The (finally finished!) landscaping project

When Andi and I bought our house last summer, we knew the yard needed work. Our house was vacant for several years prior to being purchased and flipped by the previous owner and after years of neglect, the grass and plants were overgrown and flat-out ugly. Since we bought our house toward the end of summer and Tory was born 5 weeks later, the yard wasn't a priority for us.

Andi met with a few landscapers to obtain quotes this spring and we settled on a company who provided a modest plan that met our budget and interests. Our biggest complaints were un-kept landscaping near the front door, ugly 70's style creeping evergreens and shrub bushes lining the drive-way which made it difficult to enter/exit a vehicle without stepping into one. The price quotes started rolling in and they were steep. Apparently, previous homeowners cut a few corners by adding layers upon layers of rock and black plastic on top of each other instead of pulling up the old and replacing with new. Some companies wanted upwards of $30,000 to rip out all the old stuff and re-landscape. We understood the scope of work, but weren't willing or able to invest that much in our yard. To make it more reasonable, Andi and I decided to only modify the front yard this summer and found a company who agreed to take on the project for $3,500.

Old Front Entrance

Our budget was tight and Andi negotiated every detail down to the penny. We decided to spend the bulk of our money on the front door area, making a large flower bed and incorporating flagstone pavers leading to the doorway.

New Front Entrance

As beautiful is it looks now, it was a painful process. The majority of the project was directly outside Tory's bedroom window and the presence of loud burly men's voices, a radio blaring and a bob cat machine within earshot made naps and bedtime a nightmare for the entire month of May. I felt so bad for our new nanny who endured many long days with a tired, cranky baby.

The landscaper removed the scrub bushes which lined the driveway and replanted them alongside the front of the house. I loved how sensible he was in re-purposing perfectly healthy plants into a new space to give them new life. Previously, there weren't any plants here.

Front Facing Street

As part of the estimate, the landscaper suggested we add two flower beds to the front yard to provide visual appeal and break up the large grassy area. This added to the cost significantly, so we compromised with his suggestion and agreed on smaller-sized perennial beds on each side of the drive-way. Except half-way through project completion, Andi and I decided we hated it. The small flower bed looked like a grave in our front yard. It was literally the size of a coffin. We decided to cough up extra money to make the flower bed larger as originally suggested. The landscaper was right; it really sets our house apart from the other yards in the neighborhood. 

Front Yard Flower Bed

This winter, someone collided with our mailbox and it's been leaning to one side ever since. (I swear, it wasn't me). Andi asked the landscaper to fix the mailbox by setting the post in concrete. Apparently, the landscaper barely pushed on the mailbox and the entire post snapped in half. Of course the wood was completely rotten after sitting in the ground for 40 years with no support. I'm starting to realize how many corners the past owners took on this house. So, ching-ching. Add a new mailbox to the growing cost of this project. We have to have a mailbox, so we bought a new one and the landscaper re-set it for us.

Full View from the Street

One evening, at the end of this week-long project which had turned into two, our sweet but very nosy neighbor stopped over to talk with Andi. He asked if we'd be interested in landscaping the section of our backyard that borders his yard. The area between our houses is a natural valley and water collects there after it rains. Supposedly, it's been bothering ol' Roger for the last 28 years. If we agreed to landscape it, he'd split the cost with us. Our initial reaction was no; Andi and I decided to only landscape the front yard this summer as not to blow the bank. Then we decided to get a quote from the landscaper. Maybe it would be more fiscally smart to share the cost with the neighbor. Plus, holy cow - 28 years is a long time to stare out your window and stew over standing water. The landscaper agreed it would be cost effective to partner with the neighbor and ultimately, we agreed to do it. 

Old Backyard Corner

The tree on the left was half-dead so that came out as part of the project. Due to the nature of the sunken area, the landscaper recommended we use small boulders as a flower bed border to prevent any mulch or plants from washing away. Personally, I'm not in love with the way it turned out but it could be because we opted not to add plants this year to save money. While it does look better than before, it's basically a giant mulch bed right now and it just looks "off."

New Backyard Corner

The landscaper suggested I add my own perennials, or turn this space into a vegetable garden. Eh, maybe. Definitely not this year. I'm knee-deep in sprinkler duties already. When the landscaper came to collect his pay last week, our usually-friendly neighbor bolted into our yard and verbally attacked the guy. Even though the landscaper explained this new plan wouldn't solve all his standing-water issues, he didn't understand and was irate when water still pooled there following all the rain we had this month. Afterwards, he had the nerve to proposition Andi for another yard project to go "halvsies" on. Now he wants to add drain tile to the yard to redirect the water which is ridiculous! First of all, we have no interest in adding drain tile to our backyard and secondly, the water pools in the best possible spot - away from all the houses in the neighborhood. Why this guy is so obsessed with the water situation is beyond us. Now, the whole thing has Andi dodging the neighbor whenever we're outside and it's super awkward.

We've already exceeded our budget so we decided to add new mulch on top of the old in the backyard to "spruce it up" for this summer. We didn't want to pay to have the multi-layers of rock and plastic ripped out this summer, but at least cosmetically it'd match the rest of our yard. Andi asked the landscaper to bury one of the drain gutters and upon doing so, he hit an unmarked gas line buried under our back deck. This set off a million alarms and the police, firefighters and gas company were deployed to our house in minutes. I got a call at work from a semi-panicked nanny who was forced to leave the house to avoid possible gas fumes. All was ok in the end and on the bright side, Tory got a first-hand look at a fire truck!

Meanwhile, one night during all this landscaping business, I heard a loud CRACK in the backyard. I looked out the window and saw our huge willow tree laying in the neighbor's backyard. It wasn't storming or anything - it just split and crashed to the ground. I've never seen anything like it. It sounded like a giant crack of thunder, then BOOM. Luckily, no one was injured when it hit the ground.

Fallen Willow Tree

Willow Tree No Longer ...

It was a crazy month around our house with all these projects happening simultaneously, but I'm happy with the results. Our new landscaping has already brought us outdoors more often and it'll be a great space to enjoy the warm summer months.