The adventure of trying to make a house a home that we built for our family of six plus some craft, home décor, recipes & any family fun we might have.

Thursday 29 August 2013

Landscaping Part Three: Grass and Trees

 
 
So I thought I’d share the final part of our landscaping story with you, considering it’s been about six months since it was finished. The best part about completing this project has been that the children now have a yard to play in and they don’t spend their day’s complaining about how bored they are. Not long after the landscaping was completed by Barry and his boy’s Brisbane and the rest of Queensland was inundated with rain. This made our job of 'establishing everything' a little bit easier as we didn’t have to water the lawn and tree’s every day to make sure that they were getting a good start in life.
 
The front of the house and all our Lilly Pilly's
 
Due to the amount of rain we experienced we had to wait a few extra weeks before we fertilised or cut the grass as we wanted to make sure that the grass and soil had knitted together. During the first ten weeks Mr Opoes and I bought more timber stakes to secure the Lilly Pilly's more and to correct their positioning due to the increased amount of wind we'd been experiencing. Once all the Lilly Pilly's were straightened up everything was looking better and all we had to do was make sure that each planet had enough water BUT not too much water. Barry's parting words were very specific about looking after the Lilly Pilly's as they can die if they're under watered or if they're over watered.
 
We now have street appeal and we don't look like the new kid's on the block.
 
We are really happy with how everything is looking and the children have loved have green grass to run around on. It was so great that we had the yard all landscaped by the end of January as it gave us an entire month of Summer left to play outside and enjoy the grass. The other great thing about having the backyard completed was that we were able to set the trampoline up that Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids for Christmas 2011. The children have loved going outside everyday and having a bounce on the trampoline.
 
The backyard which the kid's LOVE.
 
Quinlan is now at the age were he's able to use the trampoline and he really enjoys playing on it with Viveca and Mackenna. The next step will be for the girls to teach Quinlan how to jump up and down, I can safely say that Quinlan will probably have achieved this by his second birthday and he'll be spending quiet a lot of time over the Summer playing on the trampoline and running around on the grass.
 
The back of the house (top row of pictures) and the side of the house (bottom three pictures).
 
Since the we've had the landscaping done we have realised that it's about 90 percent finished and we still have a few things that we need to do before SUMMER arrives. As a family we are really happy with the way it is now but I'm really looking forward to getting it finished and having it all complete so that we can enjoy it all year round.
 
With summer been only four and a half months away I've drawn up a To Do List which I'm hoping we'll be able to tick off as the months pass:
  • install a garden shed so that we can free up some space in the garage.
  • create a concrete, paved or gravel based floor for the shed.
  • start planning and planting out a veggie patch and then harvest the vegetables.
  • possibly get a few chickens in the backyard.
  • install two side fences so that the chicken are safe when playing in the backyard.
Once all these things are completed I'll be able to focus on organising the outside patio area which will require us buying some furniture so that we could eat outside during summer but that won't be happening until the summer of 2014. Thanks for stopping by and I hope to be sharing more of the projects that I have planned for the yard.
 
 
Megan

2 comments:

  1. wow looks like things are coming together.it really does look great and Im certain that once youve accomplished your "to do" list its going to be AWESOME!!!

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  2. Thank you for stopping by. I'm hoping to pick up some raised garden beds this weekend and get them put together but with Father's Day this Sunday I'm going to be pushed for time. I am hoping to grow some veggies this summer so if I can get the garden beds in then that's something else ticked off the list. I hope that you pop back to check on me and my gardening adventures :)

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