Mini Front Garden Bed Remodel!

During the weekend of June 25th & 26th...I had asked Michael if we could get a few things done around the house mainly in the yard. We needed some weeds pulled and some bushes trimmed. It had been a long time since we'd addressed our front garden bed between our house and our neighbors. So we got to work and it turned into a much bigger job than I thought it would. 

First off this is the best before picture I could find. 

This is prior to us having a flag pole which we put that up in April 2020 so this is probably around 3 years old. But you can see all those bushes have grown together and basically become one bush. Obviously if this picture is 3 years old than it was worse than this. There was a TON of trimming going on and then just straight up ripping out. Owen and I ended up making 2 trips to the dump with yard waste! Which evidentially there is a special place at the dump for the yard waste. Now I know! :) 

Here we were mid-process! A lot of bushes had been removed! 

We had a trunk we were trying to get out. 

Michael tried to hook a rope up to the truck, but it broke and then he couldn't get it to reach the tailgate. So he had to do it the old fashion way. Which surprisingly wasn't that hard after all! 

On Sunday after church we headed to Carpinito Brothers to buy some new plants and get a load of bark! After Michael and I planted the plants the bigger guys helped with moving the bark.

Zeke and Ella took on the task of cleaning up Penelope since she was straight up nasty! She's a beauty now! 

Ta Da!!! New garden area is looking so much better. Not so crowded at all. I do still want to get a Dogwood tree in here there's actually quite a bit of space back there still and it will be nice to have something in there with a bit more height since all these plants are bushes. 

Yard Remodel Update!

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! 

Backyard Projects...AKA All I Wanted Was A Ninja Course!

Last year we bought the kids a trampoline while we were camping in Ephrata at Oasis. I had been trying to find one on Offer Up for a while, but everyone wanted $400 for them. There was no way I was going to spend $400 on a trampoline. Mom and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some camping supplies and we found the exact one I wanted for $198. 

We ended up buying it and bringing it home from our camping trip. Because of weather we didn't set it up until the end of October. The reason I wanted a trampoline so badly was to give the kids something to exercise on and get their wiggles out. We weren't going to have actual PE with homeschooling so they needed something. At first Michael was quite against having a trampoline. We had a friend of ours break his neck when we were in high school. Thankfully he recovered and isn't paralyzed. The the trampolines back in those days didn't have the safety nets so getting one for our kids didn't bother me. Yes, I know there are still ways the kids can get hurt, but they can trip on their feet inside and get hurt too. 

Another reasons Michael didn't want to have a trampoline was he didn't want it to mess up his grass. I came up with a solution to that problem though. I said I actually think the kids are ready to be done with the play structure the way it is so we can move that and put the trampoline in the gravel. What I envisioned was creating a lower retaining wall on our property modifying the existing play structure and creating a Ninja Warrior Course for the kids. 

That was all I wanted! Again Michael decided to take this project way further than that! :) 

Starting in April our first task was moving the play structure out of the gravel area. Which involved taking parts of it off from the main structure. 

He ended up taking off the bar for the swings, the rock wall / ladder, the slide and the roof. It actually fit perfectly under our deck since we weren't ready for it right away and we didn't want it sitting on the grass ruining it. 

This made it so we could move the trampoline off the grassy area. 

Back in September, Michael cut a bunch of the bushes out that were in the lower area of property preparing us for this upcoming project. 

We had even purchased the wood and it was just sitting there waiting for us. He used pressure treated 4X4's to create a small retaining wall that would later be the area for the new modified play structure. 

I don't think he actually measured for the play structure because at the time we didn't really know our modification plans. He just went with it and thankfully it ended up working out perfectly! 

After he got the retaining wall finished, we had the Dial's over for dinner. They had just sold their house. We are so excited for them and their new journey, but it's sad to know they aren't going to be right down the street anymore. You can see what how different the grass is where the trampoline was for those few months during the winter. 

I love spending time with friends! 

This is where things got complicated. The existing retaining wall that Michael had built back in 2011 had moved SO much because of the tree roots. It wasn't something that we could see because we didn't really use this section of the yard, but once Michael saw it he knew it would need to be addressed. 

So...he took the whole wall apart! It was a mess! 

The wall had a bunch of pea gravel in it so every time he removed a block, pea gravel would fall out everywhere. 

I was amazed at how well the dirt held itself up. Roots are amazing! I was worried because we were supposed to have a bunch of rain, but that dirt never moved at all. 

And no...that fire hydrant is not hooked up or functional. Michael was able to take it home because it was decommissioned. He cleaned it up really nice, painted it red and now it's a lawn decoration. We also have an old wooden water main in our front yard as well as a water meter. If you're a water worker it's what you use at lawn decorations! 

In 2020, we built this little extension to the wall on the far left of our property. That was actually my Mother's day gift....my new garden space. Since Michael was having to rebuild the wall he decided that he wanted to extend it to connect with my garden section. The only problem was that big ol' stump was right in the way of where the wall needed to go. All of these stumps were from a 30+ year old blue spruce that used to be in our backyard. There was a storm one year and the top of the tree broke off and came crashing down. It wasn't a small chunk it was 12 inches in diameter at least. After that the tree looked silly without a top. My cousin's husband has a tree cutting business so he came and cut it down. We ended up using the rounds from the tree as a wall to hold the pea gravel in for the play area. Now after 10 years those tree rounds were rotting something terrible! We knew we were going to have to take them out and do something different eventually so I guess this was eventually! 

Michael started by whacking away at the outer rings of the stump. Let me tell you this stump was 3'x4'...it was a BIG! 

He has also dug out from the old existing retaining wall towards the stump so he'd know the area where he needed to focus on. We didn't actually have to remove the whole thing. 

He got some of it whacked away and then we decided to build a fire on top of it. 

He set some of the cinder blocks around it in hope that it would hold the heat and concentrate the fire in one place. 

Burn baby burn! 

Thankfully we had a bunch of random wood left over to help feed the fire. 

Nothing like setting a stump on fire! 

While working on the stump that was still in the ground we noticed how badly the other rounds had deteriorated over the years. Some of them were FULL of termites! 

This was after the fire! It was so disappointing! We were sure it was going to burn more. After that Michael decided to go back and work on rebuilding the original section of the retaining wall. 

Here was the roots that gave use all the trouble. Michael broke one of the blocks so it would leave some space for the root to move. He also used liquid nails on the bottom row so hopefully those will stay in place. 

Once he got the bottom row in the rest of it went fairly quickly. Again he was using his laser level that I bought him for Christmas. I'm tell you if you have a man in your life that likes to do projects...it's the perfect gift! 

This kid wanted a turn hacking away at the dreaded stump! 

On April 24th, we had a delivery of crushed rock from Carpinito Brothers. They have delivered to our house SO many times. It always amazing me that they can make it down the easement. The driver was a woman this time...we've never had a women and she was a rockstar. I'm told her that I have a hard time backing my van down the easement so she was amazing in my book! 

5 yards of 5/8 crushed rock! 

Here we go! 

I remember when we bought the house the realtor made it seem like a big deal to have an easement, but I didn't get it. Oh my goodness...this easement has saved us so much time and energy through the years. It's such a blessing to have it! 

The stump was still stumping us so Michael called a company to see if we could get it ground out...they to this day have never contacted us back. So....Michael did some research and found out that we should drill a bunch of holes into the trunk, soak it with Kerosene, wait a couple days and light it on fire. This was also after Michael had already broken a bunch of tools trying to hack away at this thing. We just wanted it gone. If we could have, I'm sure Michael wouldn't have been apposed to using dynamite! 

A couple days after letting it soak it was go time! 

Michael got it started in the morning prior to leaving for work. 

It was my job to keep the fire going by adding more wood to it. 

As you can see the fire got so big it scorched the bush behind it. I had the hose ready to go so I could put it out. 

This was a hot fire...look at those coals! 

I ended up running out of wood so I even burnt the old pool sticks that we were going to take to the dump. 

Here she is after all that heat....a stump covered with ash. She was a beast and she didn't want to die! 

