Yard Projects

This is the view of our house from the corn of our drive way. Nothing too special. With the kids toys on the front porch and the garage open, its down right messing looking. The trees are too close to the house and there is nothing but a small hill all the way to the curb. Cory has been dying to give our home some curb appeal. This spring we started.

Yeah baby! We rented a sod cutter and took out a large spot of the grass.
A simple edging for now.We thought a lot about what kind of trees we wanted, what kind of grasses should be added, and which accent plants would make things look really nice. In the end, I knew I wanted a purple robed locus and didn't really care about the rest. We went to J&J nursery and just picked out what we liked and what wouldn't get too big. It wasn't until we got home that we even really knew what we had picked out. Lots of planning, turns out can be too much planning.
We put everything out, moved a couple of them around a few time, then decided we wanted it too look good from all sides, not just the front. Trees in first...
This is a weeping white cherry blossom tree.
This is called Hollandia Broom and in my opinion one of the best finds.
It is a very hardy plant that has the most beautiful flowers that sprout all over the stems. We have had is for a few weeks and it is still flowering.
Miniature lilac. It won't get all huge like the regular plant. One of Cory's favorite smells in lilac. It use to grow all around his home where he grew up.
I don't remember what this one is called, but the leaves change color all through out the season. From a deep brown to a red, then orange-ish.
This tall beauty is my Purple Robed Locus. Last year I fell in love with this kind of tree when we were picnicking in the park behind Lagoon. Their fragrance is intoxicating and the blossoms are bright clusters. I think having this tree the proper distance from our home right there in the front will be amazing. I can't wait to see it in full bloom everyday when I drive up to our house.
She's not much to look at now, but in a couple of years, amazing!

THE PLAY PLACE
This is the backyards project. I had more photos of the labor intensive beginning but have miss placed them. First we measured everything out. Then Cory cut out all the sod and moved it to out field of weeds. Hopefully covering it with sod will tame some of the weeds. Here he is rototilling so we can move the dirt around and make a nice flat spot.

Winter decided she wanted to help Cory move the dirt.
She's a better helper than I am :)
As the projects progress, I'll post more.