Landscaping 101

For the last few months Andrew and I have steered clear of any home improvements.  We were so burnt from the 8 months of remodeling that we thought it would be a looooooong time before we did anything else. Well.......it was a lot shorter time than I thought! Over a month ago we ended up redoing our pool and at the same time we decided to try our hands at a little re-landscaping.  Apparently, the old owner of the house was a landscape architect and had done the front yard in a draught resistant succulent style.  We liked it but it looked a little unkempt and all over the place.

Andrew had the great idea to lay sod down.  I wasn't sure at first since it is a lot of work, but in the end I agreed with him.  We ended up taking everything out at first - rocks, plants, cactus.  I was surprised at how much better it looked with everything gone!

We had our "do everything handyman" Polo (he re-did our kitchen) come over and build up the retaining wall so that we could actually start on the entire project.  We went with white since it is the accent color throughout the entire outside of the house.  I figure if the dirt bothers me we can always paint it brown!

Then we had our gardeners move the rocks from the lower level and street area to where the yuccas are.  We had a problem with the bamboo that was there before and when we removed it the roots of the yuccas were less than appealing.  The rocks were the perfect solution!

After that we had to get ready for the sod.  For a few days the guys layed down ground covering and tried to even everything out.  Then came our new sprinkler system and after a week of watering, we were ready for the grass!

Look at how amazing it looks!

We even had someone come out and do lighting into the trees and walkway.  I don't mean to pat myself on the back but I think Andrew and I both did a VERY good job.