Re-Landscaping an Abandoned Foreclosure: Part One

My first home purchase was a house that had sat empty for 1.5 to 2 years, depending on who you asked.  Thankfully, that didn't do a whole lot of damage to the actual home.  My biggest expense were four burst pipes once we turned the water back on.

But one of the most time-consuming projects was tackling the yard!  It turns out that about the worst thing you could do for a home in central Illinois is just let it sit!  The conditions are ripe for EVERYTHING to grow about as fast as they can.  With no one to cut back branches or weeds or grass, the yard gets out of control very, very quickly.

So when I acquired the house, I acquired a wee bit of a mess.  The rock landscaping needed re-done, and I had about a dozen volunteer trees to cut down in the backyard.  I first started with the front.  Hey, that's where curb appeal happens!

I decided to start with the mailbox.  Around the mailbox a previous owner had wanted some rock.  Well, that was fine and dandy, but the weed barrier had worn thin, and I had about as many weeds as I did rocks.  So I decided to just rip them all up and go to grass.  I'm a purist when it comes to yards.  I think grass is THE best thing that a yard can have.  The more, the better!

So I decided to pull up all of the rocks and change the look drastically.

The front yard as acquired.  What a mess around the mailbox!

I pulled out all of the rocks, then decided on a change of plans.

I shortened the non-grass area by 90%...



I then added new dirt and planted some flowers!  Come on, grass!