Friday, September 26, 2008

Before and After

BooMama is hosting a Before and After carnival. Back in June she challenged us to commit to a project around the house and conquer it over the summer. She was even gracious enough to give us an extension.

I accepted the challenge and decided to finish landscaping the Hairdryer household's backyard. My goals were:

  1. Clean out weeds and debris.
  2. Clean off the porch.
  3. Plant 1 or 2 trees to shade the house from the evening sun.
  4. Lay sod.
  5. Weed and mulch the vegetable garden area so it is ready for planting next season.
  6. Buy Honey a new grill.

Here are my before pictures:

In this picture you will notice the messy porch, ancient grill, weeds, broken wheel barrel, and some sort of baseball backstop thing.
Here is the picture of what lay between the back porch and the back gate. Our dumpster is just on the other side of the fence. Every time it rained our backyard became an absolute mud pit. It was a major chore to even take out the trash. Not fun.

Here are the after pics:

Here you will see that numbers 1,2,4,and 6 on my list were accomplished. The debris and weeds are gone, the grass is growing in nicely, the porch is neat and tidy, and the new grill (with it's weather resistant cover) is in place.


Here's a view of the vegetable garden area. I put down some cheap bedding border that will hopeful keep the healthy bermuda grass from invading. At one point in July when we were working on this project, I had the beds cleaned out and growth free. I attempted to spread mulch, but sadly I ran out before I got the job completed. I was sorely mistaken on the amount of mulch it would take to cover my vegetable area. Estimation is not my strong suit.



Here's a pic of our new grill. Honey feels like he's died and gone to grilling heaven. It has two different sides, one for propane and one for charcoal, allowing you to pick your poison when you cook. It also has a side burner for those times when you feel all Martha Stewart and want to cook the complete meal, side vegetables and all, outside.
We didn't check off our list planting trees and actually finishing the vegetable garden prep. Here's a newsflash: the middle of the hottest and driest month of the year (July) is not the best time to plant trees. Who knew? So we decided to put the tree planting off until October-ish. I'll finish the vegetable garden by then, and of course I'll post pictures.
If you're interested in seeing other Before and After projects, click over to BooMama's Before and After and check out the Mr. Linky. Happy weekend!




14 comments:

Kristi said...

Beautiful work! My man would love that grill. Blessings to you!

Kelley with Amy's Angels said...

I agree with Kristi...the Big Guy would LOVE that grill. Gas and charcoal? Oh my goodness...that's a grillers dream!

Gayle @ thewestiecrew said...

GREAT job!! It looks all nice and made-over now. Would you come here and do mine?

Ashley said...

Looks great!! Our backyard really needs some help- that's our (ok, Matt's) project this weekend.
Yes- Jonathan and Andrew were in the fire academy together- I didn't know until graduation in May when I saw the whole family there. Small World :)

Tammy said...

Wow- your lawn looks great!

My poor husband tries with our yard, but we have a big dog that reeks havoc on it.

You did a great job!

Shelly@Sweet Journey said...

Looks great! I'm glad you're back online. Missed you!

OhLookADuck said...

What an ambitious project to do in the heat of the summer! It looks great. I hope you find the perfect trees when it cools down and have fun grilling all year long. We find there's nothing to break up the winter doldrums than a good barbecue. Have fun!

Anonymous said...

Luv your blog- got here from ...I can't remember how I got here- Mommy cracked maybe???
Anyhooo- luv it- will visit often!

Rose said...

Nice! My husband would love that grill. Your yard is beautiful. I had originally posted pictures of our backyard in the first before/after, which we did finish but I ended up posting something else.

Your blog is cute!

Cindy-Still His Girl said...

It looks amazing! You go, girl!

Cheri said...

It looks great!!! Way to go!

Mandy said...

Wow! I am really impressed! It looks immaculate!

Misty said...

good job!!! you did amazing...

Sunny said...

Yay!!! It looks wonderful! And dont feel bad, I had to make several trips back to town to get enough mulch. I'm not an estimator either.

Yall should be experts at that sod laying. How many houses have you done that at? :o) I wouldnt have a clue what to do.