We were able to scrap off a couple inches on the top so we did make a little bit of progress. 

Michael was able to hack away with the ax at parts of the wood. The problem was the wood was so wet even after all the heat! 

On April 29th, we had another delivery this time from Lowe's. 

Since we were extending the retaining wall we needed more cinder blocks. I bought a whole pallet full of 45. In reality I should have bought more since we ended up having to go to Lowe's and get more with the truck later on. Always buy more! 

Michael also wasn't happy with the way the edging around the yard looked so we order some garden pavers to update that as well. Why not while we're at it! 

More hacking! 

We ended up finding some more wood around the property. So another fire...here we go! As you can see the other bush was now scorched too! 

While Michael was hacking at the stump one day he found something cool. See that rock in the middle of the picture. The stump had actually grown around it. 

This poor man was so tired. His blisters had blisters...it was definitely a test of will power and endurance! 

Since I couldn't really help with axing away at the stump I took on the retaining wall as my project. We had bought some black industrial plastic to cover the wood with to help keep the water off the wall. Let me just tell you...I hate staple guns. They are so frustrating! But I had nothing to complain about since Michael had been working on that stupid stump forever! 

More fire! 

Now that the plastic was down the kids and I started moving all that crushed rock into the area where Michael built the new retaining wall. 

Ella was gathering dry sticks from around the yard so we could burn them. 

One of Michael's co-workers let him borrow his chainsaw. 

It helped for a bit, but then it stopped working. It wasn't broken, but Michael didn't know what was wrong and he didn't want to bother is co-worker on a weekend. I'm telling you this stump wasn't going down without a fight! 

Finally getting someplace! 

I'm not sure if those bushes will ever be the same! 

After many many loads of crushed rock we had filled in the retaining wall area. Later Michael decided he wanted to go up one more row. The last 3 inches or so we used pea gravel instead of crushed rock. We took the pea gravel from the old play structure area since that area will now be smaller. 

Little more fire! 

View from above. The new retaining wall area with the crushed rock looks so nice! The kids and I also moved a bunch of the crushed rock and put it inside the cinder block retaining wall to provide it with extra strength. 

Michael wasn't able to get the entire stump out, but he got enough and then built up around the portion that was still left. He was done! 

Here is the completed retaining wall from one end to the other. You can see it juts out just a hair to the left and that was to accommodate the stump. 

Michael started hacking away at the stump on April 22nd and he finished on May 8th. I'm still amazed it was that quick...it seemed like a month of our life not just a little over 2 weeks!

Here's the new section of the wall that will now need to be filled in. We did end up pushing a bunch of those rounds down up against the wall to be used as fill. 

 

My garden area was a wreck! And just like every year we went to Carpinito Brothers on Mother's Day to get my tomato and zucchini plants so they were just waiting to be planted. 

Now it was time to start hacking away at the rounds that were rotted. Thankfully those weren't nearly as tough to deal with. We also didn't need to completely destroy them. We just needed to made them a bit smaller so we could roll them down the hill or put them up next to the new retaining wall section and cover them with dirt. 

On May 11th, our next delivery was here! 

This time 5 yards of bark! 

There it is! 

I ran down and put a tarp on the bark to keep it partially separated from the next delivery! 

Since we were getting two things they brought the big truck. 

It was so fun watching the bed from the back section be brought into the bed of the dump truck! 

So cool! 

Next up was 10 yards of dirt! 

Look at all that rich soil! 

Because of extending the retaining wall my garden wall was actually one row too short. So Michael had to totally rebuild that as well. The front section of the garden wall wasn't held up by cinder blocks prior to this...it was the tree rounds. This was why we ended up needing more cinder blocks from Lowe's. 

Filling it up with dirt! 

Zeke loves to take the hatchet down and whack away at the tree rounds down there. 

My garden section all done and ready for plants! As you can see Michael had also started playing around with the other garden pavers for the new edging around the yard. 

His laser level came in handy during this as well. He's still not done with this portion so I'll won't be posting about the finish yard until later. 

