Amateur Landscaping

Here's a photo some work I did last year to improve the patio area behind our house. The previous owners had made extensive renovations to the house, but the yard was a blank slate. This provided me with the opportunity to try my hand at landscaping. So after reading a few books, watching a bunch of programs on HGTV, and checking out instructions for various landscaping projects on the Lowe's web site, this is what I was able to put together.


The only part of the project I contracted out was the electricity due to a time constraint. My wife did some research to determine which plants were the best ones based on the light conditions, which turned out to be a fool's errand because the tree seen in the background, which shaded the area from mid-afternoon onward, died and had to be removed this summer. Murphy's law, right?

Anyway, it took about a month to complete working on it evenings and a few weekends. I would estimate at least half of the time I put into it was spent running back and forth the the hardware store. There's a lot to be said for having a sound project plan that includes a bill of materials and required tools before starting something like this.