Installing a Pond!

We decided that since we're redoing the back yard, and since the winters are slightly more mild here, we'd like to try out a pond.

You'll remember that our backyard was all wood chips and funky "sunken" beds without much in them...

Andy and the kids raked up all the chips, and Andy moved a bunch of dirt and built new garden raised beds in a sunny spot.

He lined the big hole he dug with carpet padding and a pond liner.

Then added a pump to spit out some water.  :)  And added rocks.  And then added fish! 

He seeded new grass and clover.  The result is wonderfully green!

I know a lot of people go for the low maintenance/ no maintenance yard, but grass in the back yard is a much better fit for us.  We like to be able to walk outside in bare feet if we feel like it.

 

Oh!  And I also worked a bit getting those flagstones together into a patio at the bottom of the stairs.  I'm no landscape professional, but this is so much better than it was.  And you can see that the grass is growing nicely.

And while I'm at it, I'll throw in a couple pictures of the flower bed that I redid.  It's next to the walkway that we are on multiple times a day, so I thought it was worth being the first to be redone.  It previously was all overgrown with irises, a bedraggled daisy, and some barely-making-it lupines.  The soil was grade-A awful!! Here's an idea of what it looked like before...

During...  I got some garbage cans full of compost and worked it over.

And after.  Or maybe I should still say during, since it'll take until next spring or summer to fill in.

Can't wait to see it then, as well as add some annuals.  My favorite is alyssum and pansies.

Our outdoor projects are coming to an end as the temps fall, as well as lots of rain!

Happy Fall, y'all!