The Front Yard and Bridge

The work on the front yard has come to a screeching halt as the temperature continues to be in the 90’s during the day with the humidity between 85 and 100.  Ugh!  It is too hot to work outside. On a “normal” Minnesota summer day I can work up quite a sweat working outside for 2 hours in the morning so imagine what would happen if I attempted working in this hot weather.

Nevertheless, we have made progress. The few plants we laid out are enjoying the humidity. And the Japanese bridge has been placed over the drain that we wanted to be able to walk over.

Here are some “before” pictures of what our yard looked like:

And another picture “before:”

We are not quite finished with the front yard as we still have 3 large rocks to add to the landscape along with stepping stones going to and away from the bridge.

But — we’ve made much progress especially since I mainly work in the mornings when it’s cool and the mosquitoes aren’t out.

Both ends of the bridge still need large cement slabs that will lead to the stepping stones and provide support for the bridge so it doesn’t come in contact with the dirt or bark.

In addition, I will be purchasing a “fake” rock cover for the septic lid that is right behind the bridge so it will look more “natural.” They work very well at hiding these septic lids that are quite ugly-looking in the landscape.

Landscaping takes a LOT of time. All the grass was removed and as many weeds as possible pulled up. I did lay the landscape tarp over 3/4 of the yard to keep the weeds down.

Once the weather cooperates, I can lay the stepping stones and large rocks. I decided not to put too many plants in this year as the ones that are there will grow and I’d like to see what they look like in a year as I don’t want the space to be overcrowded but have a more simple look.

I’m hoping to find a landscaping class that I can take so I can get more of a feel on what to do with the rest of the property. Next year I hope to tackle (slowly) the 1/2 acre in the back of our property that has a lot of brush growing on it. I had hoped to be able to clear a lot of it already but the weather has not cooperated although the mosquitoes (bless their souls — oops! no, I don’t mean that) have not been bothering me too much.

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