Backyard Sod Installation: Day 2
Today, we got slept in just a little bit… and got to work, putting down the remainder of the sod in the backyard.
With last night’s big rain, it did leave us with a few rather muddy spots (which made for some slow progress, initially). But once we got past that, we were going at a good pace. Shortly after we got started, we were joined by Bob and Julie, who brought with them a ton of flowers and also came to help with the sod.
Liz, doing her fine-tuning.
Almost there!
The yard, fully done and complete!
We got done around 11:30, and the sun had started to show its face – it got pretty hot out back, and having a few beers definitely helped cool things down.
We got a tremendous number of plants, many of which were leftover from Julie’s recent/annual plant sale.
Liz, watering a newer section from today, by hand.
We got ourselves a walking sprinkler, exactly like the one that Julie has for her yard. When hooked up to the hose, this guy travels along the hose like a guide… and basically follows the path that you set for it, watering along the way.
We had a good amount of sod left over, so we offered it to Bob and Julie. We loaded a big portion of it into the truck (and somewhere along the way, I happened to lose my Fitbit). Luckily though, it was discovered after they got back to Frankfort to unload.
Julie and Liz, putting some plants in the ground along the fence.
One thing that was a complete surprise: a gift of a new bench, courtesy of Bob. The base is actually the old metal stand that used to hold up our utility sink in the basement. He cut the legs a little shorter (they were rusting out), and made us a bench. Perfect, for our new backyard.
Leave it to Bob to bring us a gift on Father’s day. And to help install sod, to boot!
A small, baby rabbit at the edge of our neighbor’s yard.
One slight bummer: we had too much water going, and ended up with a small pool near the center, by the end of the driveway. It was slow going down, so hopefully this doesn’t wreck this patch. Nothing we could really do, other than make sure to avoid it when we water in the coming days.
Worse comes to worse, if this patch rots out… we can cut it up and lay down some more sod. We’ve gotten fairly good at it, after all.
Some of the newly planted flowers, along our fence.
And still more plants to put into the ground.
After they were on the road, Bob and Julie decided that they were going to return and pick up the remainder of the sod. I got my Fitbit back, and we loaded up the remainder of the sod into the truck.
And just like that – all the sod was gone from our front steps, just about 36 hours after it arrived. Whew!
Towards the end of the day, Liz and I sat out back and just looked at our new yard.
I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet, that this has happened. We’ve been amazed and awed at the transformation since things started, a few days ago. And there have been a few times I’ve gotten a little overwhelmed and almost teary-eyed at what’s taken place… but so far, it just hasn’t quite sunk in yet.
It’s been a long two days of work, and a remarkable four days of change. Considering how things looked Thursday, it’s hard to believe. I think we’re lucky to have this bench, because for the foreseeable future… every time I get back here, I’m going to be blown away. And will need to sit down, to marvel at it all.
Related:
Backyard Sod Installation: Day 1
Clearing the Wilderness: Backyard Transformation, Day 2
Clearing the Wilderness: Backyard Transformation, Day 1
Yardwork, and the Slow Realization That It’s Going to Take a Really, Really Long Time
Backyard Tree Removal: Before and After Photos
It looks incredible!! All of the flowers and sod – it’s such an amazing transformation!
Meg (June 22, 2015 at 1:21 pm)Thanks, Meg! We’ve got about two weeks of watering… and then I’m hoping we can invite folks over for drinks in the backyard!
avoision (June 22, 2015 at 9:16 pm)That looks great! My yard is so bad that I know what we need to do is rip it up and install sod, but I pull a face just thinking about it.
Mellzah (June 22, 2015 at 5:48 pm)Ripping up and clearing/leveling is no small task. I think that Liz and I are in agreement that it was money well spent, hiring someone else to do all that work for us.
Not only was it the actual removal of things (pulling out weeds, cutting down shrubs/roots), but it was also the disposal of everything. It was nice to have been given a clean slate to work with.
As far as sod installation, this was a first for both of us. And definitely not rocket science. I’d compare it to positioning a large, heavy rug over and over again.
During the first two hours of the first day… Liz and I felt like it was a mistake to have not paid someone else to lay the sod. But after we got a rhythm going, it became much easier and we got much faster.
I think having others people helping is a huge benefit. And now that we’ve finished… I feel like we made the right choice to lay the sod ourselves. It was tiring work, but also very satisfying work.
avoision (June 22, 2015 at 9:22 pm)