The $25 Difference

This project came in at $25 and the difference is huge! Let me back up and explain what/why we did what we did. Last year, we put in a sandbox and to do that we had to rip up some landscaping. Part of the landscaping that we ripped up was flat river rocks. We saved those and piled them in the shed. As we were working on freshening up the patio, I remembered those rocks. Luke and I started talking about them and then we realized that they would look pretty good lining the patio. So, we hauled them out and I started arranging them. We made it about halfway around before we ran out of rock. Luckily for us, we have those flat rocks lining every tree and landscaping area in our front yard. So, we stole a few here and there (you would never know) and placed them around the patio. After stacking the rocks, Luke headed to Lowe’s to get mulch. I filled the mulch in while he did a bit of trimming. We even had a bit of leftover mulch to freshen up a small landscaping area right behind our patio. This was such a small weekend job (and a cheap one!), but the results are so gratifying. I love these kinds of projects.

Look how sad the bed looks:

Almost done with rocks:

After trimming and adding mulch:

Before:

After:

Our Yard To-Do List:

– Getting our fountain on the back porch to work (need a solar pump?)

– Adding mulch to our flower beds (Backyard ONLY)

– Continue to take out dead branches and plants (I think we have about 8 dead bushes to go) (1/2 Done)

– Beautify the front door area (or start on it) (DIY Topiary?)

– Make our back patio more inviting

– Finish with the gutter guards before Fall

– Make the playset safer by adding dirt/grass to level