"Finished" and "Home Improvement"

Two words that will only ever be in the same sentence when used with the word "never." As in "Never finished with home improvement" or in a more exasperated tone: "Finished with home improvement?! Never!"

I feel more like the latter. 

Way back in April of 2009 I threw away the idea that the backyard could wait. You see, when I looked at this house and fell in love (mostly with the kitchen and neighborhood), the only thing I could say about the backyard was "It's ok and will do for now. Anything I want to do with it can wait." Four short months later and Round-up was my best friend. Palm tree: gone. Italian cypresses: given away. Stock in Round-up due to me: probably up. 

Here's a little before replay of the transformation my backyard has taken from April 2009 to October 2010:

This is what I thought I could deal with for awhile

Nope. Palm tree and cypresses MUST GO!

Here's where Round-up came in handy. 4 rounds!

New patio and mow curb poured. Sprinklers installed (myself!)

New grass and 3 new trees (not seen in this pic)

And there it stood from October of last year until a few weeks ago. I NEEDED plants. Dry dirt flower beds full of weeds were driving me crazy. 

Well, the plants are in and I swear I bought 100 (if you count each individual strawberry plant and monkey flower!). I also learned the names of 3 more Green Acres employees - seriously, they ROCK. I cannot say enough about this place and if you are near Jackson Rd or near the Galleria in Roseville, you should be using them for all your gardening needs. 

The only snag of the planting process was me breaking a sprinkler line with a pick axe. At least I was the one to break it, otherwise all hell would have let loose. 

So here it is - the plants are still pretty small so it's hard to really capture how great everything looks - but you get the idea. Enjoy the pictures!

My prized peony - I hope I can keep it alive!

Love my banana plant! Lavender in front and jasmine 

soon to be climbing the trellis behind.

Cannas lining the fence (soon to have huge bright red-orange 

flowers!), phormium to the right and little bunny fountain

grasses up front. Oh! Don't forget the strawberries!

Hosta

Heucherella