Yard Beautification

This post could have been titled:  How to Make an Ugly Yard Look OK.  I don't think this is ideally how I want my yard to look, but when a free source of wood chips came into my life, I jumped on it!

It all started with some friends of ours moving.  They have a lot of boxes right now.  And then another friend is a source of all these wood chips.  So. I put 2 and 2 together and came up with finishing the back yard.  Here it is all covered with plastic.  We suffered from truly horrible, invasive weeds and covered the whole spot with tarps and plastic for the past 2 years to kill everything.

It was truly awful and shabby looking.  I really hated it and spent most of my time ignoring it.

  

The side yard was looking slightly better, but barely/

So I spent 2 days working and now have a very sore back. I started by weeding everything.  Then I carefully overlapped the cut apart cardboard boxes that we had diligently removed all the tape from.  Then, I wheel-barrowed in much of the 6 yards of wood chips we shoveled into my dad's trailer and had dumped in the alley.  (Two trips in the trailer, mind you.)

This whole side is naught but shade and dandelions, so the wood chips will work well. 

 

I am really liking how the back looks.  Okay, after blue tarps, anything will look good, but I love the path I put in and the focus of the Ginko tree.  I love my Ginko tree.   Also, in the background are 2 small blueberry bushes.  They may be small this year, but they both are getting fruit.  Hopefully they will grow more next year. 

 

 This bit is right by the deck.  Now I have to finish the veggie garden and start on the front. 

As we were telling our friends that just bought their first house, it really is a never ending process and maybe too expensive or too much work for some.  But I would never give up my own yard or space for anything.  Ask me again this weekend after I have spent another 15 hours or so and I may be singing a different tune.  For now, I am content.