Landscaping Around My Home
COVID has presented many challenges. For me, the largest and most difficult has been the inability to travel outside of Canada. Usually during the summer months, I jet off to Europe or Asia; this summer, travel plans were placed on hold as the world grappled with the pandemic. Rather than risk my health and the health of friends around me, I stayed home and focused on a what many have now deemed, their 'COVID project'.
I decided my focus would be on fixing the outside of my home. I wanted several things done:
- install a new fence
- tear down an existing fence that was leaning onto my property & replace it
- landscape half my backyard
- tear out old deck and build a new deck
My boyfriend and I would complete the rest: landscaping the front and rear of my house to make it more presentable and install a shed to store things like my lawnmower, garden tools and patio chairs.
Everything was completed by September 2020. Here are the pics....
Backyard: BEFORE
Backyard: AFTER
About the backyard:
I designed the shape and elements. The landscaper did the rest. The yard is now cut in half, with landscape ties creating a small wall, dividing the lawn to the rock garden. There are two colors of stones - river rocks on the outside edges, and crushed stone in the middle. It's meant to resemble a Japanese Zen garden; something to view and feel calm. I added some large rocks and small shrubs for focal points. There is a small crabapple tree too, which I hope will sprout blossoms in Spring. The wood pathway in the middle leads down to a park and golf course behind my yard boundary.
Project timeline: one week, working 8 - 6 most days.
Deck: BEFORE
Deck: AFTER
About the deck:
I hired a contractor for this project. I wanted something similar to the previous deck and the contractor gave some suggestions based on my sloping backyard. Rather than a floating deck, he bolted it to the foundation, added adjustable legs, and we shifted the stairs to the side. The original deck had an additional large deck on the south-facing side of my house, but I wanted it removed and replaced with a narrower, walk-way type of deck. He added black railings to make it match my roof (which is black metal). I like the end result.
Project timeline: one week with my contractor and his co-worker, working 8 - 5 each day.
Mini-landscaping: BEFORE
About the mini-landscaping:
This part was done by myself with help from my boyfriend. I dug out all the weeds and sparse grass, and created hard edges using a flat shovel. I then installed black plastic edging and landscaping fabric over the exposed dirt. Lastly, I asked my landscaper to drop off about 2 cubic meters of crushed stone, which my boyfriend helped to spread along the back of the house and around the upper and lower decks. I used leftover old deck wood, stained it, and placed it into the stones to create a little stepping path from the lower deck to the lawn. Special thanks go to my work colleague J, who loaned me her wheelbarrow while we moved mounds of crushed rock.
Project timeline: two weeks, going hard for two days with the rocks.
Shed: BEFORE
(was non-existent)Shed: AFTER
(foundation for the shed)
About the shed:
This was a gift from my boyfriend of which, I was am extremely grateful. He took all the old deck wood and built an amazing platform for which the shed would be built upon (top left pic). From that base, he assembled the pre-fab shed and bolted down both the foundation, and the shed itself. I love the modern look and it's large enough to hold my bikes, a patio table, my lawnmower and some garden tools. I made a joke that if we break up, it's going to be really hard to take back his shed.
Project timeline: A day and a half. Going hard from 9 - 7 pm.
Fence: BEFORE
(non-existent)
Fence: AFTER
(comes out a bit to accommodate a large Poplar tree on my neighbor's side. The tree gives both our yards shade and habitat for birds, so I wanted to respect it by giving it some space). About the fence:
I got the design off an image search. I wanted something strong against the winds (we get gusts up to 70km/hr), something low maintenance, and eye-appealing. The fence is made of corrugated colored metal, in a deep grey, with terraced wood edges. I love that it has created more privacy in my backyard. The contractor who built my deck also did this fence.
Project timeline: one week for the 75-foot fence; two days for the shorter fence.
Front yard landscaping: BEFORE
(non-existent)
Front yard landscaping: AFTER
About the front yard landscaping:
I needed to add something to the front of my house to give it some curb-appeal. With help from my boyfriend, we dug out an area in the front, got rid of a LOT of rocks, added cow manure to fertilize the soil, added black plastic edging, black mulch, and some ornamental grasses and perennials. It's basic now; I'm hoping in a few years, when the plants have filled out and grown taller, it will look better.
Project timeline: two and a half days, going hard from 9 - 5.
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