One hundred loads of bark in the yard
Since we moved in, we've been trying to figure out what to do with the very back part of our backyard. Our backyard shares a border with a city park. Last fall, they cleared out all of the trees in the park except for oaks as part of a plan to turn it into an oak savannah. The last 10-15 feet of our property has pretty much become an extension of the park. And, there's a part near the swingset where grass doesn't grow because it's so shady. You can kind of see what I mean in this picture:
The city recently decided not to put a walking path around the border of the park which left big, huge mounds of wood chips. So, Marty called the city and asked if we could have some and they said it would be fine. Since they kids were away this weekend, we decided to power through this project. However, it turns out that Marty and I had two separate visions of what this project would entail. We decided to compromise by doing both.
We started out with Marty's part of the vision by clearing out the whole thing. We raked, cut down branches, picked up rocks and logs then loaded it all up on a car trailer (just imagine, this trailer can haul A WHOLE CAR.)
Then we started bringing in the woodchips. We shoveled, hauled and raked so many woodchips I'm surprised I'm still able to type. Thank goodness we were able to use the Ranger. I think that the Ranger can probably hold about 4 wheelbarrow loads in the back, and I bet we filled it up at least 100 times. We would have died if not for the Ranger. Last night when we came after the sun went down, I was so sore I could hardly move my hands let alone anything else. We moved landscaping bricks from around the patio and trees to create a border and started filling up our new area. Here's a shot from one end of the yard.
Here's another shot that's a little closer to the jungle gym.
Due to time constraints (we were so exhausted plus my mom and dad were bringing the kids back) we had to stop leaving the last five feet left empty. We're either going to keep going with the woodchips or scatter some wildflower seeds if I can figure out what will grow in the shade. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
The city recently decided not to put a walking path around the border of the park which left big, huge mounds of wood chips. So, Marty called the city and asked if we could have some and they said it would be fine. Since they kids were away this weekend, we decided to power through this project. However, it turns out that Marty and I had two separate visions of what this project would entail. We decided to compromise by doing both.
We started out with Marty's part of the vision by clearing out the whole thing. We raked, cut down branches, picked up rocks and logs then loaded it all up on a car trailer (just imagine, this trailer can haul A WHOLE CAR.)
Then we started bringing in the woodchips. We shoveled, hauled and raked so many woodchips I'm surprised I'm still able to type. Thank goodness we were able to use the Ranger. I think that the Ranger can probably hold about 4 wheelbarrow loads in the back, and I bet we filled it up at least 100 times. We would have died if not for the Ranger. Last night when we came after the sun went down, I was so sore I could hardly move my hands let alone anything else. We moved landscaping bricks from around the patio and trees to create a border and started filling up our new area. Here's a shot from one end of the yard.
Here's another shot that's a little closer to the jungle gym.
Due to time constraints (we were so exhausted plus my mom and dad were bringing the kids back) we had to stop leaving the last five feet left empty. We're either going to keep going with the woodchips or scatter some wildflower seeds if I can figure out what will grow in the shade. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Wow, you two did an incredible job! I can feel your sore muscles, that is a ton of work.
Reply to this
I love it! What a huge project but, well worth it for the end result. It looks great!
Reply to this
wow - I had a similar project between my yard and the pond behind it, and I see we used the same tool...I referred to it as the big scissors, but was actually told by my neighbor that it was called a pruning shears when I told her the story of how my left leg sank into the pond and I used the big scissors to grab on to a branch and pull me out - multi purpose! Anyways, my hands kill too - your yard looks awesome!
Reply to this