We took this photo at night. The backyard has been graded and the fresh black soil is in piles waiting for the new sod. The stakes you see in the foreground mark the perimeter of the new concrete patio we are laying. We can't wait until we remove the bamboo patching from the side of the neighbor's garage. Its an eyesore and a good project to tackle on an upcoming weekend.
BIG
improvements to the backyard. We leveled and removed the red manger and 70 foot tree swaying above the house...
fyi, the tree was leaning so far over the house, the Insurance inspector refused to insure the home unless it was removed. In its place will be a new citrus grove. We are thinking Meyer lemons...
We also jack hammered the original cracked up concrete and added to the patio area by creating the half moon shape you see in the photo. The concrete is stamped with a slate stone pattern and stained to complement the house and backyard area.
Additionally, we added new automatic sprinklers, drip system, new drainage and lights to illuminate the backyard at night while enjoying a glass of
CAYMUS! If the David family comes up, I'll be sure to have a bottle of
Heitz on hand. All visitors are welcome to make requests... the wine country is minutes away.
The fence on the back left of the photo will be replaced... and we are adding flowering plants and some black mulch/bark to finish off the look. The grass comes Friday. Boston will be relieved... literally.
Wow... the hole was larger than we thought, the dry rot is terrible and we must do something about the faded green color.
With the temporary bamboo fencing out of the way, we needed to construct a new side of the wall. Here I am doing my best Bob Villa impression. Kate tiled the kitchen floor, I can handle the outside.
HGTVers have
nothin' on us...
The side of this garage was
power washed to strip the old crusty green paint. Here I am painting it to match our house color. A new redwood fence is being constructed to the left of the photo. You can just make out our neighbor's garage door by looking through the area that will soon be fenced in.
You can see we removed the original lawn. It has been over run with weeds. We upgraded the existing sprinkler system, changed its
configuration to better suit the watering needs, and added a drip system for the new flowering shrubs/plants. New sod to be placed in a few days.
This photo is taken from the front southeast corner property line. Sod to be laid in a few days, along with new flowering plants. We added a concrete slab between the two tree-like bushes on the upper right. Soon we'll top it off with a bistro table for morning coffee on the weekends. The street is so busy with active families and their strollers/dogs, it will be a great way to say hi to the neighbors... AND make sure their dogs don't leave anything behind.
Here is a better photo of the wider driveway. We added 3 feet and it makes it easier to pull in to it. The original driveway was 7 feet wide. This is now 10 feet and our new grass will appreciate the fact that we will no longer drive over it when pulling into our home. A few weeks from now, all the concrete in the front will be stained and possess the same color throughout the entire property.
Next blog update will be of the finished product. Wish us LUCK!
Here is the finished view of the front of the house. Lots of neighborhood visitors today. People seem to really like what we did. We love it.
This is the main view of our yard taken from the back door. BIG change from the day we bought the place. Lots of grass for Boston. You can see the new redwood fence we put in and the trellising with some type of climbing vine/flower. Now all we need is to set up the hammock and relax. 
Here is the other side of the backyard. We have pathway and spot lights set up to highlight the lemon tree in the middle of the photo, as well as all the tall pine trees and the hanging planters to the right of the photo.
