Landscaping 101

The big project of the summer. Another 9 hours logged into working on my backyard* this weekend.

*Back story: When I bought my house, it came with a backyard consisting of 2' x 2' concrete pads on the level part and then a hillside with bushes planted on it in no particular order and concrete steps leading up the hillside that you would hurt yourself trying to climb. I've been working on my backyard since May of this year and I think it is coming along nicely.

This weekend I moved and stacked more of the 2' x 2' slabs of concrete that layered the flat part of the yard. I did more digging in preparation of the retaining wall I'll be building and I did even more raking rocks from out of the dirt so I can plant grass in the fall. I also planted some Myrtle ground covering to help keep the soil from eroding and I tackled removing shrubbery from the hillside, roots and all; Four bushes down, four to go.

Comparison from August 2006 to June 2007:

The Steps I rebuilt, before and after:

I rebuilt the steps completely from materials I found in the backyard; Cinder blocks and concrete pads. I installed $10 plastic trim along the sides of the steps to keep the dirt from washing down onto them.

Progress as of today:

I'd pat myself on the back but I have sunburn.

Just kidding ... I'm not that sunburnt.

I also woke up early and went to the flea market this morning. It was a slow day there, not many vendors out. I didn't find anything of great interest. I bought socks, beef jerky and Amish cookies. Yeah, I know, thrilling. I almost purchased a framed oil painting of the Pink Panther sitting on the toilet. I thought it would go lovely in my downstairs bathroom. Maybe I'll pick it up next week if it is still there.