When we were in Albany, we bought a house with absolutely no lawn. We were able to turn it into something we really liked. It was quite a bit of work, but it was very rewarding to us. It is one of the things that made us saddest about leaving Oregon.
Back patio
Side view
View from the front
Although the climate and soil where we live in North Carolina is not quite as optimal for growing a lawn, it is pretty good. We have a lot bigger lawn now than we did in Oregon so the task is a little daunting. Nevertheless, we have made our start. A fertilizer service came last week for the first time. We plan to put down bark dust this on Saturday. We all want to do some gardening, so Christian and I are going to construct some raised beds toward the back of the property for both flowers and vegetables. Kelly is investigating seeds and tomato starts. Lorena has been hard at work pulling weeds in front. The good news is that the front of the house will be in pretty good shape after the fertilizer/weedkiller starts working and we get some weed barrier plastic and bark dust down. The back is another story. We have to decide how much we are going to manicure and how much we are going to maintain. We have to put in a bunch of trees (when we can afford them). We have to put down some contour barriers. The other good part to all of this is that it is good exercise.
Youngin
WOW! That yard is gorgeous. We desperately need some assistance with ours. We’re thinking about pine straw… hopefully we’ll have an update by Sunday.
Hayyyyyyy!!!! Me da mucha nostalgia ver estas fotos. Como extraño a Oregon de vez en cuando!! Pero no me puedo quejar, me gusta mucho nuestra casa y hay que trabajar fuerte para que se vea así o mejor.
Thanks Youngin. We really enjoyed working on that house. It surely seems more like a home when one works on it themselves. You guys really must be enjoying your place. The other thing we did to this house was a major remodel of the kitchen. We can show you picutres of that sometime. It was not much different from the kitchen you have now when we started. You guys have already done some great stuff with your house and we are looking forward to seeing where you go with it from here.
Catherine
Beautiful house and yard in Oregon! So green!
I planted some flowers this past weekend and though it was only a small space it was definitely good exercise. I was feeling it the next day!
This may not be of interest but I thought it was a really cool idea I discovered a while back: square foot gardening. It’s like gardening but in a condensed compact space with similar or better results than a traditional garden. Google it for more details, there is a lot of info out there. The idea was originated by Mel Bartholomew back in the 1980s I believe.
That sounds like a very cool idea Catherine. Christian and I are going to try to build some raised beds this weekend and this suggestion will absolutely play into the layout!
Waaaaa! In the 19 years that we have lived in our home, our back yard has had its beautiful seasons and its ugly seasons….unfortunately we are in the middle of a BIG UGLY season. Just the effort to get it into something manageable is overwhelming! We had a beautiful lawn and fruit trees and azaleas. Then came along kids and the swing set, the trampoline and the wanna-be dough boy swimming pool and it all went down hill after that! The lawn is dead and so are the fruit trees. We had a peach tree to die for, then it died! So, I am hoping to plan out and revive some it over the summer. Hopefully hoping. 🙂 A small home, especially with 4 older kids, desperately needs to extend out into a yard that we can hang out and entertain in. We must take control!
Hey Ruthie. It sounds like we are in somewhat of the same situation. The reason I put up the pictures of the old house was to shame/inspire us into making something out of the absolute mess we are now in. The back yard looks like a cow pasture in the middle of a nice neighborhood. I really need to take some before and after pictures. We would love to see some before and after pictures of what you do with your yard!