Backyard Revamp - Conclusion of Phase One

If you've been following along, you know that my major home project for this year was beginning the revamp of my backyard. You can read about the earlier happenings of the backyard revamp here and here.

After clearing out the brush / overgrowth / natural area / forest or whatever your term for it would be, there was only one more thing that needed to be done during this phase, which was to install a fence. This phase of the project seem to take the longest between researching what type of fencing I wanted, talking to fence companies, ordering and finally installation.

Even though one side, neighbor's side, will be wood, I knew I didn't want a wood fence. I knew I didn't want to deal with the upkeep of wood. I've never seen one that looks nice because most people don't keep them up. So, I decided I would go with vinyl but I didn't want the white vinyl. I wanted a wood look so that it would blend in with the rest of the neighborhood. Home Depot had exactly what I wanted. While I like supporting smaller companies, in this case, none of the local fence companies that I contacted seem to have exactly what I was looking for, so yes I went with the Big Box Store and so far I'm happy with my choice.

The following pictures are during installation

And now the final look

As you can see in one of the above pics, the four-legged wonder, Shelby, is also enjoying the new space. 

I'm really loving how this part of the project turned out. If I had it to do over, the only thing I would do differently is put up vinyl on that fourth side instead of using my neighbors fence for that fourth side.

When I get funds build back up, I'm thinking I'll probably go ahead and install the fourth side or talk to my neighbors about staining the side of their fence that faces me.

Beginning of Backyard Revamp - Phase 1 (Con't)

The first part of Phase 1 of the backyard revamp was to totally clear out the forest. After getting several quotes, I actually decided to go with the highest quote, which was Hyatt Landscaping. Why you may ask, did I go with the highest quote? 1) They were the only ones that seemed to fully understand the scope of the project and exactly what I wanted. Several people just talked about pushing everything back into the forested area;  2)they were honest about what to expect. There is a lot of ivy growing on the floor of the natural area with deep and widely dispersed roots. They told me they couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have some ivy popping through but it would be easier to deal with  and 3) they gave me tips to save money, such as hire a fencing contractor instead of using them as they would just be the middle man.

The clearing out of the jungle was schedule for Feb 7th. A few days before Snowmaggedon 2014 struck. I was thankful that they were able to finish the project in one day.

I was immediately struck with the transformation of my yard.

Although it's a bit difficult to tell in these pictures, but I literally doubled my backyard.

One more step to go for Phase 1, fencing, which I will show in my next post.

Beginning of Yard Revamp - Part I

Since starting this blog, I've started a few projects around the house. However, most aren't fully completed nor did I post anything about them.

So, I thought I would start with one of my current projects and then catch up on the others as time goes along.

I've wanted to work on the backyard from the moment I moved into the house nearly 9 years ago or is it 10. I always forget the year unless I actually stop to look it up.

Anyway, the side of the subdivision that I live in backs up to a wooded area. Said natural area took up a good portion of my back yard and was encroaching more and more into the back yard with each passing year.

Every year, I meant to get to it but every year there was more important projects.

But this past year, right before Christmas, I walked out my back door to an even bigger mess when the other half a dead tree came down.

You can tell in the second and third picture how much of my backyard was taken up by this simply by looking at far the forest comes up on my neighbor's fence.

And so, major project for 2014 was dictated to me. Financially, I knew I wouldn't able to be able to do everything this year, so the main goals were to get the forest cleared out and to install a fence. Hey, I need a clean slate before I can even begin to thin about things like landscape and the little four-legged one, seen in the second picture could use a place to run without me always having to go out with her or having to tie her up.

Pictures of the completed Phase 1, as I've termed this phase of the project, will be posted in my next post. I promise I'll get those posted quickly.