No Longer the Ugliest Yard on the Block

Another big change over the last couple months is the work we did in our front yard. They yard was basically a weed patch and Jay and I were a little embarrassed of it. So back in November we contacted David Sandrock of Sandrock Sustainable Landscapes and came up with a plan. We did some of the labor... Kahlil and I took out the cinder block walls and we all pitched in with the plantings.,. to help bring the cost down. It was a fun project and I highly recommend David for other Oregon residents looking for some yard designs. Here are some photos of the project.

The BEFORE shot - Well work had already started. Kahlil (who you can just see in this photo) and I have already put some time into taking down the two old walls. The old walls followed the slope of the street making it feel like the house was sliding away. We always knew the walls looked 'wrong' but it wasn't until David mentioned that that we understood why they seemed 'off'.

The new wall going in. This was the biggest part of this project. David spent quite a bit of time to make sure the wall would be level and not 'slide' down the hill like the old ones. To save money and reduce environmental impact, we re-used the old cinder bricks. But they were to harsh for the look we wanted. To solve this problem, David broke up the new wall with natural stone and put a natural stone cap along the entire wall. This also ties in with some large stones that were placed in the planting bed.


The wall is done and the yard is ready for plants. It's too bad this is such a dark photo because the wall and rocks are really cool.

Planting - I didn't count exactly how many holes we dug, but I think it was close to 100. We got through most of in in a weekend... Kahlil worked on the little 4" pots and Jay and I handled the big perennials. Langston turned over clumps of dirt. Good family time :-)



DONE!!! It will take a couple years for the plants to fill in completely, but we are already happy with how much better the front looks. We spend a lot of time sitting on the wall (as Jay is doing) and are enjoying watching the new growth. When the plants are mature, there should be very little maintenance needed... most weeds should get choked out as the planting is dense. We went with all drought tolerant plants so we should only have to water once or twice a summer during the hottest spells. A little pruning once or twice a year is all it should need.