Yard Revamp

Saturday found all of us doing yard work we have been dreaming of since we first moved into our house.  But between long absences, a slab leak, an Edsel transmission overhaul, babies coming and growing, and an idea that at some point we must have a little fun, there never seemed to be any time. 

Our backyard consists of a largish swimming pool, a patch of grass, and what I liked to call, "the wasteland".  We live in Arizona, and what with it being a desert and all, gravel is the landscaping medium of choice.  Except I hate it.

A before of the wasteland.  This picture is from last November.  Fritter and Ladybug are admiring a praying mantis.  Notice the big mesquite tree in the background.

Between Dan and I, and some help from Fritter, and not so much help from Ladybug, and negative help from Sunflower, we managed to shovel wagon loads of the rock out of the backyard.  More on where we put it later.  It took hours of shoveling and my arms and abs are super sore, but it was so worth it.

After.  No longer the wasteland.  I'm thinking I'll call it the "Path to Fairyland", or laundry land, as the clothesline is behind me in this picture.  And those planters are just waiting for something for me to torture.  Notice the mesquite tree is gone.  Our neighbors had it chopped down a few months ago, which kind of broke my heart.  At the same time, we don't have to clean up after it anymore.

We put wood chips in place of the rocks.  It smells awesome.  Someone needs to wrap up that hose.

 What did we do with the rock, you say?  Well, the side of our house, off of the front yard looked pretty scabby.  The grass would not grow, because that spot only gets noon sun, and bermuda grass hates the shade.  So we dumped the rock there, along with another stone path. 

I still don't like the rock, but it's much better than what was there, and we have more plans for this spot eventually anyway, including garden beds and raspberry bushes or something of that sort.  We'll see.

These two things were satisfying enough, but we also found a couple of other surprises.

Remember the picture of this potter from this post?  That wasn't a weed, it was a marigold that decided to reseed itself.  I don't really weed, which in this case was a good thing.  I think my plants tell me that as long as I leave them alone, they'll do as they should.  Although, he looks like he needs some water.

My dear husband thinks this little guy is a baby palm tree that planted itself in a corner of our front yard.  I guess we'll see if he's right.

This is the Bird of Paradise in our backyard that just started blooming last week.  They are my favorites.  So pretty, and I don't think it's possible for me to kill them!