For the flower garden along the driveway, Lianne wanted a nicely landscaped flower-bed, not the foot-deep tangle of weeds we had now. "The 'chicken-wire' fence also has to go!"; she added.
Here's what it looked like in the spring, and fall (with the invasion of morning glory):
(click for larger pictures)
If we took out all the soil (saving the bulbs and poppy plant) we could get a load of triple mix in and start anew.
First we dug out the garden border. Turns out it was 8" deep concrete with rebar! Then came out all the soil down to a depth of 12".
Unfortunately, the cedar tree near the house also had to go. (sniff) It was right in the way of where the new gate opening would go (the existing one made redundant due to the basement fireplace cap in the way).
After that a weed barrier was laid, and two yards of new soil put in. Ta-da, brand new flower garden, ready for spring planting!
We also had a vision for the back of the yard; the part that still gets some sunlight at the end of the day. Currently it is a vegetable garden, once home to the largest beefsteak tomatoes you have ever seen (a gift from the last owner who brought seeds over from Italy apparently).
Well, with the house reno, the garden was neglected, trampled, then weed-infested, and finally sand-covered (with dirt from the driveway centre strip re-sodding). What a mess! Also, the back fence was a major eyesore, and behind it a ugly block wall of a neighbour's garage. Ugh!
The plan was to build a deck right on top of the unused garden, and put up a lattice wall in front of the fence and block wall to hide the eyesores.
For simplicity and easy access, a low 10x14 floating deck was in order. It would sit on numerous supports for stability, and be covered in 5/4" x 6 x 14 ft pressure treated boards for strength and longevity. We paid our house contractor to take away all the concrete, gravel, sand, and weed-choked dirt. We then met at Rona to bring home all the 14' deck boards. One truck, two goals.
Here's the project mid-way - Almost done framing the deck:
There are lots of supports (fifteen). Most are under the landscape fabric laid to keep weeds from growing up under the deck.
The lattice fence went up shortly thereafter with Captain (Admiral?) Cyr's help, and here's the deck ready for next summer!
Unfortunately it rained a lot in September, and it was too wet to buy sod to re-do the entire back yard (notice bald spots), eventually getting too late in the season anyway - so this is what it looks like going into the winter.
Here's the link to all the photos of the project!
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