Reclaiming our Backyard

It has been awhile since the last time I made a post on our blog so here goes. Yesterday after a few weeks of procrastination and a few months of ignoring the state of the backyard Jenn and I went about reclaiming our yard from the dog. As much as we love Apollo, we did not really love the "landscaping" changes he has made to our backyard. It should be said that he is not by any means a destructive dog. The majority of the damage in the backyard was to the grass and that was likely caused by a combination of his normal running and playing along with the softer ground due to the rain. There was also the issue of getting rid of a rather large, rather ugly and mostly dead plant that had become an eyesore.

Yesterday started off with a trip to OSH where we really took advantage of their "we pay the sales tax" promotion. Armed with turf builder, seed, fertilizer and a bevvy of tools we prepared to tackle this long overdue project. While we were there we also found some fancy new outdoor lights to replace the ugly brass lights at the garage and front door. After a 5 minute search for the breaker box we got the new lights installed pretty easily and we love the new look.

Finally it was time to face the backyard. First up was the removal of the demon plant. We had previously trimmed this plant way back and Apollo had done his part by making the plant his personal bathroom. Even though it was mostly dead it was still quite large and as we found out the roots were quite attached to underlayment that the previous Owner had installed everywhere. We have had other encounters with this underlayment. Most notably when Apollo realized there was something underneath the gravel and took it upon himself to rip it out for us. This time however the underlayment proved to be quite the foe. It was preventing us from getting a shovel underneath the plant and into the roots. So first we had to find the underlayment and start making cuts into it. This was difficult enough as it was covered in dirt and rocks. Once we got part of it up we were able to begin getting the shovel under the plant. Slowly and methodically we worked our way around the plant and finally we were able to uproot it. I'm not sure how long it took, seems like at least an hour. It was a good workout at least. It looks so much better now that the plant is gone too. We still have to deal with the demon plant's brother on the other side of the yard, but we'll save that for another weekend.

Next up was the yard itself. First up we put up a temporary wood fence to keep Apollo out. It has yet to be seen how he will adjust to his play area being reduced to about 1/5 of the size he is used to. I'm sure he'll get used to it quick enough. Once the dog was blocked out we went about raking the damaged area which was about 3/4 of the yard, spreading seed, fertilizer and turf builder. We are hopeful that we'll get some new growth soon and we can reclaim the yard before this summer! All of this in preparation for next years landscaping project which will include expanding our patio area so we can get a table and an umbrella for some outdoor entertaining.

So despite the sore muscles today, yesterday proved to be quite productive.