Yard Makeover!

When we moved into our house in April of 2009, the front yard looked pretty nice.  Green grass, some trees and a handful of rosebushes.   When summer started, we quickly found out that there were 2 different sets of sprinklers and neither of them worked.  The grass became hard and prickly even with our hose waterings, the rosebushes were more out of control than I had realized, and we decided we wanted a more unique looking yard.

The front yard when we moved in:

Since our first step would have to be sprinklers, we needed to decide how we wanted the yard to look before we started anything.  Stumped already.  Mikey and I have very little creative inspiration, so we were at a loss for a yard plan.  We hired 2 of our friends to create a yard design for us and we loved the results!  We started last year with tearing out a ton of buried concrete (not a fun surprise), a new fence, and sprinklers!  This year, we finally got to work on the more fun tasks, to make the yard look nicer, not just torn up!

The old fence:

The concrete fiasco:  The jackass who lived at our house before us apparently ran a concrete business.  Whenever he had extra concrete from a job, he just dumped it in a big ditch in the backyard.  We discovered this when we started digging the old fence posts out.  It was a shocker when we revealed a 25 foot long, 5 foot wide and 4 foot deep pile of concrete just buried inches below the top surface of soil.  Mikey's friend came by with a skid steer and huge jackhammer attachment to break up and move all the concrete.  It was ridiculous!

The new fence:

We saved a lot of money by removing all the concrete, tearing out the old fence and installing the new fence ourselves.  It made a huge difference in our yard since it finally felt more private (rather than the chain link with "privacy slats").  

Next up, the sprinklers...  Dad helped a lot with this project too!  Sorry Dad; did you realize that when we bought a place, you'd get so many more opportunities to hang out with us?

Mikey thought my working in the yard and especially with the heavy machinery was sexy, so he had to snap some pictures.  I am glad that he documented that I do help out with the big yard projects, not just sit around and take pictures of him working...  

Mikey was super nervous to tap into the main water line for the sprinklers... 

...but he did a great job! 

After the sprinklers were finished, we were bummed that after all that work, our yard looked worse than it did when we started!  But, we were done for the 2010 year, and had the concrete and old fence removed, a new fence and sprinklers installed!

2011: We visited the Jordan Valley Conservation Gardens to find some ideas for plants, xeriscaping, and designs.  The below walkway was the inspiration for the walkway we wanted to create for the tenants so they could access their door at the back of the house without walking past our windows and back door.  

We bought all the supplies: pressure treated wood, waterproofing stain, and several tons of concrete (literally).  

I painted the waterproofing stain on the wood and after many measurements, calculations and decisions,  Mikey cut the wood for our frames.

We built the frames (once again, I am so grateful that Mikey is a handyman, as well as his brother Matt who lives with us and was nice enough to help out!).

...borrowed a mixer from a neighbor, another saving grace!  You can't tell, but it's about 99 degrees and the boys aren't really as happy as they appear in this picture.

Pouring the concrete.  We are self taught concrete finishers now.  Please don't ask us to come help with your concrete job.  If we ever see, lift, mix or pour another bag of concrete, it'll be too soon.

Drying...

And dried!

We cut out an area and installed edging for weather-wise plants at the front of the yard.

And after the staining, gravel and edging... Tada!!!  I think it looks so much nicer with the stain and sealer on, though Mikey did have to talk me into the colored stain.  Also, it has been noted that the off-set walkway looks like it may have come straight out of a Dr. Suess book.  We are aware of this.

My mom and dad donated some time and energy into helping us plant $500 worth of plants.  Who knew plants cost so much?!  Good thing they are all perennials! 

Murray city gives away free mulch and we took a small trailer load to fill in around the plants.

Once again, the before shot:

  

And the after!  

A lot more work went into this than you would think just seeing the before and after pictures.  We are really happy with the results.  The best part - no hand watering!  Our state-of-the-art sprinkler system even has a sensor on our roof that will adjust the watering based on temperature, sunlight, humidity, and other impressive factors.  Next year, we plan to build a paver patio where the bench chair is, rip out the rest of the rosebushes, and plant the rest of the water-wise plants that will be up by the house.  It's nice that the work we did this year is finally making the yard look nicer rather than worse!

And of course, the backyard.  Remember, this was what the backyard looked like in the early spring when we installed the garden boxes:

And here is what it looks like now, after sprinklers, edging, lots of gravel, junipers and a Canada Red Chokecherry tree.  

The garden boxes are so empty after the fall tear down.  

Whew!  So much time, energy and money has gone into the yard that I told Mikey we can never, ever move away now.  :)  We are happy with the results so far and are enjoying the yard, especially laying in the soft, luscious grass!