Landscaping: Day 1

 From the minute we looked at the house we knew it needed some serious landscaping.  I love nicely landscaped homes and maybe my Dad being a landscaper has something to do with it.  We have been talking with my Dad since we looked at the home about things we could do to make it have more curb appeal. We couldn't wait to get started!  He has been really busy this spring and we were so excited when he told us he would be coming up to work at our house last Friday.  Early in the morning after Lucy got on the bus the crew arrived and we got right to work!

The front was boring and didn't have much done to it at all.  I was talking to my neighbor and she said the real estate agent of the sellers came one day and planted those 4 bushed just randomly one day to help it sell.  I was weeding the other week and discovered some buried daffodils under the fabric lining the agent also put down.  I ripped the fabric and let the flowers out.   We also found out the bushes that were planted were not the right bushes for that spot. That spot gets full sun and they require part sun and needed to be moved to the backyard.

 The back had several issues as well.  It needed help with draining the water away from the house.  The sump pump as well as the only down spout to the back of the house all drained right in the same area.  Causing a muddy and wet mess in that area of the yard.  That part of the yard also got the least amount of shade so it was so hard to ever give it a chance to dry up after a big storm.   

 

 

 They at one point maybe had a garden bed here.  We aren't sure.  All we know is that it was a mess. We had to pull up all the metal edging they put in the front and the back.  

 Here is the sump pump coming out of the house.  You can see the water hole it was making in the yard.  This was the main issue we were so excited to have fixed, since we have had such a rainy spring! 

 The boys got right to work stripping the sod off the pipe line route. We were glad that we have descent weather that day.  It had rained all day Thursday and was drizzling/sprinkling on us all day as we worked.  It made things pretty muddy and messy and the sod stripping was a little more difficult.

 Garrett never left the side of any of the workers, he wanted in on all the action and was there to talk to us and ask us several questions about everything we were doing.

 After the sod was all stripped they dug the trench to lay the pipe in.  The ground was so wet!

 The dirt was horrible and all very thick and like clay.  It was completely full of water and was just horrible.  We bucketed out all of the bad soil and dumped it.  It was no good to work with and we didn't want to even put it back into the area.  

 After they got the pipe put in they laid the sod back over it.  You can see the drain end at the bottom of the picture.  It lays flat in the yard and they call it a pop up immersion drain.  When it gets full of water the top pops up and drains the water.  There is also a hole on the bottom so it can drain any water into the ground that way.  I love it, I was worried there would be a raised pipe in the yard and I didn't want the kids to trip on it.

We then moved to the front yard and stripped all the sod out of the new bed. It was fun to decide on the shape of the bed.  We laid the garden hose out so we could picture how it would look.  After this step we headed to the nursery my Dad likes to use.  Luckily for us the wholesale nursery he loves is just 5 minutes from our house.  It was fun to walk around and pick out the plants we liked.  We also picked up 2 scoops of topsoil and picked out some big rocks to act as our wall on the end of the bed. 

 When we got home we started to set the rocks and plants where they would go, so fun to start to see it come together.  We were so happy with our plant choices.

 Lucy came home and was anxious to help be a landscaper with Grandpa and Uncle Jordan. 

 The ground in the front wasn't much better then the back and we were glad we got lots of new topsoil to put around our new plants.  It was fun to have it all come together. 

 

After we finished planting in the front we moved to the back to strip the sod out of the new bed we were going to put back there.  We had to replant those bushes from the front.  The ground was horrible.  My Dad said it was like mud from a swamp! It was really hard to get the sod up from that spot and the boys were just covered in mud!

Once we got everything dug up back there we planted the bushed from the front with a few daffodils and put down lots of new topsoil.   My Dad brought those stones for us and we aren't sure exactly where they will go.  For now so they are out of the grass they are set there. When we finish the rest of the backyard we will find a more permanent place.  Already looking ton better then it was before!

Here is the front of the house after day 1, looks great! 

 I love the big stones we picked out, they look really nice and I love the color in them. 

I love how things are looking outside and we are so excited to have it done.  I am so glad my Dad and brother were able to come work along side us and help us do this landscaping.  It sure makes the house look so much better!