Backyard Landscaping Reveal!

Joe finished with the backyard for this fall. The first photos are of how the yard looked when we purchased the house. The retaining wall in the background was replaced and most of the backyard was left a muddy mess. In some areas grass grew back without our reseeding. In the midst of the process of landscaping we had trees removed and a transformer/tree fire that created more landscaping clean-up.

The original yard looking west to east. 

Looking toward the north - has the original retaining wall and sloped

yard. Patio area retaining wall was not replaced. On the far end of the patio 

is a bench and the firepit. In photos below you will see the firepit was removed and

replaced with planter boxes.

MAKEOVER REVEAL!

Looking toward the north these two planter boxes will 

get full sun for a lot of the day. The beige shed belongs to the neighbors -

it sits within a foot of the property line. The yard was gradually sloping both north to south and east to west. Joe leveled out an area and built a small terrace 

Closer view looking West to East. Eventually the trees and shrubs will

create a privacy screen from the neighbors behind us. On the far left you

can glimpse another retaining wall Joe built for the first apple tree area.

Next summer we will terrace the second tree and the rest of the backyard up

 to the white retaining wall and plant herbs, bushes, reeds, and wildflowers.

Closer view.

Looking from north to south the completed level with the first apple tree.

Our property line ends about five feet to the south of the last small tree. Our neighbor 

is talking about buying the same tree and continuing it along his back property line. 

Full height of these trees will be beneath the power lines which means we will not 

have to rely on the power company to keep branches off of the trees. Joe took this photo while standing on the patio that existed when we moved in.

Looking west, we have six planter boxes on the patio. Four of the planter boxes are 

located in what was once the fire pit area. The greenery in the furthest planter box is from an experimental fava bean and radish seeds. 

Next spring the plan is to level out the area between the patio retaining wall and the white retaining wall. That area was damaged in the replacement of the large retaining wall. Actually, the wall was not replaced - the new wall was built in front of the old wall. The soil they dug out for the base of the retaining wall was left in a large pile with gravel and rock mixed in. 

We are pleased with the overall progress of the makeover. 

Shout out to my brother, Kenny, on his birthday! He is sixty-seven years young. 

Beth Ann and Buddy (Kenny) circa 1959