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Looking Back, Moving Forward-Part Two (Front Yard Basics)

June 2, 2011
Welcome back for Part Two!
OK…Once we took out the Junipers, there was no looking back!  We quickly decided to put up a fence (a 6 foot tall fence, none-the-less) to truly establish our space (you might remember in my last post that our yard was used as a walk-through and trash can by some of our neighbors).  This may seem like not such a big deal, however, not a single house in our neighborhood has a a fence like ours.  We got some looks and a few comments when it first went up, but everyone has softened since 🙂

Once the fence went up, we decided to plant some more pretty flowers out by the street to (hopefully) help soften the blow for the neighbors.  I think it worked .

So, while it was all nice and pretty form the outside, the inside of our new yard was a complete mess!  There was a layer of rocks (yes, we decorate out yards with rocks here) under which was 30 year old weed cloth and then another layer of rocks.  There were more Juniper trees that were half dead.  There was a half-wall that didn’t make sense to us at all, and yet, stood right smack dab in the middle of our yard.  Luckily, we have a friend who like to hit things with hammers when asked.  We like to, too.

We had some roses that we’d planted when we first moved in, but that was about it in the front yard.

So, we took out the wall, cut down some trees and spent weekend after weekend shoveling rocks into buckets, dumping them into the back of Tool Lady’s truck, driving them over to my dad’s driveway and shoveling them out onto the ground.  It was truly a process from hell.  There are no words.

In the middle of Rock Hell, we decided to build two raised beds and shovel some (very expensive) top soil and compost into them so we would actually be able to grow some veggies in the front yard.

We planted our Frankenstein apple trees…

…created some make-shift beds along the perimeter of the yard parallel to the fence…

…and planted some squash, zucchini, morning glories, sunflowers, beans and corn (to name just a few things).

Then, last fall, we added the pear and cherry Frankenstein trees and the apricot trees.
Here is an aerial view and a look at our wanna-be patch of grass in the front yard.  I know most people are tearing out their grass in order to save on water and make more room for beds, but Tool Lady is from St. Louis and grass makes her happy.  Our patch is still pretty sad but it’s low mow and drought tolerant, so when it does come in, I am confident we won’t feel too guilty about laying on it and soaking up some sun.
What you also don’t see here is all the weed cloth and mulch we have put down on all of the paths, as well as the top bar hive that has just had it’s bees move in.
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One comment on “Looking Back, Moving Forward-Part Two (Front Yard Basics)”

  1. Pingback: Flashback Friday - Roosters, Bees, Beans, & Layers - Ever Growing Farm | Ever Growing Farm

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