Every time we end up getting dirt or rocks delivered it is the best thing for the kids. They just love a big pile of dirt! They were such a good help during all of this yard work and I was so proud of them. They ended up turning the pile of dirt into a Hot Wheels track! I love seeing them using their imagination.

Garden all planted! 

My garden actually got expanded so I was able to get 6 tomato plants and 3 zucchini. 

Now back to the play structure. Michael started moving this on Saturday, May 15th. Our hope was to have this all finished in time for Zeke's birthday party the very next Saturday.  I had tweaked my shoulder so I headed to the chiropractor and by the time I got back this is what I saw. 

Here's a close up shot! 

Michael was using the truck tight downs as a pulley system to help get the play structure down to the lower level. In his words....this is never being moved again! 

He's a genius really! He has a way of seeing things work that I can never see. We even had to completely turn around the play structure. It was crazy, but it worked! 

We literally had not talked about our plans together for this thing until we got it down there. We each had our own ideas, but we hadn't really shared them. It is so amazing to me how it just came together and things that I didn't think were going to be possible ended up working. See that top section above the two windows...with that yellow steering wheel. That ends up coming out to be the main entrance inside. 

After talking through the modification plan we got right to work. We knew we'd need to build a longer platform on the top so we removed the upper platform and reused it down below. There had never been a floor on the lower level before. Ella wanted to use this lower section as her potion area and she specifically asked for a floor. 

This was when we paused to head to Lowe's and found out how ridiculously expensive wood is right now. 2x4's used to cost $2.79 and we paid $7.89 for one. One 1x6 decking board was $26. Our minds were blown, but we had no choice since I wanted this done in time for Zeke's party. So we bought 9 2x4's and 6 decking boards for $375!!!! It was crazy! Later I ended up taking 1 2x4 and 1 decking board back. I normally never take wood back, but when 2 pieces of wood cost over $40...oh yes I do! 

Building the bigger decking platform that will lead to the Ninja Warrior course. 

Here's the lower floor all finished! 

Front section removed for the new entrance and new decking on the top floor installed! 

I wasn't sure if the slide was still going to be apart of the play structure, but it worked! Yay!!! 

Michael attached the old board that the swings were on and we put the Huggle Pod up.

There are a bunch of steps in-between, but we were busy working so no progress shots! 

 Michael wanted this to grow with the kids so we used all those 2x4's to literally raise the roof. He's 6ft tall and he has no problem being up there. We were were able to repurpose both the rock wall and the ladder. They used to be connected so I separated them and attached it so when Ella is working on her potions down below she'll have a way up. I cut the rock wall smaller and reattached it to be a nice platform to be able to get inside the play structure.

Here's the side with the platform and the slide. 

This was where we stopped on Saturday, May 15th. 

The next day after church we got busy adding a few more touches. We added that side rail just to the left of the ladder so kids won't fall off. Michael also finished off the entrance area by putting a wood cap on those side rails. 

Michael built this railing by the slide so the kids have something to hold on to and won't take a header! 

Next up was the slack line for the Ninja Course. I ordered this on Amazon. I had researched a lot last year and I saved one that I liked, but it wasn't available anymore. I ended up doing some more research and found this course that had a top and bottom slack line. The kids were very happy I got this one. 

Patiently or not so patiently waiting to be the first one on the Ninja Course! 

Here she goes! The yellow slack line is what the kids step out onto and the green slack line is what holds all the different apperatuses that they are supposed to navigate to get to the other side. 

I love how the trees make it so woodsy. We did have to trim a couple branches when we were reattaching the roof, but I wanted to leave as many as well could to give it that tree house feel. 

Happy girl! 

It's totally crazy that it all worked out. The retaining wall area that Michael built was just the right size to for the play structure to fit and be able to have the slide attached as well. Such fun! As you can see we also put the top caps on the wall. That was like icing on the cake...it looks so finished now! 

I will be staining all the wood to be the same color...Russet! 

We still have all the garden edging pavers to put in and then we'll need to buy a bunch of plants, move that 5 yards of bark and reseed the yard in places. Still work to do, but man what a transformation. I'm so glad we were able to give the play structure new life and provide another fun place for our kids to enjoy!