Project Side/Back Yard: Part 4

 

The grass!!! Oh what a difference the new grass makes … it seriously makes me giddy thinking that 1 - I won’t have to spend hours and hours weeding out there any more and 2 – the dirt will finally be a little more contained! (I say a little cause really, I do have three boys … so I’m thinking we will always find dirt. But hopefully much less now!)

If you don’t remember here’s a little refresher picture of how things were looking up to this point. We made a plan, finished up the sprinklers, poured new stairs and a pathway to divide the new grass from the garden.

 

 

We actually planted the rest of our yard with seed, but figured since this was a considerably smaller area we would go for sod here and just be done with it. After checking around we found it was going to cost about $250 for the sod which was a little more than we wanted to spend considering our budget for the entire project was just $350. Kasey started checking KSL (our local online classifieds) for a better price and finally found some in our area for 100 bucks! At less than half of what we would have paid anywhere else, we decided to go for it.

 

 

After a couple hours of laying and cutting … we were done (YIPEE!!!) and couldn’t be happier with how our little project is coming along!

 

 

We left a small planting bed for bushes and/or flowers. I’m not quite sure what to plant there yet, although I do know I want a perennial that will look great in spring, summer and fall. And maybe one that will change color in the fall or flower in the spring. That will be my next mission … to find just the right thing. Any ideas?

 

And just to show you how this is going to help with the dirt being tracked um, well, EVERYWHERE …

 

See! No more dirt directly up against the driveway or patio. Who would have thought something so simple could make a girl so happy?!

 

And that brings us to the next problem area which is still contributing to the dirt problem. A while back we filled this little area with gravel and thought it would do the trick. Boy were we wrong. After time the gravel pretty much mixed with the dirt and every time it rained or got wet at all, the dirt would run onto the patio. BOO.

 

We decided the best solution to our dirty little problem was to get rid of the dirt. Duh! Pretty simple. So after a lot of shoveling, and removing 3 wheelbarrows full of dirt, we filled it back in with larger decorative rock ($40 for one scoop or a 1/2 yard). Not only do we love how it looks, but after a couple weeks of watering the new sod 3-4 times a day, guess what?? No more dirt!

 

 

 

We have solved the dirt problem and replaced it with a toad problem – which I am totally ok with by the way. This guy loves to hide in the rocks. Other than the fact that he poops all over our yard (seriously … it’s crazy!) I welcome this little guy over the dirt any day!

 

So as summer is winding down, we are almost finished with project side/back yard! Just some plants and a few finishing touches and she will be D.O.N.E. I just love the feeling of completion and am hoping to get the last couple things done this week. Happy Monday to ya!