We thought our new backyard was pretty nice, lots of plants and shade and a lake - what's not to like?? But after we had lived here a while we realized it wasn't a very usable space and quite dangerous - especially for little kids! So we came up with a plan to make some level areas and enclose the yard with fencing to keep children out of the lake. A fellow at Rick's work co-owns a landscaping place and they were able to take care of implementation for us.
Before
Like we said - it wasn't horrible, quite nice and shady actually, just not very usable.
... a little overgrown. The house had been empty for a year when we moved in.
We let the yard go for another because we weren't sure what was going on out there!
Side yard
Future play area.
After
These retaining walls were built by hand with rock "imported" from Wisconsin.
A little piece of God's country in our own backyard.
Here's a shot from the other side. The "tea house" was here, we just moved it to the other side of the yard.
The landscaping company we used specializes in water structures so we let them talk us into a little stream
that flows from the top of our yard down to the shore. They also built a little arched bridge for us,
which has become Elliot's favorite backyard play area.
...not that we didn't consider her needs! But we didn't really have a good space for a play structure,
so we had a climbing ramp, slide and pirate's wheel added to our deck. And there's a secret path
up to a sandbox at the top of the hill and a hopscotch path leading around the side of the house.
Here's another view of the stream. There's an island of sorts in this spot. It's tough to make out in the picture, but it's a nice shallow stream, built with a lot of recycled rock. The water makes pretty sounds and some nice frogs (whom Elle has named Froggie and Kermit) have made themselves at home here.
Here's the side yard now.
Our patio area is also made out of Wisconsin stone and is a great place for trike-riding, chalk-scribbling or beer-drinking - depending on who you are.
And oh yes, the lake is still there. Not much we could do to improve that! But you'll notice the fence intended to keep children in and pooping geese out.
During
In case you aren't bored yet...
Our backyard was hard on the equipment
All dug up
Building the firepit area. The sitting rocks are salvaged remnants from an old downtown Minneapolis bridge.
Kevin working hard on a Saturday
Firepit area, almost complete
The backyard was torn up all summer long, but according to Krista's single girlfriends, things could have been worse.
A new home for the sandbox.
Shoreline and hidden beach area
View from the lake