, waiting for Mommy to figure out what the heck to get.
The lovely people at Thompson Building Supply (where we keep coming back to) supplied us not only with our supplies but with lots of answers to rookie questions. I'm not one to get all crazy about places of business but these guys really were great and super helpful. Especially on such a (relatively) small project. (They're used to BIG contractor projects and the like). Anywho, here it is!
And a landscaping rake.
And the lawn roller. Oh wait. I already said that didn't I. It's worth repeating, since that's what we did with the Decomposed Granite we were installing. Laying. Whatever you call it. (In contractor world they call it DG. We say it like we own it now. Which we do).
We got 5 scoops (a cubic yard? 3 cubic yards? I've forgotten already!). The kids were excited because a huge truck with it's very own fork lift/dumpster thingy delivered stone and DG nto our backyard. The Man and I put about 4 layers of this stuff down. You have to water and compact it after every layer or it won't act like a solid (ish) surface sufficient for a patio. But it's permeable which I was looking for and a whole lot cheaper than other options.
I had an idea in my head and I was really hoping it didn't look completely lame. (I tried explaining my ideas to a few people and they weren't seeing what I was seeing...I hate that!) Thank you for trusting me, husband XOXO Even he was pleased with the finished look. Woohoo!
I got a few plants a couple days after to help get the area ready for outdoor living. A little at a time though, our pocket books are BURNING! I will say for this little area we did pretty good at keeping things cost friendly.
If anyone is interested in what plants I used here's the list:
-Russian Sage (Purple flower stocks, kinda whispy looking near the fence)
-Upright Rosemary along the back block wall. Just one. Bought that by mistake but whatever...
-Trailing Rosemary (x2) It'll look cool once it starts growing over the block wall
-Licorice, they aren't like the Anise-y looking plants, I was surprised by it's name. They do smell a little like licorice but have a creeping, ice-y green color. I kinda like them. A lot.
-Sea Thrift Pink, it's a grass-type ground cover that apparently has pink blooms but every time I look at them they remind me of green sea anemone's
-Something that is similar to Santa Barbara daisy but is called something else that I can't remember the name of, sorry :)
I'm trying to find a non-invasive tree to plant in the back corner on the right. Right now I'm looking at either a non-fruiting Olive or Goldenchain?? But I've also contemplated Crepe Myrtle. We'll see. Now we need to find outdoor furniture and a fire pit!
Lady Chan
PS
I should mention the block walls. The one running along the fence was hired out. Cheapish. I was really hoping to try giving it a go ourselves but chickened out. The second wall running vertical was done by my Dad and The Man. (I think mostly The Man observed, but I told him to pay close attention because we may do more brick/stone/block work elsewhere). Thanks to my Pop's...he really can do it all!
This is really impressive. You go, girl! (and the Man and Papa). Doug and I were ooohing and aahing over each pic!
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