Spring, Summer and Time for Planting

We've been living in the house for almost 10 months now and we do love it. My parents were in town from mid-August to mid-September and the September portion was started by the healthy birth of my sister's daughter Emma - so my Mom was with my sister's family and my Dad was living with ours. The fact that he was comfortable and we were comfortable and everyone had enough personal space to enjoy being together was a testament to our semi-private guest suite. Love it.

We were lucky that my former company was acquired and Neal's Grandparents wanted to contribute to our home - the combination enabled us to get serious about landscaping. Yes, it's been a dirt sand lot for the last 10 months. Many thanks for our patient neighbors. It's incredible what can grow without regular water. Mostly weeds, but the cherry tomatoes that sprouted in the front lawn were surprisingly good.

We retained Rick Fath (rickfath@yahoo.com) to design the front and back yards. We decided that we'd be ecologically sensitive and go with a drought-resistant, lawn-free front yard and limit the amount of lawn in the backyard so that it's fun to play, but not an eco-disaster. So - the backyard has a deck that leads to the patio with a pergola with integrated heat and lighting (so we can dine outside 9 months a year). Surrounding the patio are gardens and stepping stones. The back third of the property kept the paved area (for biking, scootering, basketball) and added open lawn. I think we need nets over the new fences to catch the balls the boys are hitting easily "out of the park". Ideas? Something that can come down most of the time so that it's not an eyesore.

Stay tuned for photos.