Good-bye to sod!

Well, good-bye to all of it in the backyard at least...

When we built this house in 2007 we had the option to put $3000 cash into an escrow fund that the builder would return to us when we were done landscaping the yard (to their requirements) or for $1500, rolled into our mortgage, they would landscape our lawn, including two trees, several shrubs, some decorative grasses, and a lot of sod and river rock.  We opted for the roll-in option, deciding that at least it would be "done" and that we could fix it later.  Which is what we've been doing for seven years...hauling out river rock, digging up sod...and other fun landscaping activities.  We've focused mostly on the backyard, although we did put in a flower garden and some additional plants in the front yard.  At the moment the side yard is kind of in a holding pattern--full of extra river rock, dug up dirt, old flower pots, extra stepping stones, etc.  The side yard is on the list for "some day".  I think the backyard is pretty much done though!

This is the yard in July 2010, pretty much as it was when we moved in--river rock around the edge, sod everywhere else, furniture on the most level spots

Behind the (very little) Boy (with very short hair) you can see the garden---we had a small garden in 2008, a little bigger in 2009, and a little bigger in 2010.  No fence yet, but we only had Indy Dog and she (usually) listens when told to stay out of an area.
For a few years, the kids bought me a rose bush or other plant, which we planted in the river rock area (by hauling out rock and dirt and adding good dirt and mulch)




In 2012, we added the patio, followed by some fencing, an expanded garden, three more trees, and new flower/plant/herb beds, leaving only one 9x6 foot patch of sod for the dogs.

 However, this spot of sod was not without issues, as shown below.  It was a pain to mow, and a pain to keep grass in...then the dogs started refusing to use it (if you know what I mean).  I threatened to "just dump a couple bags of mulch on it", but IM had a better idea--another (smaller) stone patio.  So, while the kids and I were on vacation, he started the project.  He was foiled by constant rain and wasn't able to finish it while we were gone, but he had managed to at least dig up most of the sod and dirt.



This weekend, he added a sand base and got all the stones in and grouted--it looks good!  Now we just have to decide what gets to live there--we've discussed moving the bistro set (from the "secret" garden) or adding nice flower pots with some "fluffy grasses".  Right now we're on a search for something "moss-like" that can survive in the afternoon sun that hits this spot to fill in the gaps. We'll keep you posted on what we do!

Nice, eh?