At the end of this week, we will have owned our new home for exactly 2 months! So I thought it would be fun to share some of the progress we have made. I have never lived this far south before (or in such an arid climate!) so I’m sure you are going to hear more and more about native desert plants!
As you can see, the apricot tree to the right was literally on it’s last limb, so it really needed to go.
We had this swing set picked out before we left Germany. It was our “post deployment splurge” for our family.
One of the best parts of saving and living frugally – is planned spending!
Some of the trees had cemented bricks around the base and they were all different colors. (Yeah. It made my eye twitch every time I walked outside.) Also the chain link gate offered very little privacy from a nearby service road.
The bricks in the lower right corner were part of an overgrown-with grass extended patio area. Instead, we decided to transform this space into a flower bed and use the bricks as a walkway to an outdoor living area. A new wooden gate lends some privacy and some itty bitty new baby grass we planted three weeks ago is slowly filling in the yard.
Our guess is, this area was used for an out door storage shed? The shrubs on the right, although lovely green and completely established, had long sharp thorns – so they needed to be removed.
Right now we are using this space for apricot limbs, a makeshift compost bin with spare lumber, as well as all of the broken cement, random rocks, and brick debris we removed from the yard. I’d like to make this a vegetable garden next year – we’ll see!
So what do you think? Do you have any outdoor projects going on?
Oh – and does anyone know where I put the motrin?
I have come to the conclusion that I’m not as young, fit, athletic, spry, etc as I think I am…
August 20, 2012 at 11:09 am
Heck, it’s all I can do to motivate myself to keep the lawn mowed. I’m impressed! I really do want to put a patio out back so I have a place to sit outside. I guess I should stock up on the Motrin and just do it
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August 20, 2012 at 11:21 am
You have seriously done an amazing job.
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August 20, 2012 at 11:39 am
How fun! I love it! You sure have been busy. And hasn’t it been super hot? Good for you!
August 20, 2012 at 11:57 am
Wow! What a transformation in just two months! It looks fantastic. I can’t wait to see what other projects you do (:
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August 20, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Really nice! I have a feeling that your imagination saw so much potential in this yard with the stone wall and pretty western trees. Maybe you can put the garden on the left side of the concrete walk and the concrete rectangle can be home base for your garden supplies? You can go yard saling for a table that would work as a planting station and other items that can be refurbed to hold your garden supplies.
Is there a way to find a landscaping company or somewhere else that is tossing or will sell cheaply flat stones of some kind (flagstone) to cover the sidewalk? Or a cheap quick fix could be to get some concrete paint in the color of your favorite stone on the wall and paint the sidewalk and rectangle so they’re not so glaring and bright.
August 20, 2012 at 12:45 pm
I’m impressed! We’re trying to get our yard done too (although we had a completely blank slate of just dirt, although all this rain has resulted in an explosion of tumbleweeds growing everywhere…) and I’m discovering the same thing in regards to my level of fitness:) We’re from the east too so it’s been kind of fun figuring out how to make things look pretty when you don’t have all the lovely grass and trees and flowers that grow without effort. I can’t wait to see how things progress as you continue to work and live there!!
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August 20, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Whoa, it’s looking great after a couple months! Ahhh, those stone walls remind me of my grandparents’ house in El Paso. They had the same kind.
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August 20, 2012 at 2:48 pm
That play set looks awesome!
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August 21, 2012 at 6:46 am
Looking good.
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August 22, 2012 at 2:16 am
Wow, the modification of your yard is awesome. I want to have big yard like this.
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