Our weather has
been crazy this year. Mother Nature has
thrown a little bit of everything at us this month, including snow! This week I was super happy to get outside
and do some serious yard work which included the start of my big xeriscape project. I'm going for low water/maintenance, not no
water/maintenance. This has been a
project I've wanted to do for years and after a lot of research, thinking over
a ton of different ideas and some planning I was all set to do it, last
year. Demolition started and then came
to an abrupt halt leaving my yard a Class A disaster. It looked HORRIBLE! Embarrassingly , horrible.
Grass removed and wintered over
Looks unsightly, but it will be nice once I'm done
Prior we had
grass, but due to the large shade trees it never did grow very well. Lots of balds spots requiring reseeding, plus
the fertilizers and weed control chemicals.
I didn't like wasting the amount of money, water and effort to try to
maintain a mediocre lawn, it felt really wasteful of both time and
resources. I needed to make a drastic
change. So I started tearing out the
lawn and getting it ready for a big redo, but I only got halfway. Fortunately, my chickens helped me out and they finished what I could not. Thank you ladies!
I removed the plastic lawn edging, expanded the garden bed
and edged it with rocks from other areas of our yard
Initial plans
had to change because I'm retired so there is not much of a budget to complete
this project. I'm not worried though
because I'm using what I already have on hand as well as a miniscule budget and
some gift cards to get a lot of this kicked off. And hopefully some FREE or low cost stuff
from Facebook will help out too. My
youngest daughter bought me a Korean lilac bush for the yard and my oldest gave
me a Home Depot gift card to buy more stuff, both were for Mother's Day.
I am planting perennials and some smaller varieties of shrubs (gifts & gift cards)
The rhubarb plant has been there for years and I've had the bird bath for ages
I am so happy with the progress so far
The entire
landscape plan runs from the curb at the end of our driveway to the backyard fenceline so it is a pretty
huge project overall, but I'm eating this elephant one bit at a time, working in sections and once it is to my
liking I am moving on to the next one.
For the first time since purchasing my home I am finally going to have
the yard I've always dreamed about and imagined in my mind. So far it is turning out as I had hoped and I
couldn't be happier. I'll keep you
updated on my progress as I work on it.
Your yard looks so nice!!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy, janie
I'm falling in love. :)
DeleteOh I love your yard. What a peaceful paradise when you are done.
ReplyDeleteThat's my goal. Thank you Kathy.
DeleteLooks great and what fun! When covid hit two years ago, I noticed that there were people on facebook marketplace swapping plants. So no money needed. I got very interesting plants I would never have considered before just because people are generous. You may have a local social media like next door also that could provide free plants.
ReplyDeleteI've been keeping an eye out to see if anyone is offering up anything I want, but so far no luck. Maybe later. One of my kind readers has offered me some day lilies when I'm ready. I'll likely reach out to her and take her up on the offer. Fortunately I have gift cards I get to use. :)
DeleteI assume it’s not your plans anymore to sell the house and travel?! Considering what a homebody you are, (and all the uncertainty of today’s world) it’s probably best to stay put!
ReplyDeleteNothing is set in stone ;)
Delete