On May 29, my husband and I will have owned a home for four years! What a joy it has been to have our own property! We have enjoyed fixing it up and making it our own, without having to ask a landlord’s permission. A little over a year ago, we fixed up our front yard a bit. There used to be a big circular piece of landscaping right in the center of the yard. It probably was lovely when the previous owner had it; she probably had lovely plants and flowers growing there. I’m sure she also ran the underground sprinklers often, and she probably rose before dawn to start weeding it.

Right after we moved in, I entertainted delusions that I, too, could make it look like a million bucks. I got a book at the library on Oklahoma plants and shrubs, and thought about how pretty it would be. I went out to start weeding and came in with a horrible case of poision ivy or oak or sumac – who knows! I obviously didn’t see the said poisonous plant. After getting a shot (because I’m highly allergic), I vowed to just let the weeds have it. Terry thought it looked bad, though, so he did fill it in with mulch later to hide the weeds. Meanwhile, I returned my book to the library and applied calemine lotion generously to my arms.

After many months, the weeds were showing through the mulch. Something had to be done. I couldn’t maintain it, but I knew how to rip it out. (Or, rather, how to ask my husband and my strapping teenage boy to rip it out.)

Here is the before:

 

Terry and Mitch had to dig up the rocks that encircle the flower bed. They were buried about a foot into the ground in a block of concrete, which I didn’t even consider being the case. Then, they had to pull up the metal band that is around the rocks on the inside of the flower bed. Of course, the mulch and plastic had to be pulled up from the flower bed, revealing bare earth.

Terry rented a trailer from UHaul and loaded it with the rock. We ended up having 2 tons of rock and concrete on the trailer, in two different loads. I never would have imagined it would be so grueling to take this out!

We then called TruGreen to come by and help us kill the weeds and fertilize the good grass so it would grow. It took over a year, but the grass has finally made itself at home.

Here is the finsished product:

Tada!

 

I have to say, TruGreen came through for us. We have much thicker grass now than we did before, and you can barely see the ring of the old flowerbed rock border near the shrubs in the foreground. It’s much nicer than having a mulch-filled area there. It used to dominate the yard, which is nice if you know how to garden, but I’m not the gal for that, unfortunately.

As I look back on the last four years in Oklahoma, I cannot help but feel blessed. Not just with our home, but with our friends, our church, our homeschool group, and I could go on! Truly, the Lord as done exceeding, abundantly above all that I could ask or think. (Eph.3:20)