Project Backyard: Flat-Out Fantastic

We made major progress in the backyard this past week. There is, for the first time ever, level ground on the side of the house, level ground in the back yard and an evenly graded slope of dirt from the level yard areas down to the retaining wall.

It took some doing to achieve all this. A massive weed forest had sprouted in the bare dirt left behind after the cement work was completed. Waist high grasses, dandelions on steroids, thistle thickets and vines were well on their way to taking over the yard in just three short weeks! It took David, his trusty weed whacker and a little aid from (nasty) chemicals to reclaim the yard. Next, our handyman Enrique and a 15-yard dirt delivery entered the picture. Enrique tilled, flattened and graded the dirt, and added a layer of landscaping fabric under the dirt on the slopes. The base for a back yard had been created!

Next up, the flat areas will be topped off with sod, the slopes will be mulched and a row of English Laurel will be planted where the mulched slope meets the retaining wall to create a hedge. Eventually, there will also be a veggie/flower garden added to the mix.

Here's how it looks as of now:

Project Backyard: Excavation Continues

The backyard is quickly taking shape! Most recently the walls of the future garage were marked and holes for the footings were created.I hope you all enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather yestereday! :)

Project Backyard: Excavation Begins

After months of painstaking planning we were finally able to break ground on the backyard!

Here's what it looked like before:
After two dump truck loads of dirt were removed, piles of back-fill dirt were created and a somewhat level garage floor began to emerge from the mudpit, here's what it looks like now: