Watts in Florida?: Our last BIG project before BABY

Justin and I are so excited that our last BIG project is complete! We don't know what we were thinking tackling all that we did right away, but it feels so good that the house is finally coming together and we are feeling more settled. So what was our last BIG project, you ask?

The yard.

Let me preface this story with why Justin loved this house to begin with. The backyard was "super tropical." That is a direct quote. And while we were just looking at the house, I could agree that it was. Then we moved in and I started to survey the backyard. And I said to myself "whiajthjkhkshkjfbksjhkjdhlksjdlkj!" Translate that how you wish. I couldn't see ourselves maintaining that craziness for long, especially after the baby arrived. We had never even had a yard to take care of - at our last place, the neighborhood HOA mowed the grass, etc. Before we lived there, all I had to tend to was some potted plants on our balcony. I was super overwhelmed. And pregnant. Not a good combination. The front yard was a rock garden/death trap succulent smattering with crushed coquina rock that the cats next door used as a litter box. HAD TO GO. At first, we thought we would find someone to do it all for us. Yeah, people in general are pretty lazy in Florida. I feel comfortable making that generalization after how many landscapers we met with. We started working on the yard ourselves, pulling plants we didn't want, hacking down the ones we did so that they were a manageable size, and Justin installed the river rock border around the outside of the pool area. We also had the drainage issue that I blogged about in May. When my Mom came to visit in March, she helped out, and when my Dad came in May he worked us like dogs all weekend in the yard. We finally got it to a point where landscapers wouldn't quote us outrageous prices and we signed on the dotted line.

Now I go out into the yard and I think to myself, I LOVE THIS PLACE.

Shall we begin with some before photos?
This is the right side of the driveway in the front BEFORE:

AFTER:

The front yard and previously mentioned "rock garden/litter box" BEFORE:

IN PROGRESS: We found someone on craigslist who wanted to buy our segoe palms. They came and dug them up and paid us. Awesome!

Ready for sod!

AFTER:

Another view of the rock garden BEFORE:

AFTER:

The pool area BEFORE:

AFTER: (It's amazing what garden shears can do)

And now for the true insanity.

The back patio area BEFORE:
look through the screen - eek!

Yep, that's a lot of plants to take care of. That I know NOTHING about.

Those strips of stone in the garden? Granite from the previous owner's kitchen renovation. I forgot to mention that Justin and Dad wheelbarrowed out of the backyard and took two truckloads of brick, granite, pavers, etc. to the dump.

IN PROGRESS:

AFTER:

That back corner is still a work in progress. As in, maybe I'll work on it in 2013.

The back stretch BEFORE: (focus on the craziness to the right)

AFTER:

East side of the backyard BEFORE: (Another litter box, a giant cactus, and those red curbings make it really difficult to get the mower and wheelbarrow back there)

AFTER: (A good view of the river rock border Justin installed as well!)

And we conclude our tour by returning to the front yard for fun. More specifically, a look at the beds in the front of our house:

West side BEFORE:

IN PROGRESS:

AFTER:

West side of the house BEFORE: (I'm telling you, INSANITY!)

AFTER:

(Landscaper is bringing more mulch this week to fill in that little sand spot)

East side of the front BEFORE: (Check out all of that granite/rock to the bottom right, there was an entire slab of kitchen counter there)