When we left off with the backyard remodel we have finished the retaining wall and built the Ninja course. After that Michael spent a good deal of time getting the edging pavers just right. We moved all the dirt into place to create the new garden space and then planted the new plants we bought at Lowe's. I also attached the capstones to the retaining wall.
We ended up taking out a bunch of different stones from the backyard and moving them up to the front yard and did a mini makeover up there.
Michael dug down and put these stones in so the lawnmower can ride on top of them.
It was a lot of work in the hot sun, but the front yard looks so much better with these stone instead of that black plastic edging. We also put some dirt in the front yard to level it a little more and then reseeded that section of the yard.
Charlie approves of the new stones!
He's such a pretty kitty!
Back to the backyard....
One morning I was mowing the lawn in the back and I noticed some movement. I thought it might have been a poor suffering animal that Charlie didn't quite finish off. I decided to check it out, but when I stopped the mower it stopped moving. That's when I got close and realized it was a baby possum!
I picked it up with the shovel and moved it to the other side of the retaining wall.
I wish that leaf wasn't in the way of it's mouth. This thing was hilarious! The moment I set him down he was so exaggerative in making himself look dead. He breathed out really noticeably, opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue and went Ehhhh! It works right!
After the Kuch kids spent the night we planted the grass seed. It seems like it takes forever for grass seed to come in especially when you're having to tell the kids to not go on the lawn.
Finally after about a month or so it was filling in. We've been mowing the lawn without the bag to help it thicken up and we also put weed and feed down and it's looking really nice now!
Since the garden space doesn't end over where the fire hydrant used to be it looked funny just hanging out in the middle of the garden space so we moved it over to the opposite corner.
The yuccas bloomed so nicely this year!
Fuller looking grass!
My garden did so well this year. I got zucchini all summer long and tons of tomatoes! I was able to make tomato and carrot soup, homemake marinara and 10 jars of salsa!
I made the soup with a bunch of my Sweet 100 tomatoes. We got so many of those that there was no way we could eat them all. Even making this soup I barely used any of them.
The house smells so good making the soup and the marinara!
It was SO yummy with grilled cheese!
Around the end of July I finally got out there and stained the Ninja course so it all matched.
It looks so much better now!
While I was at it I decided to also touch up the outdoor furniture I built. I had stained it with a semi-transparent stain and I didn't really like the look of the wood showing through. Thankfully I stained the playhouse and the furniture the same color so it was really easy to touch up.
Once the garden beds were done we moved all that bark into place. We had quite a bit leftover which Michael just threw down the hillside. It really does help keep the weeds down for a couple years.
This is the garden bed we took the bigger pavers from and moved to the front. I like it so much better with the natural slope down to the yard.
Ever since building the deck a couple summers ago we've had a terrible time with the stain lasting. It's because part of our deck is exposed to the elements and part of it isn't so the wear and tear is different and makes the deck seem uneven. Also we live in the flight path for the airport so we get a lot of exhaust sediment that builds up on the deck. The last two stains we've used have not held up at all. Michael was really bummed because Sherwin Williams used to make this amazing product for decks and fences, but they stopped making it. He did some research this year and found Australian Timber Oil. He said it goes on just like the old SW product did. The color was a bit more dramatic than we thought, but I love it.
It took Michael all day to stain the deck...I was touching up the stain on the outdoor furniture at the same time since the furniture needed to be off the deck. It turned out so good!
Here it is all finished!!!
I really love the color. It's called Mahogany Flame!
The last space in the backyard that needed tending too was right at the base of the stairs. It's where we had all the leftover pavers. Michael also needed to readjust the pavers that bordered that garden bed since we used some for the front yard.
While he readjusted the pavers, I organized the basement and then moved the extra pavers to the other side of the trampoline where you can't really see them.
All cleaned up!
The only thing that we did after this picture was taken was trim the Quiet Tree way back. Owen named it that when he was really little because he said it was the place he would go be quiet and talk with God.
It feels so nice to be finished with the unexpected yard projects! We do have another project starting soon though! Stay tuned!
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