Graden Project

Once again in true "Me" fashion I started a project and didn't take a before shot... it wasn't until we were arms deep in dirt that I even thought about it. Like I mentioned before, since we are staying in our sweet little house I wanted to get some project done and the garden was at the top of the list... the only thing is, is that projects cost money... and the reason we aren't moving yet is because moving cost money... which we are trying desperately to save...you understand the dilemma. Always up for a challenge I decided that we could re-do the backyard/garden area for just about nothing. The area was originally a 2 level raised bed that ran the length of our back fence. Great spot, super sunny. But it started fall apart a few years ago... and there was no saving it this year. Plus it had a ton of unused pathway-type space that I thought would be nice to actually USE.
Anyway, I convinced Matthew that I had a better design and that we could do it WAY cheep by re-using the existing wood (heck, 'up-cycling is TOTALLY in right now... so not only are we thrifty but we are trendy). The entire process took about 10 day (because there is a TON of dirt to move. I happened to have a handful of days off in a row, so I actually did most of the work. Not that I'm bragging, but I am pretty darn proud of myself... I was out there with the pick-ax, circular saw, power drills, hammer, jig-saw, shovels, paint, stain, sanders, and wheel barrel. I was a regular Tim-The-Tool (wo)Man-Taylor! It was fun! We were able to re-used most of the wood but cutting off the dead/rotten areas, re-used the dirt (and even added it to other flat/boring places in the yard to give some depth), re-used the rest of the paint (left over house paint from when we moved in), most of the PVC pipe we had, cut the wine barrels to turn them into the herb beds (and also new larger homes for my standing rose bushes along the front/side), re-used the flag-stone from last years patio project... so all we really had to buy was new front boards, a few new PVC pipes, the hardware, veggie and flowering plants, a gallon of paint and the ground cover bark. All in all I think this yard/garden redo only cost about $250! Not bad huh?!?! Oh plus I did a bonus mini-redo on the very front flower area under Wesley's window. I pulled up all the rotting wood border and replaced it with large stones found around our yard, planted flower, ran drip and put down the landscaping bark. It looks pretty. Sorry no picture yet. Speaking of pictures... I don't know what the deal is... and why the computer is cutting off the right side of these photos... but the options are; deal with it, not have me blog or throw the stupid computer out the window. :)