Before & After: The Side Yard

In another life Scott and I would definitely enjoy landscaping and horticulture. In this life, we’ll just have to call it a hobby.

The History
When we moved into our new home, I was six months pregnant with child number five. The sideyard was horrific, but we didn’t see it much and organizing the toy closet and putting up beds shot way up the priority list. For a long time, we just stored our trash cans over there. The kids rarely went to that side of the yard and we mainly used it as a pass through between the front and back yards.

The Problem
The main problem was two-fold. The yard didn’t get much sun, the grass didn’t grow and there was always a ton of mud over there. Translation? There was mud in our house. The second problem was getting the lawn mower through that mess. While I can’t speak to that problem, Scott says it was not fun. Since he mows, I’ll agree with him.

Initially, we just dumped a ton (literally) of big rocks over there. That solved the mud problem, but you were taking your life into your own hand navigating that uneven surface. When Luke started walking earlier this year, it became downright dangerous.

The Solution
With the incentive of a Sprite and a popsicle, I convinced the kids to participate in some serious manual labor. Over the course of a week, we redistributed that big rock over on the left to other places in the yard while reserving some for the side yard. We spread pea gravel and then laid larger flat stones for the actual pathway. We burned some serious calories and the wheelbarrow got a workout, but we love the end result. Perhaps next spring I can put an over-the-fence planter box on the gate. We shall see.