My Backyard.. Bom Bom Boooomm!

 Post by Sarah


So, I have a pretty big problem.  I HATE yard work.  It's pretty ridiculous and embarrassing, in fact. 

But, I've decided to share my shame.

I know I sound like I'm completely over-exaggerating.  And my "before" pictures will only attest to my over-exaggerations..

I don't have any pictures of my backyard jungle so the below "before" pictures are of a slightly maintained yard.

Yes, this is our maintained version.. as in - it's a good day if the grass is not up to your knees.
See the tank below?  We have a turtle named, Trevor.  We found him after months, and months, and months of neglecting our yard in 4 foot high grass.  

Think finding a turtle in your unmaintained yard is as shameful as it gets?
shameful, but sort-of rad, right?!? 

Well, it's not.  Trevor was a unique prize.   I've had a neighbor knock on my door and leave me cards for landscaping services.  Mind you, this is my backyard.  Who the heck should care how my backyard looks, right? 

I also once came home to a freshly mowed lawn.  Yes, someone came into my backyard and mowed my lawn while me and Cody were at work.  It was a nice gesture, I suppose.

But I'm most definitely "that" neighbor that everyone whispers about.

I know!  It's bad!  And even worse when I say that this isn't even that bad.. my yard has been SOOOO MUCH WORSE.

But thanks to the cool weather and a free Saturday, I got my butt into gear.  It slowly started with trimming those nasty bushes.. in between all the snipping I tried to rake out the clipped pieces.  I ended up raking out entire bushes (I'm a renter) and decided I liked it bush-less (that's what she said)  and went on my merry way of ripping the plants out.  Yeah, I'm a renter...  heh.. whoops.

But you've got to admit..  there are waaay too many plants for this tiny backyard.
My shenanigans turned out to be a better looking backyard.

Of course, I'm still far from complete..  this was the quick and dirty first go around.  I plan to go back through and clean it up even more.  Possibly put down bark or something and call it done.

 

Look how all the grass along the edge is all dead..  darn bushes!

And who the heck in their right mind would plant a GINORMOUS palm tree in a tiny backyard???  And right on the fence?   I've been raking my grass clippings behind and under this tree.  It's creating this crazy hole in the ground and I'm not really sure what to do.. other than cover it with dead grass.  ??

And a quick shot back at my sad and neglected patio:

And this is where I declared myself done.  My weed-wacker quit working, I had a fat blister, and I was exhausted.

So yeah, the trash bags are gone.  The 6ft weed still remains.

All still very progress.  Though I have an internal debate about whether or not I should move forward and put money into anything.. as I am a renter. Anyone have any thoughts?

Sarah