We’ve got a great chicken coop, and have some movable fences we use to create a larger area to let the chickens out in from time to time. We finally settled on a more permanent “yard” area around the coop and our shed. Wanting something more permanent, we had a fence built, partly inspired byRead more about House tweaks – chicken fence[…]
It has taken a while for our landscaping to mature, and it does with all newly planted landscaping. The first year or two is always a bit fraught, as you struggle to get the watering just right, deal with some plants dying for no good reason, and fix everything that wasn’t quite done right. AsRead more about Landscaping two years in[…]
Squarely in the category of ongoing maintenance, I’ve been spending time making sure our yard is well cared for. Lisa has taken a keen interest in gardening and the yard as well. We just got this book to help us figure it all out. With well-established landscaping, the root systems tend to go deep enoughRead more about Caring for the yard[…]
Our front lawn had never really thrived. It looked stressed and started developing some brown spots a few months after it was installed. And it showed striping, with rows of greener and browner areas. Given that our watering system was in rows under the lawn, this meant that something with the watering was wrong,Read more about Lawn redux[…]
We planned on using some of the dirt from our pool excavation to fill our garden beds. But first, we needed to figure out exactly what we had, and determine what we would have to add to it to make it good growing soil. We learned a net trick from our local botanical gardens. TakingRead more about Soil analysis[…]
One of the projects we punted on as we reached the end of our new house build and landscaping was the landscape lighting. Absolutely everything on this probably was taken down to the dirt, except two oak trees, an old fireplace, and 6 palm trees that were already here, but got moved around. So whenRead more about Landscape lighting[…]
Two weeks ago, we got the final sign-off on the project. It came as a huge relief, as the project felt like it needed to be done. The final sign-off was a bit complicated. Technically, all we had left to be signed off on was the landscaping. But the landscaping sign-off was not simple, andRead more about Sign-off[…]
Our landscaper suggested that we get our own mower for the maintenance guys will use. When a mower goes from property to property, it tends to carry weed seeds with it, and that is how lawns most often get weeds. Our lawn is a a hybrid Bermuda type, with a fescue overlay. What this meansRead more about Mowing the lawn[…]
Our front yard is now an actual front yard. The biggest elements that we completed were stepping stones flagstone seating area lawn parkway We always wanted a friendly, inviting front yard, hence the large porch and the lack of privacy hedges. We also added a little seating area at the edge of our yard soRead more about It’s a front yard, at last[…]
The completion of our driveway, and one of the curbs we installed for that, created another puddle area, which became apparent over last weekends storm. In that particular area, we did put a french drain in all along that curb which drains into the permeable paver driveway on the other side of it. But theRead more about Every rain storm is an opportunity[…]