Thursday, August 11, 2011

Landscaping

Moving into a home without a finished yard is both good and bad at once. First of all, you might think it's just a lot of work and hassle. It's just SO much less complicated when everything is already done for you. But then, there's also this excitement that you get from starting with a clean slate. Like opening a fresh notebook--so full of possibilities, with pages ready to be filled with your creative ideas.



So although I'm none too thrilled about looking outside and seeing rocks and dirt and more rocks, I also feel inspired. I gaze out the window and start thinking. "I could plant honeysuckle along the back fence." "That would be a great place for a big vegetable garden." "Someday, I'll put a nice shade tree in that spot." I look out there at that wasteland and see potential.

But for now, I know that there's not a lot that can be done. We've built a temporary fence around a small section of the yard, planted a little raised garden, and grown wildflowers in an area of the yard. Dave dug a firepit just for fun, although I'm scared to use it since we live right next to an open field. And we've done other work, like weeding, around the property. But it is still far from finished.

Dirt, rocks, weeds...yay!


We moved into a house with a huge yard. HUGE. Like, what the crap am I going to do with all of this space huge. It really is a bit overwhelming. One thing that has helped me decide a starting point, however, is the fact that I do NOT want to maintain an extensive lawn. I enjoy having a verdant grassy area, sure, but if we put in sod all over the property our work to care for it would never end. So I've decided that xeriscaping a good chunk of the property would be the wisest choice. I plan to xeriscape most of the front yard, using desert-friendly plants, rocks, and dirt over the area. In the backyard, I want an area with grass just outside the back door and porch area, but I only want it to extend to a certain point. Then, one of the most exciting ideas: an English country garden with gravel paths, beautiful flowers, benches, etc.

Kind of like this!
Right now, though, all I can really do is dream about it, and make it happen little by little. I've been told to take it one step at a time, and eventually it will be done. Like that poem by Shel Silverstein about eating the whale, you know? One bite at a time...

And this is one whale of a big yard!

9 comments:

J said...

This is a great post. Do you have free range when it comes to decision making about the yard even though you are renting? I think your idea about xeriscaping is wonderfully thought out. The big green yard looks nice and is fun for kids to run around and play on, but it takes a lot of water to make sure the lawn stays green. Plus you have to constantly mow it. I wanted to have a little "English garden" like you mentioned but we didn't have the money for it at the time. Sod was cheaper and faster to put in. Sadly, whenever I drive by our old house I get so mad because the new owners have let the yard go to pot. It is dry, yellow, and covered in tall weeds. I think you should definitely grow climate friendly things like you said. When you live in a desert, why put in a ton of grass when there are equally beautiful plants that work better with that particular climate? I'm excited to see your projects as you complete them one by one. :)

Ardityaramdhan said...

that would be a good idea to set a landscape. I can't do that, causes my garden is not too large :(

Anonymous said...

Awesome blog

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