Thursday 19 July 2012

Backyard progress ... sort of!

We haven't managed to put in any gardens yet but I just had to get outside and do some 'gardening' last weekend. 

It all started when our new dog (Xena, a stray who adopted us .. not the other way round) decided to dig a hole down the laundry side of the house with her 'cone of shame' (that she was wearing after being spayed).  This resulted in Brutus getting under the fence and ending up in the neighbour's backyard playing with her dog, Stella. 

Realising that if little tiny Xena could dig a big enough hole for Brutus to get under the fence, then she would be able to get under there too, we decided to put some sort of barrier along the bottom of the colorbond fence.  (The fact that my sister's puppy, Brando, was coming to stay the following weekend may have been a factor too ... definitely couldn't let him get out .. I can't run fast enough to catch him!)

I found some leftover old conveyor belting at work that I thought might work, so I brought it home.  I figured it was tough enough to withstand being chewed and scratched a bit but not too sharp or hard that it would hurt the dogs.  Peter and the boys attached it to the bottom of the fence and it's working a treat so far.

Only problem was that once I had mostly levelled out the laundry side, I just kept going around the back and then down most of the other side.  The boys weren't very impressed as they were roped in to help but I let them off after about three hours!

Here's the roughly levelled out laundry side before the conveyor belting went on the fence:

 
This is the rough layout of where I want the garden beds to go along the back of the house (the bricks along the left side represent the edging) and where the screen(s) are going to go to block the view of the clothesline and what will eventually be some sort of overflow garden storage area (by the pile of bricks in the background).  The rest will be lawn with a small garden bed under the window to shade it in summer time:


I would like this to be a planter box the same height as the (orange) retaining wall so I can plant this tipuana tree in it to shade the alfresco in summer.  Tipuanas are deciduous so it will allow the sun in during winter .. just don't tell Pete it will drop all it's leaves every year or he'll probably try to kill it!


We are still trying to decide what to do down the living area side of the house.  Peter wants to pave the area just outside the roller door so we can park the trailer there, but we have enough space for it to live out the front so I'm trying to talk him out of bringing it out the back.  There will be garden beds along the fence but none next to the house ... at this stage ... as the rest will be lawn to reduce the reflected heat:


Now for some time and money to finish it off ...

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