As you saw in the previous before and after pictures, we couldn’t even get grass to grow in the front yard.  Brick hard, no nutrients.  The yard had a slight slope to it all along the front and  the driveway.  It wasn’t very attractive.   We couldn’t very well dig the yard down until it was level with the sidewalk, so to have a level yard we had to add a small wall.  Although it looks like stone, the wall is actually cement poured into forms and then covered with fake (or should I say “faux”) stone tiles.

The wall was a lot of work.  But we did a few things that made it easier.  For instance, we had learned on an earlier house project that it was almost as cheap to buy a major tool as it was to rent it, especially if it’s going to take several days.  Plus, then you don’t have the stress of trying to finish by a certain time because you have to get the tool back to the rental store.  So we bought a cement mixer.  Not an industrial size one – more of a home size.  It was about $200, and we would have spent at least that renting one (although the rental would have been bigger), since this was a week long project.  And the rental unit would have been too big.  The one we bought was just right, and we’ve used it (for free) for several projects since then.   You’d be surprised at how many projects call for cement when you have a cement mixer.

The slabs on the top of the walls we poured ourselves too.  Unfortunately, these photos aren’t detailed enough, or you would be able to see that we embedded various leaves and ferns into the cement as it was drying, so that now it has those outlines in the tops of the slabs.  Of course, today the phlox pretty well covers the entire length of the wall.  It’s glorious when it’s blooming.  Note the slight chip on the corner.  A delivery truck nicked it.  Oh well.

The fence wasn’t too difficult.  It’s just three different sizes of wood:  The posts are 31/2″ x 31/2″, the rails are 2″ x 1/2″, and the pickets are 1 1/2″  x 1 1/2″.  It’s not a white picket fence, to be sure, but we think it works.  During the time we were planning the wall and fence, we looked at fences in every book we could find, and we drove all over town, just looking at fences.  We took pictures of fences we liked and then adapted them to fit our needs.  Painted fences look great, but they’re a pain to maintain.  And I think paint would have drawn too much attention to the fence, and we didn’t want that, so we just used treated wood.  And we bought another tool – the power miter saw.  And we fell in love with the power miter.  You can do so much with it.  If I could only have one power saw, it would be a power miter saw.

And, before we could plant anything, we had to amend the soil.  Our neighbors didn’t know what was going on when we filled the entire front yard with buckwheat.  For nitrogen.  When it would get mature, which it did rather quickly, we tilled it under and planted more.  4 times.  It made a difference. Plus, since I have a pickup truck, we bought load after load of mulch.  Twice a year, our city gives it away.  As much as you want.  Since we had the front and back yard to do, we got tons of it.  We still do from time to time.  Soil amendment will be a post all to itself (eventually).

Now it was time to plant.  The fun part, and the challenge.  You want something blooming most of the time.  You want something that will fill in with new growth as the fading flowers die back. You want the heights and colors to compliment each other.  So we planted large banks of coneflowers and rudbekia.  We  planted chrysanthemum and iris, allium and verbenum.  It was exciting to see them come up.   And beautiful.  A year or so ago, the city awarded us the “Community Appearance Award” for our front yard (they hadn’t even seen the back, which I think is much nicer).

Filed under: Our Garden