Backyard Plans

So some good news and some bad news. The bad news first: the back yard is pretty much back to its original, jungle state. Things are overgrown again, with some plants (that really resemble bamboo) sprouting up even taller than I am. It’s kind of crazy back here.

That’s Liz, walking towards the other end of the yard.

The good news: we’re getting some landscapers to come in, and do all the work for us. We priced out a few options, and the one we’re going with is having an outside company come in, clear the yard, and level it for us. After they’re done, we’re going to get a delivery of sod and lay that down ourselves.

We priced things out to have all this work done for us, and we save a significant amount if we do the sod ourselves. So that’s what we’re going with.

Our neighbor, who we share the yard with, is also planning on doing the same as us – so we’re hopefully going to have the same crew handle the whole yard at once. He’s also talked about going in on the sod with us, which will be a nice thing.

It’s a decent chunk of change, but honestly – I’m really happy to be paying someone else to do this work. I’m betting they can clear this out with a crew in two days’ time, and I don’t even know how long it would take me and Liz to do the same work ourselves.

One slight concern is the huge mulberry tree that used to be back here, and whether its base will protrude when the landscapers level things out. I had one of the guys from the company that removed the tree come back to look, and he thought we’d be ok. There’s a slight chance we’d have the tree folks return to grind down the base even more, but we’re hoping to avoid that.

All this work is tentatively slated for mid-June. It’s exciting to think about the yard all cleared and clean and level, and lately Liz and I have just stood on the back porch to imagine things as they might be. Soon, soon. It’s going to be the nicest room in the house!

Er, you know what I mean.

Related:
Yardwork, and the Slow Realization That It’s Going to Take a Really, Really Long Time
A Path Through the Wilderness
Backyard Tree Removal: Before and After Photos