I know we are weird but Mike & I LOVE working in our yard! This is good since this year we had a lot to do. Almost every weekend, and weekday evening we had free we spent working on the yard. I have to give a HUGE shout out to my AWESOME hubby for helping my yard dreams come true! Thanks for putting up with me sweetie!
I have been planning my yard for years, maybe even since I was 14 and first started working in my great grandma's back yard. I have taken note of things I liked and did not like about all the different yards we have been in.
When we moved here one of the first things I did was get some graph paper, trace my house on the plans and our yard limits. I then drew and redrew all the flower gardens, play areas and other such things. There was a huge list of things I wanted in the yard so I had to pack it all in. I planned in where trees and bushes would be, where the different berry patches would be and etc. I have a cupboard full of potential plans!
These are some of the things we learned we would and would not do if possible:
1) PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!
2) If possible have the house face west or south (shade in the backyard in the evening)
3) have a drinking fountain outside (we LOVE this & it was only 50$ for parts!!)
3)All trees must be inside of flower gardens (Mike hates mowing around trees, and it is healthier)
4)All flower gardens must be watered by their own driplines in the sprinkler system. This helps control weeds.
5) Have a place for a garden and have its own valve in the sprinkler system
6) Make sure there is a door wide enough in the fence to drive back to the garden
7) know the full size of trees and don't plant them close enough so they will touch the house or drop leaves directly on it.
8)Put the flower gardens in one at a time if you have a lot
9)Make sure you know your final yard plans/dreams before you have the sprinkler system designed.
10) by the biggest trees you can afford if you have a new house. We LOVE Zollingers Tree farm for this! They usually have a sale over memorial day weekend too.
11)Put play areas in their own area and not on the lawn. The lawn will be destroyed and they are hard to mow around.
12) If you don't know a lot about trees, gardens, or what you want in a yard DEFINATELY go to a landscape archetect. I wish we had done that but I balked at the $500 price tag. I think we could have saved that in parts for the sprinkler system alone. They also know best what kind of plants can grow under which conditions. They also make your yard plans look great!
13) Do as much work as possible yourselves. (unless of course #12 applies)
14) look at other yards, photos of yards, etc for ideas. There is a lot of great stuff out there!
15) try not to have too many sharp or square corners in your yard. This makes it very hard to mow and takes a lot of extra time.
16) Don't plant trees in the middle of your open space. I promise one day you will want to throw a ball around or something and trees get in the way.
17)Talk to the local garden centers, they know more about your specific area and can help you with almost any gardening needs.
18) some garden centers have people that will come to your house and help you plan out the plants in your gardens for very cheep!
19) it is worth it to save money to put in curbing. It is also VERY worth it to call around for the best pricing!
20) Haul in topsoil for your garden if you live in an area with poor soil. It was only about 100$ but very worth it since we have a great garden right off the bat rather then ammending it for years.
These are a few of the things we have learned and we will probably learn a lot more!
These are some of the things we wanted/want in our yard: Playground, sandbox, drinking fountain, fire pit, place for a hammock, veggie garden, hummingbird/butterfly garden, Secret garden (I want one like they have at Disney Land with lots of wierd plants.), water feature of some kind, sitting areas within the gardens, a sweat pea teepee, a plant tunnel the kids can run through, lots of places for birds, a strawberry patch and a raspberry patch.
This year we started off with the kids playset. We have been saving for a while and we finally found a great deal on the one we wanted! It is a Lifetime swingset and we LOVE it!
Mike and I assembled it ourselves. 18 hours later and with tired hands we finally had our families first playset!
This is our new way to keep Kyle occupied. We give him a hose and he waters the lawn & himself.
Once we got the playset in we hauled in bark and sand. It only took about 30 wheel barrels full to get the bark in and 40 for the sand pile. My shoulders were sore that day!
The kids absolutely LOVE the sandbox!
Off to the left you can see our drinking fountain. This may be one of our favorite parts of the yard. I know it has saved a lot of cups from the house and a lot of dirt from being tracked on my floors.
We also planted a lot of the shrubs in the front of the house and I am very happy with how they turned out. In this picture I have Spirea, Rose bushes, Arborvitea, Weigela, and burning bush.
Suprisingly the rose bush is doing great! Turns out they are easier then I though.
We also planted our garden and it is doing great this year! We are using irrigation drip tape to water it and it is working great.
Man I love being outside!
