#11: Plant Something

This was our year for yardwork. Last year when we moved into our house, it was already a little late to start too much serious work, but I gave it my best effort. This year we devised a plan and got started early in the Spring - in the cold and rain. We removed the stepping stones and decided to create a barrier between the rocks and grass, with the thought the grass would grow better and be easier to maintain. We then brought the rocks back about three feet. The rototiller we borrowed from a friend wouldn't start, so we dug up the entire backyard (yeah, it's only 200 square feet).

Last year after the "work" I did.

Bringing back the rocks and planting grass. And watering. A lot.

After a lot of research, and advice from the oldest most-outdoorsy guy I could find at Taylor Do-It, we mixed the soil with some manure and fertilizer, layered with grass seed and covered with peat moss. And watered it. Every day. Twice a day.

The tree out front coming down!

After the tree and before any of the work began.

But all of a sudden we had grass! We took our full-proof plan to the front yard where we had a half-dead tree removed (and bagged 20+ bags of tree mulch), and made the front flower bed half the size. I did some rearranging of the existing plants, which unfortunately killed our biggest bush, but planted daisies, salvia, tickseed and some other random on-sale bushes. The final touches were mulching and hanging baskets. For about $300 we got our yard under control for the Spring and early Summer. I know the crazy temps are just around the corner, so fingers crossed we can keep the momentum going for another few months!

I'm participating in the 92 Days of Summer challenge. Click here to read all about it and here to a see a gallery of pictures of everyone participating.