We were just hitting our stride then the snow came. Lots of snow. When it finally melted in March we resumed the project. We wanted to get everything done before spring rolled around because we remembered how overgrown things were when we started. By working through the tail end of the winter we didn’t have to worry about plants growing.
For this go around it was all hands on deck with the kids “helping” out. As someone who hires and fires people it was hilarious to see what kind of worker each of my kids were.
The Oldest- The “I’ll get the job done” worker
The Middle- The “Only if I get a raise” worker
The Youngest- The “When is payday?” worker
Having the kids around actually helped dent a good chunk of the project, probably because they were outside with us instead of being up to their own devices inside with one of us checking on them every few moments.
During the month of March we did a TON. The dead tree in the back was chainsawed into pieces with my Fisher Price gas chainsaw and we removed all the brush. With everything cleared out the area seemed way bigger than we imagined, so we rethought what we were going to do with the space. Instead of having lots of luscious plants with tranquil sitting areas, we decided to build a large 25×15 paver patio with a lower bistro type area to enjoy a coffee and a middle sitting area. The koi pond complete with a hopefully working waterfall was going to be the center of attention.
Now that the earth moving and brush clearing part was done, it was time to get this project into the endgame. So we bought the pavers, sand, and mulch to get this thing looking like something.