Yard Before
Yard After!
OK, so perhaps that isn’t what really happened. For those of you who keep up with my Tweets, and Facebook updates, you already know that we’ve been going through a complete landscaping project in our backyard the past few months. Well, it’s finally done. Now with our newly finished backyard we now have a place outside to sit, and now, the house suddenly seems bigger. Over the holiday weekend we were able to have our family over for a little BBQ and other savory foods. It was great to have the outside area for people to relax and enjoy the nice weather.
For those of you who are renting a condo or apartment, or don’t have a personal space outside your home, this post may be a bit of a snoozer for you, and I have to say that’s kind of where I was at a few years ago when I lived in a condo. I didn’t understand why people wanted to talk about their yards. What’s the big deal? Well, now that I’ve been out there and have dug some holes and planted some plants and gotten a nice sunburn, I know what they’re talking about. There is some pride in the way your property appears (not to mention the homeowner association rules), and being out there actually working on it - it suddenly now makes sense.
This project started with my wife Annie and I, finding a landscape architect. My idea was to have a more organic design and we went with that idea. We found a local landscape architect, and got started back in February. After a few meetings we had what we decided was a suitable design for our yard. Now we had to find a decent contractor to help us with all of the labor.
For any of you who have used contractors, you know how crazy it can be. In this case, at least I was home to oversee what was going on and was able to make adjustments as needed. In the end it took about three months of work to get from a lovely weed garden to what you see above. Now we have a wonderful space outside to use for ourselves, and our family and friends. I’m also hoping that by next year, the plantings will have grown so that I can use the area for portrait shooting.
Of course, there are still some issues with the contractor work that they are working on; however, having a place to actually use outside has really added to our enjoyment of our home. When we bought our house we knew that we would have to do all of the landscaping, but now that it is done we’re surprised that it took us so long to start the project. Now, I’m off to snooze on the lawn. Just kidding - it’s fresh sod out there you know 
7 Comments
Yard is amazing, Dude! When’s the BBQ?
@NikonNerd - Funny you should ask. We have a brand new Weber Smokey Joe. Great for grillin’ up a few hot dogs and a couple of burgers. =)
now doesn’t that dining set look better than that $20 aluminum bench set you found on eBay??!?
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Funny, I’m trying to downsize my home (dismiss the mortgage!) so that I can finally get my photo studio. Being an on-location/ outdoor photographer is not easy in always-raining Portland, Ore.
@MsBunn.com - Thanks for the kind words. It was definitely a huge project and we’re glad that it’s done. Love Portland though, even though there is some rain there. So… are you going to spring for the D700 instead of the D300? It’s out this month!
hello! the yard looks AWESOME… we’re coming over to hang out! what’cha cookin’ for us?
@Ann - Well, we do have a little BBQ (and I do mean little!) Let’s plan to have you over soon. I’ll talk to Annie and we’ll find a good time to put on the calendar. See you soon.