Working the Front Yard

When we moved into our house in August 2004, out front yard was comprised of a HUGE oak tree and a birch tree. We lived on a hill that ran the length of the house and nothing had really been done to make the front of the house look nice. It looked like there was a flower bed closer to the curb by the mailbox that had grown over with grass, but that was about it. Oh yeah...and a random rose bush by the mailbox.

Over time, I took up a couple of projects that make the yard look a little more appealing:
Added a couple of bushes close to the house

• Used retaining wall brinks to rebuild the flower bed by the curb
• Got more retaining wall bricks to create two levels up the hill. The first surrounded the tree (which has some nice stuff planted around it now) and the second will be used for a future walkway to the front door)
• At the bottom of the hill, I extended a brick wall towards the front of the house and got rid of a rock "garden" that ran along the side

Over time, I started realizing the amount of grass that wasn't growing even with watering and fertilizing. Basically, the oak tree is so big that it sucks up all the nutrients and water around it. Last summer, I started work to kill the grass in that area (naturally of course), by choking it our with grass clippings and leaves from the oak tree. I got a fair amount out, but not all of it.

The plan was to extend a garden out from the house and grow some nice shade plants. I already had a garden that ran the length of the house, but this would bring it out to just under the coverage of the tree.

I purchased 60 ft of edging and layed out the area that would be dug up. This took a little trial and error as I wanted to avid an awkward shape. Once that was in place the digging began.

I've been pretty lucky that its been dry recently. The sod comes right up, athough the grass root system is pretty thick in parts, which you wouldn't think if you look at the quality of the lawn. Because it's so dry, I am able to shake off decent chucks of the top soil that would normally clump together if it were wet.

I've been working on this on and off for about two weeks and I'm almost done. I have three plants in the area already that I had to dig around, but I hope to have everything done by today. I found a guy who deliver mulch for dirt cheap (pardon the pun). Next weekend, I may have a completed garden.