Operation Rejuvenate Your Crappy Front Yard - Phases 1 through 5

Andrea and i have been sick of our front yard for a while now. the previous owner either didn't have gutters, or had gutters that served no purpose (which was the case when we bought the house). the result: run-off from the roof cascading down the slope of the front yard toward the street cutting ravines and stealing precious top-soil. what little grass there is grows in tufts and small islands, 2 to 3 inches above the surrounding dirt.

Phase 1 - Infrastructure
we replaced the gutter along the front of the house last year. without that, it would have been pointless to try and do anything with the lawn. this was an easy step, as it needed to be done anyway and didn't require tearing anything up, yardwise.

Phase 2 - Kill
with my Dad's encouragement, I proceeded to the next step from which there was no return: apply RoundUp everywhere and kill everything.

Phase 3 - Till
Two and three go together, really: "Kill 'n Till". but they are two distinct steps, so i've broken them up. Bob let me borrow the Witchger Family Tiller last weekend. Here are some photo highlights:

Before:



During:



After:



Phase 4 - Dirt
we're down to mostly clay and rocks in our front yard. i found a place that would deliver 10 cubic yards of dirt (that's 270 cubic feet) for a reasonable price, which they did this past Friday. check out the action:



Bob and i were mesmerized:



Bob stuck around after the dirt was dumped and helped me blow through that big pile in no time! we got it spread all over the yard in a few hours:







it took me the whole rest of the weekend to recuperate from Friday. Saturday Andrea managed to get to the Farmer's Market and buy some fresh veggies, as well as veggie plants for our garden. we even got them in the ground! Sunday we cleaned up inside and out. but all the while, my back was complaining. Friday really beat me down. Bob, on the other hand, helped another friend of ours MOVE ROCKS Saturday. oh, to be 29.

the next part of this Phase...the 1st Sub-Phase, is to till again, trying to make the 2 layers of old and new dirt into one super layer. the 2nd Sub-Phase is to rent a big hand powered roller to go over and smooth things out.

Phase 5 - Seeds!
not quit there yet. i'll let you know when it happens and expect lots of pics to monitor growth. it's a little late in the season to be doing this, but i've got no choice now. gotta keep moving forward!