Wandering Through the Vines & Roses : Photo Fridays

Friday, November 7, 2014

Photo Friday: Wordy Wednesday meets Photo Friday the Backyard edition

"The Before Picture"

If we flash back to January 2014, one of my goals for the new year was to buy a home. In April, I fulfilled that goal. The house was really turnkey. Besides a good cleaning, all the inside needed was a few cosmetic changes...mainly some rooms needed to be painted to make me happy. The one area that really needed love and attention was the backyard.

It is a nice size back yard. Part of the yard is covered by the deck off the second level. There looked to be some sort of a previous landscaping that seemed to be a bit neglected.

Aside from watching my parents and their landscaping projects growing up and one apartment with a patio, I have never had to think about yards until now. I had an idea of what I wanted and more importantly what I did not want, but no idea about how to go about it. Soon other small projects, summer time and work distracted me.

For the most part I let the backyard do its own thing. When I officially moved in, the spring bloom was well underway. But when the ivy (I do not like ivy) threaten to take over the back half of the yard and it was hard to tell if the tall weeds were in fact weeds or small trees, something had to be done. Lord knows I did not want to be on the HOA hit list my first year in the community.

A good friend of mine had recently had their backyard landscaped. I like the work that the nursery and patio contractors had done in my friends' yard, so I asked for referrals and started to think about what I wanted my backyard to look and feel.

I knew I wanted an outdoor living space that was inviting but somewhat low maintenance. I envisioned a large freeform patio with green-scaping bordering the patio. I articulated my concept to the the landscape designer and he returned with a suggested idea. It was a little weird seeing idea captured on paper. I visited the nursery with my Mom (who know a heck of a lot more about plants then I could ever hope to) on a very rainy day and looked at the various types of plants that were suggested and only asked for a couple of substitutions. I ceded control and let them start work. Anyone who knows me well, knows how hard it can be for me to do that. In mid-October the project started. I came home from work and my once wild backyard was cleared and the outline of the patio was put down. The yard seemed so different cleared.

Next the patio contractor came in and began their work.

About a week later every thing with the patio was done and the second phase of the project was ready to start. Due to the end of daylight savings time it was dark when I came home from work. I did not get to see the work until the next morning after each day of the planting stage.

I knew they would be done with all the planting on day two. So as while most of the US was waking up to elections results, I was bounding out of bed for the final reveal of my back yards.

So just about six month after closing on my house and five months after moving in, my first large scale project is completed. I am so excited for next spring and summer. In the meantime, I am scouring the internet for ideas for patio furniture and ideas for the front yard.