Landscaping Phase 1

I titled this Phase 1 because at the end of June, we will be adding 9 trees and mulch to the West and South sides of the house. Then, our landscaping will be complete. We absolutely love the way it looks and though we’re still sore, it was worth it.

Before the landscaping was old and unkempt. It lacked spark or interest and the shrubs were overgrown and in need of replacing.

This project tested us though. To get where we are now, we cut brush all along the west south side of the back yard. 4 trailers heaped full of brush were taken to the dump site where it is sent through a chipper and used as mulch. We cut down 5 buckthorn trees. If you’ve never heard of them, they are nasty. They had large barbs on them which on two occasions ran through the sole of my shoes and into my foot. They flattened a trailer tire on them as well. They didn’t go easy, and by the end of it we were scratched up and maimed, but we were determined. We also removed 6 old shrubs around the house that had been overgrown or were in the throes of death.

We dug out 24,000 lbs of stone from the landscaping. We hired three guys to help us, and our friend, Dennis, came with his trailer and shoveled right alongside us. He then took the stone to his house and unloaded it into his landscaping project. So, he shoveled twice! Gene helped with the last two trailers of stone.

After the stone was removed, we removed we lay down a yard of dirt in the low spots. Over time areas sunk, or when trees or shrubs were removed, the holes weren’t properly filled.

We planted 7 new trees – 5 boxwoods and 2 spiraling blue spruce.

Finally, the fun part, the mulch. Gene and I had traveled to Florida earlier this year and while down there we saw black mulch. We fell in love with the look of it, so black mulch it is. 10 yards of mulch were then added. We were hot, tired and sweaty, but when we wanted to quit, we turned and looked at what we had finished and kept going.

After all is done, Gene and I worked hard, but we love the new look. It makes the house look new and fresh. We’ve enjoyed watching our neighbors walk by and comment or exclaim. We’ve had so many of them stop and tell us how nice it looks and that sure does feel good. I tried labeling the pictures below. Basically everything with stone in it is before and the black mulch is after. Some areas we didn’t have before pictures – it was too ugly. I still have some painting to do around the edge of the house and I’m painting the screen frames in the back, which are coming along nicely.

9 thoughts on “Landscaping Phase 1”

  1. Looks awesome. I wasn’t so sure when you mentioned the black mulch but that really does look great.

  2. Looking sharp!! I understand completely – we sit on 25 acres and just got a quote for a “residential” cut – after 20+ years here the woods are “encroaching” on the pasture. We put in an orchard and garden this year – good times!!

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