Before we get started I want to take time to thank Karen for this idea, it was her blog that inspired me to create this one.
Now to begin… I first moved into this house in May of 1995. I searched for what seemed like forever to find the perfect home. For years I had lived in a fourteen by forty-eight foot mobile home. My little trailer served its purpose well, but the time had come to venture forward and find something with more space and a yard in which I could create my dream garden. The first year was spent tearing out the old flower beds in the front of the house. They were filled with Holley bushes that had been planted nearly thirty years earlier. This was no small task. Having no way to pull them from the ground meant the only option was to dig them up. Sometime in the very early seventies river rock had been used as mulch in the bed. Over the years the rock had migrated down almost fourteen inches into the ground. This made digging an almost impossible task. After about a week of hard work my diligence paid off and the old shrubs found their way to the curb to be picked up by the trash truck. The next week was spent building rectangular boxes from landscape timbers. I purchased Yaupon Hollies and Pygmy Barberries to fill the new beds along with a small leaf redbud and a couple of Nandina. With the addition of some Liriope muscari or border grass a few weeks later my front bed was complete. It was now time to turn my attention to the lawn. Every afternoon for two months I got out in the yard and hand pulled every single weed. I did it in ten foot by ten foot sections until I had completed the entire yard. That summer and the next spring the lawn looked absolutely fabulous. People walking down the street would stop when they saw me in the yard and tell me the house hadn’t looked that good in years. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment and my hard work was indeed showing. Below you will find some before and after pictures of the house.
Now to begin… I first moved into this house in May of 1995. I searched for what seemed like forever to find the perfect home. For years I had lived in a fourteen by forty-eight foot mobile home. My little trailer served its purpose well, but the time had come to venture forward and find something with more space and a yard in which I could create my dream garden. The first year was spent tearing out the old flower beds in the front of the house. They were filled with Holley bushes that had been planted nearly thirty years earlier. This was no small task. Having no way to pull them from the ground meant the only option was to dig them up. Sometime in the very early seventies river rock had been used as mulch in the bed. Over the years the rock had migrated down almost fourteen inches into the ground. This made digging an almost impossible task. After about a week of hard work my diligence paid off and the old shrubs found their way to the curb to be picked up by the trash truck. The next week was spent building rectangular boxes from landscape timbers. I purchased Yaupon Hollies and Pygmy Barberries to fill the new beds along with a small leaf redbud and a couple of Nandina. With the addition of some Liriope muscari or border grass a few weeks later my front bed was complete. It was now time to turn my attention to the lawn. Every afternoon for two months I got out in the yard and hand pulled every single weed. I did it in ten foot by ten foot sections until I had completed the entire yard. That summer and the next spring the lawn looked absolutely fabulous. People walking down the street would stop when they saw me in the yard and tell me the house hadn’t looked that good in years. I was feeling a sense of accomplishment and my hard work was indeed showing. Below you will find some before and after pictures of the house.
This is a picture of the house when it was purchased in 1995.
Front View of House
This is a picture of the house about a year later taken after a little painting and re-doing the flower bed.
Phase II
This is the house and front yard as it looks now. Due to disease the Dutch Elm and Black Walnut had to come down and have since been replaced with a Cutleaf Japanese Maple and two Dogwoods.
Current Picture 2007
This is a picture showing the back of the house and the back yard. Once again, taken in 1995.
Rear of House with Back Porch
Now you get a little peak into the back yard. Work has been done since this picture was taken. I'll be certain to share it with you as I can get it posted.
Post Re-construction 2007
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