Backyard Progress

Sometimes when I feel like I have not made significant progress on a particular project, I like looking back in order to gain perspective. For instance, I feel like I've been neglecting the backyard for a while. When I look outside I see a large patch of bald dirt, untamed hills, and a long list of to-dos. I rattle off the tasks that I would like to get going, but am always stumped on what should take priority or how to work out the little details. Also, there's the issue of time, but that's another story. 

Looking through my photo archives, I am reminded of what the place looked like when we moved in four and a half years ago (ack!).

Here is what the north side of the house looked like prior to us moving in. The yard was actually in much better shape than when we originally looked at the house. During our initial viewing, there was quite a bit of debris in the backyard including a broken skateboard, and this side portion was completely blocked off with a giant pile of tumbleweeds. The house later went into foreclosure and the bank who seized the property had things tidied up. So, in 2009 the yard was a clean slate.

2009

A year later, we had gutters installed and a sidewalk/patio poured. Our outdoor living space definitely received a facelift.

A year after that, I was trying to figure out landscaping down this row. It was a slow journey.

2011

The following year, these plants were doing well enough to inspire me to fill in the rest of this walkway. 

2012

Last year, this area proved to be my favorite part of the yard. This angle really doesn't do anything justice, so I've added an image looking east.

2013

Wonderful color.

2013

It's still early in the growing season this year, but things are shaping up well for a colorful summer.

2014

A lot of my time had been focused on filling in that walkway as the backyard in its entirety terrified me. Still, a little progress has happened here. I knew I wanted some raised beds for veggie planting, so two went in right away. 

2011

As you can see, a year later I was still pretty unsure of what to do. I had collected a variety of potted plants, cleared some of the spring grass/weeds, but not much else.

2012 06

I really had enough of my slow progress, so I took a few weekends to lay down Geotextile fabric and planned out a third raised bed.

2012 09

The following year I had a few more things planted and a little more landscaping done...

2013 05

but I really wanted to use that third bed. Over a few weekends from May to June, Ced and I built the third bed, sunk it, and I ripped up a portion of the landscaping and reset the entire border.

2013 06

It was an accomplishment for me, and made a bit more sense.

2013 06

I can't get over the growth of that pink weigela. Those transplanted irises seem to doing well, too. 

2014 04

I planted a few catnip seeds last year in that second bed. They lasted over winter and exploded this spring. The neighborhood cats drop by and role around in the bush. We've become the kitty drug den.

2014 04

Here's the cycle again from another perspective. I have a lot of things planned for this area now, but overall there hasn't been a lot of progress.

2009

2010

2011

2012

2014

The same goes for this hill. I have the beginning of a plan for structure and planting, but not a lot of progress has happened.

2009

I still love this color and pattern.

2010

2011

2012

2013

I guess most of the work on this hill has been building it up. I plan to put in 3 or 4 tiers so I can utilize the space for planting, and keep all the dirt contained. The hill was quite shallow for most of the length, which didn't provide much of a potential shelf for retaining walls. As I've dug and shifted dirt, anything that didn't go back wherever I got it from, got added to the hill. During each season, the dirt is added, then the winter comes and compacts the dirt so it's not so keen to slide down.

2014

Going over all of these images certainly keeps me inspired to keep making progress, even if it is slow going and through small projects.