Wanted: One Outdoor Oasis

Hello friends,

I have been in the middle of an Appliance Apocalypse here, so bear with me.  After six long weeks, we finally got a new dishwasher, so the dry dishes in my sink no longer resemble a house of cards.  But immediately after that, our air conditioning went on the blink, resulting in the financial equivalent of another new dishwasher to repair it.  And on top of that, my washing machine decided to join in on the fun. 

Thankfully, my repair skills seem to have solved the washing machine problem.  Apparently, unplugging my washing machine essentially wiped its memory clean of all technical problems. 🙂

With the onslaught of warm weather, my mind is turning to outdoor projects, and in our case, there are many.  The yard was overgrown when we bought the house a little over a year ago, so we’ve avoided it long enough.  This year we’re going to try and whip it into some sort of shape so that we can maintain it vs. always trying to keep up with it, if that makes sense.

Let me illustrate.  Ordinarily, I love anything tufted.  Except when it’s my lawn.  And yes, we do have a lawn service.  Actually, we just canceled our service and hired a new one.  For obvious reasons…

What makes it worse, is when you look next door and see a lawn like this:

And then we have the mulch beds.  Truly.  Embarrassing.  I want to put a sign out in the yard that says, “This house isn’t abandoned and we do care about our home.  The lawn is a work in progress.  Thank you for your patience, and please don’t report us to the Homeowners Association.”  I sprayed all of the weeds with Roundup, and I’m getting quotes from landscapers for a serious spring clean up. 

On the positive side, this scraggly lawn does provide me with these, so it’s not all bad.

So, while I’m waiting to get my lawn whipped into shape, I’m dreaming of lovely outdoor spaces.  For things like outdoor dinner parties and warm summer get togethers.

Source: houzz.com via Jenny on Pinterest

So, are you getting your lawn ready for Spring?  Is it looking good already or is it in need of some TLC?

14 Comments

  • Reply
    Pine Tree Home
    March 26, 2012 at 12:42 pm

    Spring spruce up in on my ticket too. The weather has been unusually warm and the weeds have gone crazy. Creating an outdoor room can be a challenge and I too admire and swoon over those with twinkling lights and room for feasts.

  • Reply
    Maury Kilgo
    March 26, 2012 at 1:01 pm

    Don't feel too bad. Our lawn is currently sporting a multi-colored hue do to the myriad of weeds growing in it. Apparently the only thing I can successfully grow are weeds.

  • Reply
    Cindy
    March 26, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    It's NEVER ending isn't it? The joys of homeownership! Good luck taming your yard.
    XO Cindy

  • Reply
    Lisa Scibilia
    March 26, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    Those are some gorgeous outdoor spaces….I'm drooling.
    Why is it everything goes on the blink at the same time? Ugh. Well at least you're not handwashing the dishes anymore right? Your yard is gorgeous and green – just pretend the weeds are wildflowers and their presence is intentional! 🙂

  • Reply
    Debra from Bungalow
    March 26, 2012 at 3:49 pm

    Appliances these days are made so cheaply and are always breaking. I had a new washer and dryer for only 3 yrs and they both bit the dust. There's an appliance repair nightmare with that story. Our fridge is not doing so well and we are looking to replace it soon.

    My husband works his butt off on our backyard. He obsesses over the lawn and is currently OCD over all the weeds popping up.

    Your lawn will get there, it takes a lot of hard work and patience. 🙂

  • Reply
    Debra from Bungalow
    March 26, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Forgot to say,
    I'm so happy to hear your appliance woes are over! 🙂

    Whipping your lawn and beds into shape and then maintaining them vs. always trying to keep up, makes perfect sense!

  • Reply
    Megan
    March 26, 2012 at 8:44 pm

    I feel your pain! I live next door to a guy who works at a yard company and his looks great year round. Our yard, house too, is a work in progress and has been for five years. Not only do we have to do it all without the help of others (for the money), we have had major issues come up that required all money we were saving… like the HVAC, insulation, windows, etc. Hubs recently (finally!) got rid of one giant bush and now there are six others to do, plus some smaller ones, rocks to remove, and the list continues… good luck getting it all in shape, I've definitely seen worse (like my yard!)

  • Reply
    Pam@OurAdventuresInHomeImprovement
    March 26, 2012 at 10:25 pm

    I'm sure your lawn will be looking fabulous this summer!

    Sorry to hear about all of your appliances. That stinks!

    Pam

  • Reply
    Andrea
    March 26, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    Your neighbourhood looks so beautiful!!! We're needing some serious work on our yard (it's actually 3 acres) too. There's some patchy grass, the occasional small tree and that's it. We can't wait to landscape and create our oasis! Your yard will look fab soon enough-you're way ahead of us already =)

  • Reply
    Sue
    March 28, 2012 at 3:53 am

    It looks like you have several different varieties of grass growing in your yard, with the mounds of rye grass sprouting first. I hated that clumpy look in our inherited lawn, so we dug up those clumps and and re-seeded with a blend. Did you talk to Buckeye Eco Care? They have a deluxe program and are very responsive to any concerns. I highly recommend them. Good luck with those rampantly growing weeds. 🙂 It's an ongoing battle the entire growing season! Sigh…… My mulch beds are always getting maintenance. ~ Sue

    • Reply
      Kristal @ Engineering Life and Style
      March 30, 2012 at 2:35 am

      Jenny-
      We are in the same boat here….the Texas drought last summer ruined our yard….it is way worse than yours….it's basically dead!! We are planning to try and do something with it soon!! AND….I SO want an outdoor oasis….it is on my list!!!

  • Reply
    Kristie @ Our first home
    March 30, 2012 at 2:55 am

    I feel the same as you. Everyone in our neighborhood has nice manicured lawns. Then there is our lawn. We have areas of (gasp!) dirt. I'm surprised we haven't gotten a letter from our HOA. I also think our lawn guys have it pretty easy with our yard!

  • Reply
    Jackson Tyson
    April 9, 2012 at 1:40 am

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  • Reply
    louboutinoutletmall.com
    April 9, 2012 at 5:57 am

    Your neighbourhood looks so beautiful!!!

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