A Landscaping Update – What We Have Planned for Summer 2018

It’s May and spring in Minnesota has finally started to show it’s beautiful face.

The snow cleared out last week which meant I could finally take some pictures of the yard and share what we have up our sleeve in terms of landscaping plans.

When we shared our 2018 renovation plans with you earlier this year, the garage was all we had in our view in terms of the exterior.

As the year began, more discussions formulated around our landscaping and how we could spiff it up a bit.

In the past two summers, we’ve done a little work here and there, like adding block pillars on either side of the driveway and removing the ramps at each entrance, but nothing that’s been planned in advance.

This year, we’re hoping that’s about to change! With the installation of the garage, we thought it would be a great time to get our landscaping in order as well.

2018 landscaping plans

So, here’s the garage foundation when it’s not covered in a few feet of snow 🙂 While putting this post together, I realized we hadn’t shown it off yet! Once it’s built, we’ll do some minor landscaping on the south side by adding a few plants. I was getting the itch to do something now but then figured it would probably get trampled on during garage installation, so I’m holding off until after. Oh, the agony! 🙂

The garden bed along the south side of the house has been a pain in the butt since we moved in. It leaks down to the beds on the other side of the retaining wall. Instead of digging it all out and putting in plastic, I want to tear the whole thing down. When we (eventually) put in the wrap-around deck, it’ll have to come out anyways. So, why not now?

Speaking of wrap-around deck… while it’s most definitely NOT happening this summer, it’s something we’ve been eyeing up since we moved in. In our 2018 renovation plans, we talked about the windows that will be replaced, so here’s a view of the exterior version of those plans. We’ve already purchased two windows for either side of the fireplace and are hoping to get back down to the outlet store and pick up another one for the entryway.

What IS happening this summer is the #2 garden. After growing some of the wedding flowers last year, I officially became initiated into the “plant lady” club. Brett and I realized that I could actually keep something alive for longer than a week and decided it would be fun to try and grow some vegetables as well 🙂

Our current patio is our go-to spot for relaxing and hanging out. However, it’s in terrible condition. Instead of knocking out the old concrete and pouring a new slab, Brett had the idea of building a deck over the existing slab. I think this is the project we’re most excited about and are hoping to get it done as soon as Brett gets home from being on the road for work.

Last, but not least, we’re getting a hammock. This hill has a great view of the lake and I’ve been wanting to create a relaxing place, out of the sun, to enjoy the view. I’ve been dreaming of being out here, getting lost in a good book and watching the dogs swim. Heaven? Yes, I think so 🙂

What’s not pictured:

• We are hoping to smooth out a real driveway and pour down class five gravel
• There is a middle area between the driveway and the main road that has weeds galore; I want to clean it up and plant bushes along the road for privacy
• We have some left over dirt piles from digging out the garage foundation last summer and need to rent a bobcat to smooth it all out

This year is officially dubbed ‘The Year of the Yard’ and we can’t wait to get started 🙂

All our best,

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