Backyard Project Progress

After a year or two of Greg asking if it was time to get rid of the trampoline, I finally gave in, mostly because I started thinking about Aubrey's grad party next summer and how I'd like to fix up the backyard before that event. When we were in Sisters for Ashlynn's wedding, Michelle talked about how much she enjoyed sitting in her backyard area that they had redone after getting rid of their trampoline. Taking down the trampoline led to many weeks of backbreaking manual labor. At the end of July, we tore out the garden boxes, which were falling apart anyway and discovered they were full of tree roots. No wonder I was having trouble getting things to grown in there! My vision was to level the area, add a retaining wall, lay down pea gravel and have outdoor furniture, a firepit, and a glider rocker with planter boxes and a trellis behind the seating area by the fence. It sounded so simple. 

It was not. The roots of the neighbor's trees and the two trees in our backyard had infiltrated our entire backyard, and getting them out was a massive chore. Greg and I spent many hours digging up roots, sawing roots and pick-axing the hard clay dirt. I was determined, despite Greg's urging to wait until next spring, to get it all done before the end of the summer when I had to go back to work. I dug in the dirt with a pick ax and shovel day after day, digging a trench and trying to level it for the bricks. I made multiple trips to Home Depot and ended up hauling and moving 140 bricks that weighed 23 lbs each, along with multiple bags of fill sand and rock. It was a workout! I was determined, though, and within three weeks we got it done. Greg made multiple trips to Mt. Scott Fuel Co. with the truck to get pea gravel, and we shoveled and wheel-barreled, and moved rocks until we had a nice level surface. Again, hard, back-breaking work. Never again will I take on such a massive project, especially using only hand tools. I'm excited to get furniture and make the space pretty next spring! Kari has been determined to have green grass in our little backyard, so she's been working on that project. Hopefully, all our efforts will make for a nice backyard oasis next year.